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CENTRAL SAN PEDRO NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL - PCAC REPORT

Environmental Impact Report News: The re-circulated Draft China Shipping EIR was released April 30. A Public Scoping meeting will be held to receive comments on Thursday June 5, 6 p.m., at Banning’s Landing Community Center, 100 E. Water Street in Wilmington. Written comments on the Draft EIS/EIR will be received through June 30, 2008. The Draft EIR was originally circulated in the Fall of 2006. Last Spring the POLA decided to scrap it and try again.

The TraPac EIR Public Hearing scheduled for May 15 at the POLA has been cancelled.

Clean Truck Program News: The POLA will be discussing their Clean Truck Program at Thursday’s Harbor Commission Meeting, 6:00 p.m. 5/15 at the POLA headquarters. The Port is considering instituting the timetable below:

POLA Clean Truck Program Proposed Timetable
LMC Concession Plan Transition from Independent Contractor to Employee Truck Drivers

Implementation Date	% of Employee Drivers Annual Average
12/31/08	0%
12/31/09	20%
12/31/10	66%
12/31/11	85%
12/31/12	95%
12/31/13	100%

POLA concessionaires will also be responsible for providing maintenance and off street parking for the trucks, ensuring the drivers have valid TWIC cards, and the trucks have a port phone number on them for citizen complaints.

Low Sulphur Fuel News: Sadly, last week the California Air Resources Board cancelled enforcement of its new regulation for ships to use low sulphur fuels within 24nm of the California coast. The regulation was successfully appealed to the 9th Circuit Court by the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association who claims the CARB does not have jurisdiction.

Port Commission Meeting – Thursday, May 15, 6:00 p.m., POLA Headquarters, San Pedro.

San Pedro Bay Port Technology Conference TM Port Technology Challenges and Opportunities. - Wednesday, May 28, 8:30 am–1:00 pm - Doubletree Hotel, 2800 Via Cabrillo Marina San Pedro.
$75.00 per person. For reservations: Bill Lyte, Kennedy/Jenks Consultants 213-219-4120, BillLyte@KennedyJenks.com

PCAC Meeting - Tuesday May 20, Banning’s Landing 5:30 p.m. 100 East Water Street, Wilmington.

Action Item 1 – East Wilmington Open Space: PCAC recommends to the Board of Harbor Commissioners that the “East Wilmington Open Space, a Park” project be re-established as the highest ranked priority project as voted in the EIR/Aesthetic Mitigation Subcommittee meeting of June 28, 2007, in order to honor the true spirit and intent of the China Shipping Aesthetic Mitigation Settlement.

Action Item 2 – Port Staff Attendance at SP Coordinated Plan Subcommittee Meetings: PCAC recommend to the Board of Harbor Commissioners that Port staff representatives attend the San Pedro Coordinated Plan Subcommittee and all other PCAC Subcommittee meetings to address and discuss agenda items.

Action Item 3 - Ports O’ Call Enhancements: PCAC recommends that the Board of Harbor Commissioners direct Port staff to implement the original Ports O' Call enhancement project.

Action Item 4 – PCAC By-laws: Changes in by-laws defining a quorum as 50% of the voting members, and changes in voting procedures to be a majority vote of members present, the Chair is to abstain from voting except to break a tie, alternates may not vote when the designated voting member is present, no proxy votes are to be allowed, and conflict of interest prohibiting affected member from discussing or voting the issue in question.

Informational Item to be Voted on at June PCAC Meeting - Endorsement letter in support of SB1646 – $1 vehicle license fee for clean-fuel program.

At the March 18 Tuesday's Port Community Advisory Committee meeting there was a presentation by the County Sanitation District on their proposed Joint Outfall System. The LA County water treatment plan in Carson has underground pipelines through San Pedro and PV which convey treated wastewater to the ocean and release it off White Point. These pipes are aging and are inadequate during heaving rains. Although this treatment facility does not serve LA City residents, the County is proposing adding a third pipeline through our district. The proposed routes are down Western, out Gaffey, out Pacific, or through Terminal Island. This would be a six year construction project and would necessitate a construction staging area along the route. The staging area is proposed for several parks in San Pedro, since they are undeveloped level parcels. This site would be where the drilled earth is to be transported to a fill site and would have 50-100 r/t truck trips per day. LA County will be issuing an EIR for this project in the near future. They are conducting an advance public awareness campaign and are soliciting ideas prior to issuing the EIR.

At the March 20 POLA Harbor Commission meeting the Commissioners voted unanimously to approve a Clean Truck Program which includes employee status for Port tuck drivers. Port Attorney Thomas Russell stated the City is confident there is a sound legal case for this program. Among the attendees were Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Councilwoman Janice Hahn, LA County Federation of Labor Secretary-Treasurer Maria Elena Durazo, Long Beach Port Commission President Mario Cordero, and newly appointed Oakland Port Commissioner Margaret Gordon. The plan requires trucking companies who do business at the Port of LA to obtain a concession and commit to phasing in employee-drivers over a five-year period. Like the Long Beach plan, the LA Plan also phases out older trucks and provides incentives for companies to purchase newer, cleaner burning trucks and those using alternate fuels, LNG or electric.

At the March 24 joint meeting of the Los Angeles and Long Beach Harbor Commissions approved a low-sulphur fuel incentive program for main engines on ships. This would be a one-year voluntary program to encourage ships to use low-sulfur fuel in their main engines within 40 nautical miles of the ports. The ports would pay for the extra costs. In exchange, the ship operators would commit to using low-sulfur fuel in their auxiliary engines during their port calls and to comply with the voluntary 12-knot speed restriction when entering and departing the ports.

Clean Truck Program Update – The American Trucking Association has requested the Federal Maritime Commission to intercede with the POLA/LB Clean Truck Program. Last Wednesday the FMC stepped in and asked the Ports to answer questions on the concession plan and anti-trust laws involving phasing out older trucks and collecting fees for subsidizing newer truck models. The FMC will not make a decision until 45 days after a response is received from the Ports.

Last Thursday April 4 the POLA settled the TraPac expansion appeal by the NRDC and 16 other organizations. The agreement will establish a new 501(c) 3 non-profit organization to administer TraPac environmental mitigation funds. The new Port Community Investment Trust Fund will also review and handle all EIRs coming through the POLA. There will be no Harbor Commission oversight or approval needed for the funding decisions made by this body. Although the composition of this group is still to be determined, first on the list of projects is to install air filtering systems and double-paned windows in nearby Wilmington schools, and conduct an extensive study of off-port impacts. The CSPNC district will likely be included in this study. An initial $12M in funds will come from fees imposed on increased TraPac activities, with the potential to reach $50M over the next five years. The relationship between this new body and the PCAC, funded through China Shipping mitigation funds, remains to be seen. This was negotiated through Councilwoman Janice Hahn who heads up the City Council’s Trade, Commerce and Tourism Committee where the EIR appeal was referred to. This is new legal territory for everyone.

The next Port Community Advisory Committee meeting will be held Tuesday, April 15, 5:30 – 8:00 p.m at the LA Harbor/Crowne Plaza Hotel, 601 S. Palos Verdes, Street, San Pedro. The Agenda will include PCAC subcommittee assignments. The Subcommittees are: Air Quality, Water Quality, Traffic, Port Master Plan/ Quality of Life, EIR/Aesthetic Mitigation, Lights Aesthetics and Noise, Wilmington Waterfront Development, and San Pedro Coordinated Plan.

Next Tuesday, April 15 through Thursday, April 17 the LA County Federation of Labor will be holding a march from Hollywood to the Docks to show labor unity from the film industry to the port during this year of numerous contract negotiations. The march will start on Tuesday with a Kick Off Rally at the La Brea Tar Pits, 5801 Wilshire Boulevard at 9:00 a.m. The events culminate with a rally at the POLA on Thursday, 6:00 p.m. at Berth 87, 1st and Harbor Blvd.

On Thursday, April 17, the ARB will be holding a community meeting to discuss results from the 2007 Harbor Communities Monitoring Study. This will be at the Wilmington Senior Center, 6:00 – 8:30 p.m., 1371 Eubank St, Wilmington. Results from local air monitoring stations, including the home of yours truly, will be reviewed and discussed (see photo below).

March 24, 2008

At last Tuesday's Port Community Advisory Committee meeting there was a presentation by the County Sanitation District on their proposed Joint Outfall System. The LA County water treatment plan in Carson has underground pipelines through San Pedro and PV which convey treated wastewater to the ocean and release it off White Point. These pipes are aging and are inadequate during heaving rains. Although this treatment facility does not serve LA City residents, the County is proposing adding a third pipeline through our district. The proposed routes are down Western, out Gaffey, out Pacific, or through Terminal Island. This would be a six year construction project and would necessitate a construction staging area along the route. The staging area is proposed for several parks in San Pedro, since they are undeveloped level parcels. This site would be where the drilled earth is to be transported to a fill site and would have 50-100 r/t truck trips per day. LA County will be issuing an EIR for this project in the near future. They are conducting an advance public awareness campaign and are soliciting ideas prior to issuing the EIR.

At last Thursday's POLA Harbor Commission meeting the Commissioners voted unanimously to approve a Clean Truck Program which includes employee status for Port tuck drivers. Port Attorney Thomas Russell stated the City is confident there is a sound legal case for this program. Among the attendees were Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Councilwoman Janice Hahn, LA County Federation of Labor Secretary-Treasurer Maria Elena Durazo, Long Beach Port Commission President Mario Cordero, and newly appointed Oakland Port Commissioner Margaret Gordon. The plan requires trucking companies who do business at the Port of LA to obtain a concession and commit to phasing in employee-drivers over a five-year period. Like the Long Beach plan, the LA Plan also phases out older trucks and provides incentives for companies to purchase newer, cleaner burning trucks and those using alternate fuels, LNG or electric.

This morning there was a joint meeting of the Los Angeles and Long Beach Harbor Commissions to vote on a low-sulphur fuel incentive program for main engines on ships. This would be a one-year voluntary program to encourage ships to use low-sulfur fuel in their main engines within 40 nautical miles of the ports. The ports would pay for the extra costs. In exchange, the ship operators would commit to using low-sulfur fuel in their auxiliary engines during their port calls and to comply with the voluntary 12-knot speed restriction when entering and departing the ports. The meeting was held at 9:00 a.m. at Banning's Landing in Wilmington.