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Mobile Sources Technical Review Subcommittee
Ports Workgroup Meeting Notes

October 13, 2004
Washington, DC

Purpose

The purpose of the October 13, 2004 meeting was to develop a work plan for the ports subgroup, discuss the agenda and objectives for a proposed Ports Retrofit Workshop to be held in conjunction with the January 26-27, 2004 meeting of the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) in Corpus Christi, Texas, and discuss other next steps.

Purpose of the Workgroup

Trish Koman asked if the purpose of the Ports Workgroup was to identify strategies that any port could use or do a case study of a specific port. The role of the port, relative to the operation of the equipment, will vary. In addition, there is a wide geographic and size distribution, and the ports have different types of operations. Hopefully, the January meeting will provide a representative cross section of the different types of ports.

The January AAPA Meeting

Within the AAPA January 26-27 meeting, there will be a sub-meeting of the Harbors, Navigation and Environment (HNE) and Operations Committees. The goal of FACA EPA Retrofit WG is to provide EPA with recommendations to speed up the retrofit of diesel equipment. It was suggested that the dual purpose of the Ports Workshop meeting on January 26 would be to first determine whether incentives would work, and second, to educate attendees on “why should I care about air quality issues?” The definition of “retrofit” for the purpose of this workgroup includes all types of incentives, such as best practices, anti-idling, redesigning the ports, as well as “emission reduction strategies,” which are inclusive of after-treatment installation, use of cleaner fuels, equipment replacement, and engine replacement with a newer, cleaner version (“re-power”).

Questions arose about the structure of the January meeting, including the following: Who will be providing the presentations? What is the level of knowledge of the audience? Michael Block suggested putting SmartWay on the agenda. Gay MacGregor asked if a tour of the Corpus Christi port for this work group would be possible. Meredith Martino suggested that the workshop be a forum for the port operators who would present the measures they took to reduce air emissions. Mitch Greenberg suggested that emission inventories be on the agenda. Excellent presentations were made at the “Clean Ports USA” breakout session at the EPA Retrofit Conference meeting in June, 2004, and Michael Block suggested using this information as a potential starting point for informative presentations in January.

Meredith Martino, from AAPA, stressed that the ports don’t own some of the equipment (ships, trucks, or trains). The meeting in January must include the owners of this equipment as well as the dispensers of the fuel. There are about 30 ports in non-attainment who are not necessarily represented on the committee. The place to start is with the Port Authorities. The Port Authorities will tell us which emission control measures (and sources) they can address and who to talk to with regard to the remaining emission sources. In working with the ports, we can identify who the large carriers are and work with them and tackle how to work with smaller carriers.

Kathleen Bailey and Meredith Martino will work on developing some advance information for the January meeting that will provide a minimal amount of background information and explain why those committees are being invited to this meeting. It must be stressed that it is not the intention of the diesel retrofit group to adversely affect their operations.

The Operations staff care about costs, daily operational issues, and maintenance. The Diesel Retrofit group really wants a two-way facilitated dialogue. One of the goals is to get the Port Operators engaged in preparation for a second meeting with the AAPA in April. The Ports Subgroup would like to develop a list of concrete steps that could be done, identify and articulate recommendations for the EPA, and determine incentives that should be created now. Another goal is to learn from the Port Operators what won’t work.

A few of the issues that will influence the ability to retrofit diesel equipment at ports was discussed. Specifically, ports do not typically own all of the equipment at a port. Air quality issues are new to many of the Port Operators. Historically the operators have dealt with a lot of water quality issues. A two-point process was discussed - first, talk with the environmental and operations staff and then meet with the tenants. Bringing the operations staff of the ports to the January meeting will orient them for future discussions with tenants and terminal operators.

It was recognized that addressing ocean going vessels would be difficult to include at this point, however, crane operators, tug boats, and ferries should be included. The tugs and ferries are not under the direct control of the ports.

The role of the Port Authorities was discussed. The ports do have control over the design and logistics of the port. They are very concerned with measures that could save fuel, such as idling control, queuing, and logistics. Ports are also interested in measures that might limit the number of trucks, like building a railhead, and will discuss these ideas even without discussing air quality issues. Barbara Cole agreed that Seattle recently spent $1 billion redesigning their port.

Emission Inventories for Ports

Mitch Greenberg of EPA asked about the availability of emission inventories for ports (emissions from trucks versus ships, etc.) Some inventories do exist. The two primary issues with inventories at ports are: only a handful have been performed or are in the process (Puget Sound, Boston, LA, Long Beach, San Francisco, to name a few), and there is no established methodology to ensure consistency in inventory approach.

Ports should have a rough idea of the inventory of diesel equipment and they should also know who has control of the equipment. There could be a dozen components to the emissions inventory for a port. What has been done to date? What are the methodologies that exist? How much will the existing heavy-duty diesel rule and the proposed off-road rule already address the air quality issues? There was a discussion of the longevity of the equipment and how the off-road equipment does not really retire but gets resold and used by a different user.

SmartWay

There was a brief discussion about Smartway. The Smartway Program, which is based on partnerships with carriers, started with heavy-duty diesel trucks. Smartway’s goal is to reduce emissions through measures such as reduced idling, fuel changes, aerodynamic redesign, etc. Anyone can join the partnership. Ports can design a program using the Smartway model. Some of the Smartway Partners are already working in the ports. Mitch Greenberg will find out who of his major participants is already working with the ports.

Structure for a Future Program

Terry Goff described three layers in terms of implementing emission reduction measures. First, there is a need to address the operational design of the port and to identify processes and procedures that can reduce emissions. Second, the public sector of the port should address their sector of emissions. Also, public leadership is needed. Lastly, emissions and equipment from the private users need to be addressed. This may be facilitated through small-business administration (SBA) low-interest loans, tax incentives, or some other reward. Gay MacGregor agreed that the January 26 meeting should focus on the first two steps and they’ll ask the question about how to engage the third group. Gay MacGregor asked who the public “early adopters” would be in the port sector, and if we could get them to the January meeting.

Potential Reduction Measures for Ports

Meredith Martino suggested the development of a menu of options from which the ports could select appropriate measures. There could also be an emissions calculator that could support the selection of measures. The vast majority of trucks that pick up cargo are small businesses (sometimes with only one truck) and they would be at a competitive disadvantage. A question was raised whether increasing the size of containers would reduce emissions. Fifty-three feet is the longest container allowed on the highways.

Next Steps

Michael Block would like to circulate these notes and key up the agenda for the January 26 meeting. He would like to build support for the agenda. Trish Koman asked about annual meetings (for example, the school bus program built support at the annual school bus trade show). There will be a conference the first week of April 2005 that brings together Port Operators. It was suggested that a panel could be organized to focus on air quality issues and present some of the ideas from the January 26 meeting.

Actions:

  1. Michael Block to circulate notes (these notes) from the October 13, 2004 meeting.
  2. Michael Block to circulate the presentation outlining plans for the January 2005 Ports WS (enclosed).
  3. Michael Block to schedule Ports WG conference call to plan for the January WS (October 26th, 3 p.m. EDT).
  4. Agreed – Ports Workshop to be held in conjunction with the AAPA HNE and Operations Committee meetings, 26-28 January, 2004, Corpus Christie, TX (exact day of the WS to be determined).
  5. When available, Kathleen Bailey to circulate ICF draft report on incentives for ports.

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