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Shippers, EPA to Create Rating System for Port Trucks
Coalition for Responsible Transportation to recommend air quality benchmarks
The Environmental Protection Agency is forming a partnership with shippers, carriers and cargo consolidators to develop a national certification program and rating system for port drayage trucks.
The Coalition for Responsible Transportation, which represents retailers, home improvement stores and other direct importers, shipping lines, trucking companies and third-party logistics providers, is partnering with EPA's SmartWay Transport Program. EPA launched the SmartWay program in 2004 to develop cleaner, more fuel-efficient transportation options. SmartWay-certified programs result in significant and measurable improvements in air quality and greenhouse gas emissions.
A coalition working group was formed to provide recommendations to the federal EPA that will result in a national framework to measure emissions from harbor drayage trucks and benchmarks for air quality improvements at U.S. ports.
Initial data will be provided from the truck fleets operating in Los Angeles-Long Beach under the clean-trucks program that has been in effect in Southern California since Oct. 1, 2008.
"The goal is to ultimately use the model developed in Southern California as a template for a SmartWay port drayage rating system that would be used on a national level, and could be individually tailored to major seaports across the country," the coalition stated in a press release.
The coalition has participated in the Los Angeles-Long Beach clean-trucks program since last fall. That program has resulted in the introduction of more than 5,000 clean diesel and alternative-fuel trucks into the harbor and the scrapping of hundreds of old, polluting trucks over the past 11 months.
Source: The Journal of Commerce online: http://www.joc.com/node/413118
Baltimore Port Wins $3.5 Million EPA Grant
Stimulus funds to cut diesel emissions will help retrofit or replace trucks, tugs, locomotives
The Environmental Protection Agency awarded the Port of Baltimore $3.5 million in stimulus funds to revamp or replace cargo equipment, under a program aimed at curbing diesel emissions.
The money will help "with the installation of clean-diesel technology in 142 pieces of diesel-powered equipment used for port operations," the EPA said.
The Recovery Act gave the EPA $300 million to spread around the country in grants to cut diesel emissions in a wide range of projects covering city bus fleets, anti-idling facilities for cargo trucks, freight and passenger rail equipment and for ports.
Baltimore's grant came out of a $16.1 million subset for which the EPA's mid-Atlantic regional office handled 40 grant applications, so the port got about a fifth of that money.
Its plan would affect two harbor tugboats, seven locomotives, 50 short haul drayage trucks and 83 units of cargo handling equipment, using a variety of technological fixes that can cut diesel emissions up to 90 percent.
The EPA said the port's plan includes repowering nine diesel engines, replacing 43 vehicles and pieces of cargo handling equipment, plus installing 83 exhaust controls and seven anti-idling devices. Those idle controls can shut down railcar switching locomotives and prevent them from just chugging out more exhaust when they are waiting long periods for their next assignment.
Source: Journal of Commerce online: http://www.joc.com/node/413031
Top 25 Green Cities
In recognition of the efforts of cities across the country to provide energy-efficient and healthy living spaces, the Green Guide presents the environmental leaders, those cities whose green achievements set the standard for others. As The New York Times has reported, in the absence of federal direction, cities across the country are taking environmental stewardship into their own hands and reducing their burden on the planet.
We asked cities with populations over 100,000 to complete our survey and, in combination with environmental data we gathered from government sources, scored cities on an eleven-point scale. Our results are below:
1. Eugene, OR
(score 9.0375, pop. 137,893)
- Sustainable business incubator
- Renewable energy supplying 85% of city's power
- Extensive wetlands program
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14. Irvine, CA
(score 6.72, pop. 143,072)
- Comprehensive green building program
- Smoking ban
- Pedestrian oriented
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2. Austin, TX
(score 8.5325, pop. 656,562)
- Green Builder program
- Smart growth initiative
- Committed to solar power
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15. Cambridge, MA
(score 6.72, pop. 101,355)
- High rate of public transport use
- Green design
- High percentage of green space
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3. Portland, OR
(score 8.24, pop. 529,121)
- Green building
- Excellent public transport
- Smart growth
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16. Anchorage, AK
(score 6.705, pop. 260,283)
- Excellent air and water quality
- Smoking ban
- High public health
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4. St. Paul, MN
(score 7.805, pop. 287,151)
- Green space makes up a quarter of urban area
- Significant greenhouse gas reductions
- Affordable housing
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17. Syracuse, NY
(score 6.66, pop. 147,306)
- Good air
- Smoking ban
- Commitment to reduce greenhouse gases
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5. Santa Rosa, CA
(score 7.785, pop. 147,595)
- Green building program
- Clean air and water
- Bicycle paths and lanes
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18. San Francisco, CA
(score 6.6, pop. 776,733)
- Municipal composting
- Green design
- High percentage of renewable energy use
- Very high public transport use
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6. Oakland, CA
(score 7.3675, pop. 399,484)
- Building local food production
- Green building ordinance
- Public transport
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19. Minneapolis, MN
(score 6.58, pop. 382,618)
- City-specific minimum wage
- Smoking ban
- High percentage of renewable biomass energy
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7. Berkeley, CA
(score 7.285, pop. 102,743)
- Green building requirements for municipal construction
- Well used public transport system
- Community gardens
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20. Milwaukee, WI
(score 6.5125, pop. 596,974)
- Green housing development
- Green space
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8. Honolulu, HI
(score 7.055, pop. 371,657)
- Clean air and water
- Biomass power generation
- Green building standards
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21. Rochester, NY
(score 6.43, pop. 219,773)
- High percentage of renewable energy
- Clean air
- Smoking ban
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9. Huntsville, AL
(score 7.035, pop. 158,216)
- Green space makes up one-third of urban area
- High public transport use
- Excellent public education program
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22. Albuquerque, NM
(score 6.3475, pop. 484,607)
- Clean water
- Smoking ban
- Wind power
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10. Denver, CO
(score 7.0325, pop. 554,636)
- Greenprint Denver, sustainability initiative
- Large hybrid municipal fleet and nation's largest light rail system
- Clean water and access to wilderness
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23. Ann Arbor, MI
(score 6.2875, pop. 114,024)
- High percentage of public transport and bicycle commuters
- High yard waste recover
- Green space
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11. Boston, MA
(score 6.99, pop. 589,141)
- Green building
- Excellent public transport
- Smoking ban
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24. Seattle, WA
(score 6.115, pop. 563,374)
- Large number of green buildings
- Very high percentage of hydroelectric power use
- Clean air and smoking ban
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12. Lexington, KY
(score 6.785, pop. 260,512)
- Comprehensive growth management plan
- Clean air
- Smoking ban
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25. Kansas City, MO
(score 6.055, pop. 441,545)
- Clean water
- City specific minimum wage
- U.S. Mayors Climate Protection signatory
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13. Springfield, IL
(score 6.7225, pop. 111,454)
- Clean air and good water
- Green design
- Green spaces
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Source: http://www.thegreenguide.com/travel-transportation/top-25-green-cities/1
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