Port of Long Beach. Image Credit: POLB

• Port of Long Beach approves "CAAP Plus" measures including enhanced green ship incentives
• $40 million committed to a regional zero-emissions truck charging network
• Approval comes days after congressional resolutions targeting California's At-Berth and harbor craft waivers
• Port of Los Angeles board votes on the same measures August 13
• New board president Steven Neal flags nuclear standards work with MARAD as port expands electricity, hydrogen, and methanol use

The Port of Long Beach has approved a package of new clean air measures, including enhanced incentives to attract the cleanest oceangoing vessels, just days after lawmakers in Washington moved to strip California of its authority to mandate shipping emissions rules.

The port's Board of Harbor Commissioners voted unanimously on August 10 in favour of the "CAAP Plus" measures, developed with the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), which approved them on August 7, with the Port of Los Angeles board scheduled to vote on August 13.

The three strategies include enhancements to the ports' existing green ship incentive programmes, which reward the cleanest vessels calling at the San Pedro Bay complex, alongside $40 million in new funding for a regionwide zero-emissions truck charging network and a further truck deployment incentive scheme.

The timing makes for an interesting contrast with pressures coming from the federal level.

As Ship & Bunker previously reported, last week Republican lawmakers filed resolutions in Congress to overturn the federal waivers behind California's At-Berth shore power rule and its renewable diesel mandate for harbor craft,

However, the Clean Air Action Plan is voluntary, and therefore untouched by the waiver fight, meaning incentive programmes of this kind could end up carrying more of the load if the state's mandatory rules fall.

The ports say the plan has delivered reductions of 90% in diesel particulate matter, 68% in nitrogen oxides, and 98% in sulphur oxides from port-related sources since 2005.

"As we prepare to handle 20 million TEUs by 2050, we are building the Port of the Future — a 100% zero-emissions port," Dr Noel Hacegaba, CEO of the Port of Long Beach, said in a statement.

"This new set of clean-air strategies strengthens our commitment, accelerates the zero-emissions transition and ensures cleaner air across the South Coast Air Basin."

The vote came on the same day Steven Neal began his one-year term as president of the port's harbor commission, pledging to advance its plan to double cargo to 20 million TEUs annually by 2050 while becoming a fully zero-emissions seaport.

Neal pointed to the port's growing use of electricity, hydrogen, and methanol for clean energy, and noted its recent partnership with the US Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration (MARAD) to develop operational, safety, and security standards for deploying nuclear energy in port operations.

"As global trade continues to expand and the demand for reliable, clean energy grows, we have an opportunity to lead — not simply by adapting to change, but by helping shape it," Neal said.

The new measures form an addendum to the Cooperative Agreement between the two ports and SCAQMD adopted last December, with the first phase of the ports' zero-emissions infrastructure plans expected in spring 2027.

Long Beach currently operates 102 charging stations, which it says is the most of any US seaport, with 92 more due online later this year.