Diesel-powered locomotives, ships, ferries and tugboats will have to eliminate 90 percent of the soot and 80 percent of the nitrogen oxides in their exhaust by 2030 under tougher air-pollution standards issued Friday by the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA accelerated its original proposed deadline for cutting nitrogen oxides by two years; the rules will take effect in 2014 for vessels and in 2015 for locomotives. Some regional officials, however, said the new rules do not go far enough. CC Times 3/15/08
Under the new rules, locomotives, harbor tugs, barges, ferries and recreational boats will be required to use cleaner fuel, to retrofit existing equipment and to replace older models with new, cleaner engines. When fully implemented, the new standards are projected to reduce fine particulate soot by 90%, and nitrogen oxide emissions by 80%. LA Times 3/15/08
Eight California lawmakers are traveling overseas this week to study high-speed rail systems and other matters as the Legislature takes an 11-day spring break. Assembly members Charles Calderon, D-Whittier, Mary Hayashi, D-Hayward, Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, and Roger Niello, R-Fair Oaks, are on a trip to Spain sponsored by the California Foundation on the Environment and the Economy. Sen. Jim Battin, R-Palm Desert, and Assembly members Anthony Adams, R-Hesperia, Bonnie Garcia, R-Cathedral City, and Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco, are part of a delegation visiting Japan. One reason for the trips is to study the development of high-speed rail systems in both countries. SF Chronicle 3/16/08
The Municipal Transportation Agency's chief financial officer has outlined in a new report a number of moneymaking options to help balance the budget, including hiking the price of parking fines, parking meter rates and residential parking permits. The possibility of boosting the cost of the monthly Muni FastPass, which gives adults unlimited rides on Muni for $45, also made the list. SF Chronicle 3/17/08
Inland transportation officials appear to be winning their battle with those lengthy freight trains that pass through the region every day. They are convincing the state that allowing vehicles to pass over or under rail lines without stopping -- known as grade separations -- is critical to the shipment of goods across California, and, thus, are perfect projects for financial aid. Last week, the California Transportation Commission staff appeared to agree and recommended using voter-approved bond money for nearly 20 of the projects in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Commissioners are expected to make the final decision in April. PE 3/15/08
California High-Speed Rail Authority Executive Director Mehdi Morshed, joined Governor Schwarzenegger Tuesday in participating in a roundtable discussion at the State Capitol regarding the importance of investing in California's infrastructure and maintaining the state's economic growth through public private partnerships. Mr. Morshed noted that high-speed trains are attractive to private investors because California's proposed system will bring a $1 billion annual profit or surplus, once built. He stated that the proposed financing model prepared by Lehman Brothers for the planning, design and construction of the system has three tiers: state and local funding, federal funding and "P3"- public-private partnerships. PR Inside 3/17/08
In a move surely to get a rise out of shippers, the Oakland Board of Port Commissioners authorized the Port of Oakland's executive director to sign an agreement for a Bay Area Seaports Air Emissions Inventory. The new regional agreement names a Steering Committee comprised of the San Francisco Bay Planning Coalition, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (Air District), and five Bay Area ports. The committee members will coordinate future efforts to reduce air emissions from port related activities, a statewide priority for the California Air Resources Board (CARB). Logistics Management 3/14/08
Caltrain will begin installing more than a mile of fencing at strategic locations between San Francisco and San Jose next month to discourage trespassing on the tracks, according to the train service. KCBS 3/14/08
About 140,000 people, nearly 20 percent of them international visitors, were in Southern Nevada for the five-day ConExpo-Con/Agg show at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The show ended Saturday. Although industry leaders tend to sympathize with the Republican Party's anti-tax rhetoric, speakers from the road commission said the nation is so far behind when it comes to transportation more taxes may be critical to catching up. Las Vegas Review Journal 3/17/08
The Oakland Board of Port Commissioners—in a move already opposed by shippers—will vote at its next regularly scheduled meeting tomorrow to impose container fees for funding to purchase cleaner trucks to control air pollution reduction. The port is also considering a demand similar to the Port of Los Angeles to eliminate the owner-operator trucking workforce. Logistics Management 3/17/08
After a year of working with its stakeholders to develop a Maritime Air Quality Improvement Plan and a Comprehensive Truck Management Plan, Port of Oakland commissioners are set to consider a major maritime air quality policy statement at Tuesday's board meeting. Cunningham Report 3/16/08
Labor negotiators for dockworkers and some of the world's biggest shipping lines open talks today on a new contract with the aim of avoiding the kind of bitter dispute that paralyzed West Coast ports for 10 days in 2002. LA Times 3/17/08
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