Clean-Trucks Bill Lands in House

Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., on Thursday introduced a bill that would enhance the ability of ports to enact clean-air programs, while opening the door to unionization of harbor truck drivers.

Nadler, a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said his Clean Ports Act of 2010 would amend the Federal Motor Carrier Act to allow ports to enact and enforce clean-trucks programs “above the current federal requirements.”

The legislation has galvanized dozens of environmental, community, labor, transportation and shipper organizations to flood Congress with statements either in support of or against the bill.

Nadler, in a release, said the Clean Ports Act of 2010 has 57 original co-sponsors in Congress. The Coalition for Clean and Safe Ports, a national coalition of 120 environmental, public health, labor, business, consumer advocacy, faith and community organizations, issued a statement saying the legislation would help to clean the air for 87 million residents who live in or near seaport cities.

The coalition counts in its membership the Teamsters union, which is attempting to organize thousands of harbor truck drivers nationwide. Most of the drivers that shuttle containers to and from ports are independent contractors that, by law, cannot be unionized.

If the legislation passes, ports such as Los Angeles would be allowed to include in their clean-port programs a mandate that harbor trucking companies hire drivers as direct employees, thus making it possible for unions to organize the drivers.

In fact, the Los Angeles clean-trucks plan is the subject of litigation filed by the American Trucking Associations, which is challenging the program’s employee-driver mandate. The U.S. District Court in Los Angeles is expected to rule soon on the clean-truck plan, possibly in the coming month.

The Clean and Sustainable Transportation Coalition, a transportation and shipper organization, on Thursday wrote a letter to James Oberstar, chairman of the transportation committee, urging him not to co-sponsor Nadler’s bill. The industry group said Nadler “inaccurately states that the ports do not have the ability to enforce clean-truck programs.” Clean-trucks plans in Los Angeles and neighboring Long Beach already have resulted in the introduction of almost 7,000 new, low-emission trucks in the harbor fleet.

Meanwhile, Nadler and the Coalition for Clean and Safe Ports note that a number of city administrations, including the mayors of Los Angeles; New York; Newark, N.J.; Oakland; and Seattle, strongly support the Clean Ports Act.