Environmental Groups Sue Long Beach

Environmental groups are suing the Port of Long Beach and the American Trucking Associations, claiming a settlement involving the port’s clean trucks program is illegal and should be thrown out.

The Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club said in announcing the suit Monday that Long Beach violated city and state law when it reached a settlement with ATA without first seeking public comment and an environmental review.

Long Beach announced the settlement on Oct. 19, sharply diverging from the approach taking by the neighboring Port of Los Angeles, which has stood firm in a lawsuit filed last year by the ATA despite rulings by judges saying aspects of port plans requiring truck drivers work through companies holding port concessions violate federal law.

The court rulings supported ATA’s contention that at least certain concession requirements, such as an attempt by the Port of Los Angeles to phase out owner-operator truck drivers and replace them with employee drivers, most likely violate federal preemption over interstate commerce.

In its agreement with ATA, Long Beach has since agreed to replace its concession plan with a registration requirement.

Los Angeles supports the concession requirements, especially the employee-driver mandate, which would make it easier for unions such as the Teamsters to organize harbor truck drivers.

In their suit filed Dec. 29 in the California Superior Court in Los Angeles Dec. , the NRDC and Sierra Club maintain Long Beach violated the California Environmental Quality Act by reaching a settlement with ATA without first taking public comment and performing an environmental impact study.

“You can’t cut the public out of the conversation when you’re talking about the air they breathe and the health consequences they face,” said David Pettit, director of NRDC’s Southern California Clean Air Program.

Tom Politeo, spokesperson for the Sierra Club, said the port’s clean-truck program involves more than replacing old polluting trucks with low-emission new trucks. The program also involves “reforms needed to establish environmental justice,” he said.