Post by truckerusa on Nov 4, 2008 13:56:51 GMT -5
Press Telegram
Truck-Ban Litigation Splits Panel
11/4/2008
By Kristopher Hanson
A lawsuit filed Friday to block portions of the dirty truck ban in the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles has divided the three-member Federal Maritime Commission and left its members facing the wrath of a green-leaning Congress.
The 2-1 commission decision came despite pleas, personal talks and letters from more than 30 Congressmembers, U.S. Senators, environmentalists, labor leaders, port authorities and security experts who urged the federal agency not to intervene.
Many blame the board for caving in to intense pressure from truck lobbyists and big-box retailers who oppose any regulations on the shipping industry.
In a lengthy dissent letter, Commissioner Joseph Brennan, a former governor and congressman from Maine, blasted his fellow commissioners for backing the court fight.
"(The decision) displays a bureaucratic arrogance and ignores the felt needs of the citizens of Los Angeles to clean up their air, expand their port, and promote a living wage for truck drivers working at the port," Brennan wrote.
The lawsuit, which alleges the truck ban creates "unreasonable" shipping price increases, is the latest legal challenge to the ports' truck ban, which began Oct. 1 with a ban on all diesel rigs built before 1989.
Port authorities are already battling a separate lawsuit filed by the trucking industry, but that case has twice been deferred by federal judges in California, who said the health, security and environmental improvements stimulated by the plan far outweigh any slight increases in shipping costs.
"Brennan says he believes the FMC's attempt to block the (plan) should, and will, meet the same fate in court," according to a statement from his secretary, Karen Gregory.
Among the elected leaders supporting the ports' approach are Long Beach-area Congressmembers Laura Richardson and Linda Sanchez, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and California Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein.
The Sierra Club, which also supports the plan, said it will slash truck diesel emissions 80 percent within five years.
"This is the Bush Administration's last-ditch effort to let the nation's largest trucking lobby off the hook for the pollution they create," said Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope. "Two commissioners in Washington, D.C. should not make a decision behind closed doors to ruin clean air for all southern Californians."
The FMC case could be heard by a judge in the Washington D.C.-area within the next week.
Truck-Ban Litigation Splits Panel
11/4/2008
By Kristopher Hanson
A lawsuit filed Friday to block portions of the dirty truck ban in the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles has divided the three-member Federal Maritime Commission and left its members facing the wrath of a green-leaning Congress.
The 2-1 commission decision came despite pleas, personal talks and letters from more than 30 Congressmembers, U.S. Senators, environmentalists, labor leaders, port authorities and security experts who urged the federal agency not to intervene.
Many blame the board for caving in to intense pressure from truck lobbyists and big-box retailers who oppose any regulations on the shipping industry.
In a lengthy dissent letter, Commissioner Joseph Brennan, a former governor and congressman from Maine, blasted his fellow commissioners for backing the court fight.
"(The decision) displays a bureaucratic arrogance and ignores the felt needs of the citizens of Los Angeles to clean up their air, expand their port, and promote a living wage for truck drivers working at the port," Brennan wrote.
The lawsuit, which alleges the truck ban creates "unreasonable" shipping price increases, is the latest legal challenge to the ports' truck ban, which began Oct. 1 with a ban on all diesel rigs built before 1989.
Port authorities are already battling a separate lawsuit filed by the trucking industry, but that case has twice been deferred by federal judges in California, who said the health, security and environmental improvements stimulated by the plan far outweigh any slight increases in shipping costs.
"Brennan says he believes the FMC's attempt to block the (plan) should, and will, meet the same fate in court," according to a statement from his secretary, Karen Gregory.
Among the elected leaders supporting the ports' approach are Long Beach-area Congressmembers Laura Richardson and Linda Sanchez, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and California Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein.
The Sierra Club, which also supports the plan, said it will slash truck diesel emissions 80 percent within five years.
"This is the Bush Administration's last-ditch effort to let the nation's largest trucking lobby off the hook for the pollution they create," said Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope. "Two commissioners in Washington, D.C. should not make a decision behind closed doors to ruin clean air for all southern Californians."
The FMC case could be heard by a judge in the Washington D.C.-area within the next week.
