Collection of the Clean Truck Fee (CTF) assessed by the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach CA scheduled to have begun November 17 will be delayed pending resolution of outstanding regulatory issues.
An agreement filing relating to the ports’ arrangement with PortCheck is still pending with the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), and the fee collection will be delayed while issues relating to that filing are resolved. In the meantime, technical preparations for the fee collection continue, according to the port information.
Under the Clean Trucks Program, all trucks 1988 and older are banned. Trucks 1989 and newer are subject to the fee, with some exceptions.
The Clean Trucks Program is part of the Clean Air Action Plans of the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, which have the goal of reducing emissions of harmful pollutants by 45 percent by 2012. The Clean Trucks Fee is the charge in the ports’ tariff for cargo entering or leaving the port terminals, and will be used to fund the purchase of new, clean trucks through the ports’ grant program.
The new start date for fee collection is not yet clear, but PortCheck strongly urges cargo owners to complete preparations for claiming cargo online and paying the fee. Prior to the availability of the official PortCheck Web site, PortCheck urges cargo owners that are not registered with PierPASS to register on the PierPASS site.
Once fee collection begins, non-exempt cargo will not be allowed to enter or exit from a marine container terminal unless the cargo has been claimed by a credit account or the fee has been paid. Under the ports’ program, the cargo owner (the party named on the ocean bill of lading or their legal representative) is responsible for paying the fee. All cargo must be claimed before the fee can be paid.
More information on the Clean Trucks Program is available at the ports’ Web sites: Long Beach and Los Angeles.