Lowenthal statewide container fee bill passes Assembly

A California bill seeking to impose a $30-per-TEU statewide fee on all containers moving through California's three largest ports passed the State Assembly Tuesday.

The bill, authored by State Sen. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, passed 45-29, garnering four more votes than it required for passage. Lowenthal will now have to bring the bill for a concurrence vote in the State Senate. If it passes, the bill would go to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who indicated his supports and is expected to sign it if it reaches his desk. 

The SB974 bill, which would impose the per-TEU fee on containers moving through the ports of Long Beach, Los Angeles, and Oakland, is projected to raise $400 million to $500 million annually to be split evenly between goods movement infrastructure and air quality projects throughout the state. Under terms of the bill, the per-TEU container fee would be borne by beneficial cargo owners.

On the urban areas of our cities, there is a responsibility to mitigate the impacts that are most detrimental to our seniors and youth, said Assembly member Sandr R. Swanson, D-Oakland, during debate on the bill. If we are not responsible enough to develop public policy to make our ports good neighbors to our communities, who will Trucks, locomotives and oceangoing vessels have all been shown to be major generators of several harmful smog-forming pollutants, including diesel particulate matter, nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides. Due to the concentration of these sources around large ports, air quality studies have singled out ports such as Long Beach-Los Angeles and Oakland as some of the largest single point generators of these pollutants.

Opponents of the bill pointed to the possible loss of jobs and an increase in the cost of goods to consumers.

This bill creates more problems than it solves, said Assembly member Jean Fuller, R-Bakersfield. The bill would drive up prices, deprive consumers of low cost goods and possibly lead shippers to divert cargo away from the California ports, she said.

They can move to other ports, and will, Fuller warned.

Kevin Jefferies, R-Murrieta, said he had not planned to speak on the bill, but was forced to by the constant reference to the pollution danger posed to children.

The rhetoric has increased to the level in this debate where if you don't support it, you must hate children, he said in offering his opposition to the bill. Jefferies warned that the fee, because it will be imposed on import and export containers, would in the long run hurt U.S. workers who depend on exporting goods overseas for their livelihood.

SB974, the third incarnation of Lowenthal's statewide container fee proposal, has appeared and disappeared several times over the past year. Last September, the legislation was shelved after Schwarzenegger threatened a veto. The move was also seen at the time as an effort to allow the Southern California ports more time to impose their own local container taxes, which both have since done.

In February, the bill was again removed from inactive status and placed on the Assembly agenda, though no action was taken on it.

On Monday, Lowenthal added more than 150 amendments to the bill, including a detailed list of more than 140 projects that would be eligible for SB974 funds. 

Source: American Shipper