Critics of new rules proposed by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to cut emissions from cargo-handling equipment at the state’s ports and rail terminals say the rules should be tougher, require faster action and be expanded to include warehouses.
Speakers at a Feb. 9 public hearing on the rules said that though they are a step in the right direction, they should require significant carbon reduction in the next two years, rather than the five years allowed for the conversion of some equipment to low-carbon emissions. They also said the DEP should mandate the use of electric cargo-handling equipment, rather than allowing cargo handlers to use low-emission diesel engines.
“Cleaning up emissions from cargo-handling equipment is an important” step, especially in areas with overburdened communities, said Jonathan Smith, an attorney for Earthjustice. “But we need to eliminate, and not just reduce, emissions from cargo-handling equipment.”
Representatives of the business community, including port and railroad terminal operators, said the rules could be too burdensome, hurt their competitive edge and disrupt emission-reduction efforts already underway.
The diverse response to the rules shows the challenge facing the state as it seeks to cut emissions and mandate expensive equipment upgrades at one of the state’s economic pillars, especially at the Port of New York and New Jersey. The challenge is heightened by the sensitivity over longtime environmental justice concerns in port areas.
The DEP’s proposed rules, which are based on similar rules enacted in California a decade ago, would require owners and operators of new and existing diesel-powered cargo-handling equipment to replace them with newer, less polluting models or install cleaner engines into existing equipment. The requirements cover a variety of vehicles, from the yard tractors that move containers around the terminal to mechanical equipment that can pick up, stack, and load and unload containers on and from trucks. (See NJ Targets Port Cargo-handling Emissions.)
Equipment that is more than 20 years old would be brought in line with the rules within two years, but equipment made since 2007, which is inherently cleaner, would need to be replaced or upgraded within five years. The rules aim to cut the emission of nitrogen oxides, which can damage an individual’s respiratory tract and cause breathing difficulties, and PM2.5, which has been associated with asthma, lung cancer and premature death.
The new equipment would need to meet EPA’s Tier 4 emissions standards, the agency’s toughest for emissions from diesel engines. EPA has estimated that the standard could cut PM2.5 and NOx by more than 90%.
Some environmentalists, who made up the bulk of the 30 or so speakers at the hearing, encouraged the DEP to also require warehouses to comply with the rules, arguing that they also use cargo-moving equipment and generate heavy emissions. Warehouse space in New Jersey is growing rapidly in the state, driven by rising cargo volumes through the ports and the dramatic increase in online commerce.
One speaker cited an April report compiled by the University of Redlands and the People’s Collective for Environmental Justice, which analyzed data on warehouse locations and air pollution in five South California counties. They found that the “top 10 communities in the South Coast Basin with the most warehouses also fall in the highest percentiles of toxic facilities.”
“Cleaning up all aspects of the goods-movement industry is the priority, not just pieces of it,” said Patricio Portillo, senior advocate with the Natural Resources Defense Council. “Excluding warehouses creates a potential risk that the old, highly polluting equipment could be shifted from ports to warehouses — a potentially perverse incentive that would run counter to the rules’ objectives.”
Megan Steele, communications coordinator for the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club, said the organization is “concerned that this rule does not go far enough, fast enough.” The rules should require a transition to zero-emissions cargo-handling equipment rather than allowing operators to shift to cleaner diesel engines, she said.
Yet Smith noted that the rules allow the use of 2010 model year engines, which are already old, and some could be in service for another five years before they would have to be replaced.
“We urge DEP to strengthen this rule and to continue to work toward zero-emissions equipment at these facilities,” he said.
Business Opposition
The rules are the latest effort by the administration of Gov. Phil Murphy to help the state cut its emissions by 50% below 2006 levels by 2030 and 80% by 2050. Other strategies include offering incentives and grants to encourage the purchase of electric vehicles, launching an extensive offshore wind program, and redesigning to state’s solar sector with a new incentive package and a new community solar program.
DEP rules aimed at cutting emissions from electricity generation and building heating systems also faced tough criticism at a public hearing on Feb. 1, when environmentalists and business interests criticized the rules, albeit for different reasons.
Ray Cantor, vice president for the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, last week told the DEP that his organization could not support the cargo-handling equipment rules because it did not agree that the state needed to act as fast as the department suggested.
“Artificial deadlines tend to result in bad decisions,” Cantor said. “Obviously, that’s what was happened here. Given the current state of the science, we do not believe that department has to act precipitously.” Excessive haste can push up the cost of responding, he said, adding that some port facilities have already introduced “very aggressive and comprehensive plans” to cut emissions, and those could be swept aside by the current rules.
Hurting the Competitive Edge
Michael Fesen, executive director for government relations at Norfolk Southern — one of three railroads, along with CSX and Conrail that operate in New Jersey — noted that his sector is already looking to cut emissions. He requested that the DEP allow an “open dialogue be constructed so that recognition of the ongoing efforts by the railroads and the yard operators to reduce emissions be recognized.”
He said the rules could negatively impact cargo-moving railyards, of which there are 50 in the state, in part by pushing up costs.
“Rail is typically a cheaper and more environmentally friendly alternative to truck, but we compete fiercely on price,” he said. “Increased cost of cargo-handling railyards will disfavor rail transportation overall throughout the United States.”
Robert Palaima, the recently retired president of Delaware River Stevedores, which handles cargo in the Port of Camden on the New Jersey side of the Delaware River, added that if the rules require extensive investment in port-handling equipment it could significantly impact the competitive position of some ports.
For example, converting the equipment at his former employer to meet the proposed DEP rules could cost $13 million, he said. “If the regulatory and cost environment became too burdensome, cargo can easily shift across the river to Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland,” he said.
Moreover, he added, the Port of Camden handles bulk and breakbulk cargo, which requires a more diverse set of equipment than that used by larger ports that move containers, such as the Port of New York and New Jersey, in the northern part of the state. And equipment used to move containers is used less intensely than that for moving bulk and breakbulk cargo, he said.
“This equipment isn’t used day in, day out [in] 24-hour operations,” he said. “So, I’m not sure that the emissions reduction will be what the department anticipates.”