L.A. port reports progress in improving air quality

The Port of Los Angeles continues to make strides in reducing air emissions from trains, trucks, ships, cargo-handling equipment and harbor craft, according to the port's 2013 emission inventory report.

The port last year set new records for emissions of diesel particulate matter, nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides, which over the past eight years have declined 80 percent, 57 percent and 90 percent, respectively. The report also shows that greenhouse-gas emissions have declined 23 percent since the San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan was adopted in 2006.

For example, 26 percent of current drayage moves to and from the port are handled by trucks featuring engines that meet 2010 emissions standards — the "cleanest engines on the market," port officials said in a press release.

"The port has made significant progress on the path to a healthier future and is on track to do more," said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. "We are proud to be an industry leader both internationally and in California, a state known for the world’s highest environmental standards."

The port's share of emissions in a region that's home to 16.8 million people is dwindling, port officials said. Only 6.1 percent of all sulfur oxides emissions throughout the South Coast Air Basin are attributable to port operations — down sharply from 25 percent in 2005, they said. In addition, port-related diesel particulate matter emissions have shrunk from 10 percent to 4.8 percent, and nitrogen oxides emissions have declined from 5 percent to 3.5 percent since 2005.