Region 1: EPA New England
Sustainable Ports: Management
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Reversible/Automated Gate System
Purpose
Advanced gate systems speed the flow of trucks by automatically recognizing and giving clearance to their drivers and cargo. Terminal appointments can be granted to reduce waiting time. Carriers and shippers can have access to real-time information about their containers. Port staff can be deployed efficiently.
Locations & Projects
Port of Boston - Conley Terminal
Port of Seattle - uses radio frequency identification
Cost
Port of Seattle: by implementing radio frequency ID system, saved 3-4 minutes per truck.
Extended Gate Hours
Purpose
Evening, night and weekend gate hours can reduce gate and road congestion and on-dock idling time, reducing emissions while increasing productivity. However, doing so may disturb port neighbors, and requires cooperation from dock workers, trucking companies, and shipping/receiving facilities.
Location & Projects
Overview of efforts above - A Glance at Clean Freight Strategies: Gate Accessibility for Drayage (PDF) (2 pp, 41K, about PDF)
Pollution Reduction
Reduced turn times at the port and less congestion to/from terminals means less fuel consumed, and proportional emissions reductions.
Port of NY/NJ: truck turn time was reduced from 2-3 hours to is less than 1 hour.
Ports of LA and Long Beach more than doubled off-peak port traffic.
Port of Savannah: truck turn time decreased from 75 minutes to 42 minutes.
Cost
Long Beach + LA PierPASS program costs (including administration, bank and professional fees, and OffPeak program computer systems and software): $9.5 million
Port of Savannah: construction of new system cost $2,000,000
Improved Container/Freight Management
Purpose
A number of management systems and software tools are available to help reduce empty container movements, container dwell time, and truck wait times on dock and at gates. Strategies and systems include "virtual" container yard and container management software; optimizing facility layout and vehicle staging and flow; and hosting chassis pools.
Location & Projects
Port of Oakland – SynchroNet
Port of LA – eModal
Port of Long Beach – eModal
Port of NY/NJ – eModal
- NY/NJ virtual container yard feasibility study (PDF) (136 pp, 1.2MB, about PDF)
Port of Virgina - chassis pools
Ports of LA, Long Beach, Charleston, Savannah: considering chassis pools
Companies
Comments
Chassis Pools: Port of Virginia's HCRPII has achieved 100% cooperation and reduced number of chassis stored onsite by 5,000-6,000 (20% of fleet), opening up 40-60 acres for the terminal.
Cleaner Fuels for On-Dock Vehicles
Purpose
Using cleaner fuels for on-dock vehicles reduces emissions and yields a healthier environment for port workers and neighbors. Most offroad diesel-powered engines, including cargo-handling equipment, are now required to use Low Sulfur Diesel (500 ppm sulfur); by 2010, Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel (15 ppm sulfur) will be required. Many ports and terminal operators are already fueling equipment with ULSD voluntarily. Liquefied Natural Gas and Compressed Natural Gas are cleaner alternative fossil fuels, but require engine modifications or replacement (see "CHE – Repair Rebuild Repower" section) and perhaps new fueling infrastructure. Emulsified diesel and biodiesel are cleaner diesel alternatives that require no equipment modification.
Location & Projects
Port of Seattle: ULSD B99 in all diesel maintenance equipment
Port of Portland, OR: ULSD used in fire engines, backup generators, all construction vehicles on docks for more than 3 days
Port of Boston: ULSD for all on-dock diesel equipment
Port of Virginia: ULSD for all 600 CHE capable of using it
Port of Tacoma - Husky Terminal: ULSD/Biodiesel 40-50 blend for all yard tractors and CHE; 22 of 54 forklifts powered by propane
Port of Charleston: all vehicles using ULSD
Port of LA / Port of Long Beach: using Clean Energy Fuels natural gas
Port of Oakland: using Clean Energy Fuels LNG
Companies
Lubrizol PuriNOx water emulsion fuel & additives
Clean Energy Fuels - used at Port of LA and Port of Long Beach
Pollution Reduction
ULSD achieves a 97% reduction in sulfur over LSD and a 5-9% reduction in PM over LSD.
Biodiesel’s emissions reductions depend on the blend used. For example, B20 (80% petroleum diesel and 20% biofuel) reduces PM by 10% but increases NOx slightly.
Emulsified diesel can reduce PM substantially and NOx to a lesser but significant extent.
Cost
Port of Seattle harnesses the WA state incentive, whereby users of cleaner fuels receive a credit of $.20/gallon.
The price difference between LSD and ULSD is dwindling as LSD becomes rarer.
Biodiesel prices vary considerably by location, but paying a 10-20 cent/gal premium over ULSD is typical.
Emulsified diesel is not widely available, and costs about 20 cents/gal more than ULSD. A blending unit can cost $400,000. Engine power and efficiency may be reduced.
Installing a natural gas fueling station can be very costly, but contractors/suppliers may be willing to pay some or all costs if the host agrees to allow public access.
Anti-Idling Signs
Purpose
Posting anti-idling signs is a simple way to educate operators of on-dock equipment and visiting truck drivers. Signs can cite state idle rules. Port and terminal managers can enforce limits, and provide alternatives to idling like driver waiting rooms and shore power for truck APUs and TRUs.
Pollution Reduction
Idling trucks use up to a gallon of fuel per hour. The emissions consequences of idling vary by vehicle type, age, condition, and other variables. An idling vehicle burns fuel less efficiently than a moving vehicle.
Cost
Vehicle owner/operators will save money based on the price of fuel and reduced maintenance (idling increases engine wear).
Comments
The American Transportation Research Institute maintains a compendium of state and local idling regulations
EPA’s SmartWay Transport Partnership offers a wide variety of strategies and technologies to reduce idling
Storm Water Management
Purpose
Ports can take a variety of approaches to improving the quality of storm water runoff and reducing the quantity of runoff reaching harbors and storm sewer systems. Wherever possible, storm water should be prevented from coming into contact with potential contaminants, both by covering and containing materials such as fuel tanks and salt piles, and by cleaning up spills and leaks promptly. Erosion can be prevented by stabilizing and protecting disturbed areas. For areas of concentrated use and high potential for contamination, storm water treatment technologies that filter and capture pollutants for later removal may be needed. More natural and economical "low impact development" devices such as vegetated swales and semi-permeable pavement may suffice for less trafficked areas.
Location & Projects
Port of San Francisco: Piers 92-94 have vegetated swales (PDF) (23 pp, 397K, about PDF)
Port of Portland, OR: Terminal 6 features porous pavement in parking lots
Pollution Reduction
Decreasing concentrations of chemicals, metals, solids, and organics in storm water can improve aquatic habitat, make fishing healthier, and increase worker, neighbor and visitor satisfaction with the port environment.
Cost
Portland spent approximately $6.45m on porous pavement and saved $250,000 and a year of time on NPDES permitting. Maintaining permeability requires sweeping up solids a few times each year.
Comments
EPA New England maintains a Storm Water Virtual Trade Show to present information on widely-available treatment technologies
Information on "low impact development" storm water management techniques is also available from EPA NE
Reuse of Dredged Materials
Purpose
Material such as sediment builds up over time in port waters. Periodic dredging is necessary to allow vessel access. Some dredged material can be used to rebuild habitat or augment developable land. For sensitive end uses, contaminated dredged material must be treated first.
Location & Projects
Port of Oakland: Sonoma Baylands Tidal Marsh Restoration Project
Port of Long Beach: Wetlands Restoration
Port of NY/NJ: Claremont Channel project reused dredge materials to create wetlands, and after treatment was recycled into grout for construction
On-Dock or Near-Dock Rail
Purpose
On-dock and near-dock rail can minimize the number of truck trips needed to transfer cargo to and from the port. Shippers experience cost savings due to much the greater ton-mile fuel efficiency of trains versus trucks. Local and area emissions, noise and congestion are reduced accordingly.
Location & Projects
Port of Seattle: on-dock railyard
Port of Tacoma: on-dock railyard and highway overpass for trucks
Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach: on-dock railyard connecting with Alameda Corridor
Comments
EPA’s SmartWay Transport Partnership analyzed a wide variety of strategies to improve drayage efficiency, including substituting rail for truck transport.
Planned Port/Harbor Development
Purpose
Carefully planning land uses for new port and terminal development and redevelopment can enable more efficient cargo movements and transportation connections. Compatibility among mixed waterside uses (industrial, commercial, recreational, residential) can be facilitated by adequate sound buffers, non-glare lighting, and emissions reduction strategies. Space and infrastructure to support alternative power supply and fuel dispensing can be designed into development, for immediate build-out or later construction as funding support becomes available.
Location & Projects
Companies
Environmental Management System
Purpose
An EMS is a comprehensive approach to indentifying and managing all environmental aspects of an operation. The plan-do-check-act discipline built into an EMS can be set up to flag opportunities to make changes cost-effectively, such as upgrading equipment when due for service or replacement. Having a system for planning and recording environmental activities can prevent knowledge from disappearing with departing employees. By starting with just one operation or property, ports can ease into developing an EMS that works for them. Shippers and carriers with ISO certification view a port with an EMS as a progressive and organized business partner.
Emissions inventories can feed development of an EMS. Clean ports strategies, whether single- or multi- media focused, can derive from and contribute to EMSs.
Location & Projects
Ports with EMSs covering all or some of their facilities include: Seattle, Portland (OR), Boston (MASSPORT), Los Angeles, Vancouver, Houston, Corpus Christi, Beaumont/Port Arthur, Virginia, NY/NJ, Long Beach, Cleveland, Port of Everglades, Everett (WA), Freeport (TX), New Orleans, Baltimore, and Jacksonville (JAXPORT).
Presentation on Massport’s EMS development (PDF) (15 pp, 151K, about PDF)
Pollution Reduction
EMSs can help ports track and fulfill legal environmental responsibilities as well as identify timely opportunities for voluntary improvements.
Cost
Ports that implement an EMS can experience cost savings due to increased efficiency, lower insurance premiums, avoided regulatory penalties, water and energy savings, and reduced waste disposal costs. Having a robust, accountable environmental program can attract business and community goodwill.
Comments
EPA offers an EMS brochure and primer for ports, and a guide for preparing port emission inventories