vvEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
NATIONAL PORT STRATEGY
ASSESSMENT: Reducing Air
Pollution and Greenhouse Gases
at U.S. Ports
Executive Summary
Office of Transportation Air Quality
EPA-420-S-16-002
September 2016
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Executive Summary
Note: This document contains the Executive Summary of the
National Port Strategy Assessment: Reducing Air Pollution
and Greenhouse Gases at U.S. Ports. The full report can be
accessed at: https://www.epa.gov/ports-initiative.
National Port Strategy Assessment: Reducing Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gases at U.S. Ports
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Executive Summary
Introduction
Ports are a vital part of the United States economy, with seaports, Great Lakes ports, and inland river
ports serving as gateways for moving freight and passengers across the country and around the world.
Seaports alone account for more than 23 million jobs and seaport cargo activity accounts for 26% of the
United States economy.1 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimates that bigger Post-Panamax size
ships that currently call at U.S. ports will dominate world trade and represent 62% of total container
ship capacity by 2030.2 As our nation adapts to meet these emerging economic and infrastructure
demands, it is critical to understand the potential impacts on air pollution, greenhouse gases (GHGs),
and the people living, working, and recreating near ports.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) developed this national scale assessment to examine
current and future emissions from a variety of diesel sources operating in port areas, and to explore the
potential of a range of available strategies to reduce emissions from port-related trucks, locomotives,
cargo handling equipment, harbor craft, and ocean-going vessels.3 Diesel engines are the modern-day
workhorse of the American economy, and although they can be reliable and efficient, older diesel
engines can emit significant amounts of air pollution, including fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen
oxides (NOx), air toxics, and carbon dioxide (C02), which impact human health and the planet.
The entire nation benefits from economic activity from the trade that passes through commercial ports
located around the country. And while those emissions can reach significantly inland,4 it is the people
who live, work, and recreate near ports that experience the most direct impacts on their health and
welfare. EPA estimates that about 39 million people in the United States currently live in close proximity
to ports5; these people can be exposed to air pollution from diesel engines at ports and be at risk of
developing asthma, heart disease, and other health problems.6 Port-related diesel-powered vehicles,
equipment, and ships also produce significant GHG emissions that contribute to climate change. Even
though EPA has adopted stringent emission standards for diesel engines, many ports and related freight
corridors and facilities are located in nonattainment or maintenance areas for EPA's ozone and PM2.5
national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS), per Figure ES-1.7
1 American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA), http://www.aapa-ports.org/advocating/content.aspx?ltemNumber=21150.
2 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Port and Inland Waterways Modernization: Preparing for Post-Panamax Vessels: Report
Summary, June 20, 2012.
3 This assessment was conducted to evaluate the emission reduction potential of a range of available strategies based upon a
national scale approach, rather than the cost and other details necessary to apply strategies in a specific area.
4 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Control of Emissions from New Marine Compression-Ignition Engines at or Above 30
Liters per Cylinder, 75 FR 24802, April 30, 2010.
5 EPA's analysis is based on overlaying and merging U.S. Census tract level geospatial data (Census Bureau 2010) with EPA's
National Emission Inventory (NEI 2011) ports data indicating that approximately 39 million people lived within 5 kilometers of
ports in the United States.
6 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Near Roadway Air Pollution and Health: Frequently Asked Questions, EPA-420-F-14-
044, 2014, https://www3.epa.eov/otaq/nearroadwav.htm.
7 Based on a review of available data, EPA approximates that 40% of "Principal Ports" are located in or near areas that have
violated a NAAQS (nonattainment areas) or have previously violated but are now meeting a NAAQS (maintenance areas).
National Port Strategy Assessment: Reducing Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gases at U.S. Ports
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Executive Summary
Figure ES-1. Ports in Areas Designated Nonattainment or Maintenance for the Clean Air Act's NAAQS
J Pefit
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This assessment supports the vision of EPA's Ports Initiative to reduce air pollution and GHGs through a
collaboration of industry, government, and communities.8 EPA already supports voluntary efforts to
reduce diesel emissions through EPA's Clean Diesel Campaign and its SmartWay program. State and local
governments, ports and port operators, Tribes, communities, and other stakeholders can use this
assessment as a tool to inform their priorities and decisions for port areas and achieve more emission
reductions across the United States. Economic growth can go hand-in-hand with continued
improvements in the health and welfare of near-port communities and the safeguarding of our planet.
EPA developed this assessment in consultation with the Mobile Sources Technical Review Subcommittee
(MSTRS) of the Clean Air Act Advisory Committee (CAAAC) over a two-year period. In 2014, the MSTRS
formed a Ports Workgroup to develop recommendations for developing an EPA-led voluntary ports
initiative, and effectively measuring environmental performance at ports. The MSTRS Ports Workgroup
included technical and policy experts from a range of stakeholders, including industry, port-related
agencies, communities, Tribes, state and local governments, and public interest groups.9
8 The goals of EPA's Ports Initiative are to reduce air pollution and GHGs, to achieve environmental sustainability for ports, and
improve air quality for near-port communities. For more information, see https://www.epa.gov/ports-initiative.
9 For further information on MSTRS Ports Working Group participants, see https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-
06/documents/portsinitiativewkgrp 2016.pdf.
National Port Strategy Assessment: Reducing Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gases at U.S. Ports
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Executive Summary
Port-related diesel emissions impact public health and the climate.
Emissions from diesel engines, especially PM2.5, NOx,
and air toxics such as benzene and formaldehyde, can
contribute to significant health problems—including
premature mortality, increased hospital admissions
for heart and lung disease, and increased respiratory
symptoms—for children, the elderly, outdoor
workers, and other sensitive populations.10 EPA has
determined that diesel engine exhaust emissions are
a likely human carcinogen,11 and the World Health
Organization has classified diesel emissions as
carcinogenic to humans.12 Many ports and port-
related corridors are also located in areas with a high
percentage of low income and minority populations
who are often disproportionately impacted by higher
levels of diesel emissions.13
Port-related diesel emissions, such as CO? and black carbon, also contribute to climate change. Research
literature increasingly documents the effects that climate change is having and will increasingly have on
air and water quality, weather patterns, sea levels, human health, ecosystems, agricultural crop yield,
and critical infrastructure.14 Other health impacts that are projected from climate change include heat
stroke and dehydration from more frequent and longer heat waves and illnesses from an increase in
water and food-borne pathogens.15 This assessment provides options to inform voluntary, place-based
actions that may be taken by federal, state, and local governments, Tribes, ports, communities, and
other stakeholders to reduce these impacts and enhance public health and environmental protection.
10 Third Report to Congress: Highlights from the Diesel Emission Reduction Program, EPA, EPA-420-R-16-004, February 2016,
https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZvPDF.cgi?Dockev=P1000HMK.pdf: and EPA's Health Assessment Document for Diesel Engine
Exhaust, 2002.
11 Health Assessment Document for Diesel Engine Exhaust, prepared by the National Center for Environmental Assessment for
EPA, 2002.
12 Diesel Engine Exhaust Carcinogenic, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), World Health Organization, June 12,
2012, http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Monographs/voll05/.
13 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Control of Emissions from New Marine Compression-Ignition Engines at or Above 30
Liters per Cylinder, 75 FR 24802 (April 30, 2010).
14 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Climate Change Indicators in the United States, 4th edition, 2016,
https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators.
15 United States Global Change Research Program, The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States: A
Scientific Assessment, April 2016, http://www.globalchange.gov/health-assessment.
National Port Strategy Assessment: Reducing Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gases at U.S. Ports
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Executive Summary
Progress is already happening, but more emission reductions are possible.
EPA's technology standards and fuel sulfur limits are expected to significantly reduce emissions as new
diesel trucks, locomotives, cargo handling equipment (CHE), and ships enter the in-use fleet. For
example, the North American and U.S. Caribbean Sea Emissions Control Areas require lower sulfur fuel
to be used for large ocean-going vessels (OGVs). This has reduced fuel-based PM emissions by about
90%. Some stakeholders have also adopted voluntary strategies like those examined in this assessment.
EPA supports these efforts, encourages them to continue in the future, and hopes that this assessment
will encourage more areas to adopt and incentivize such voluntary programs.
EPA developed this national scale
assessment based on estimated emissions
from a representative sample of seaports.
EPA estimated Business as Usual (BAU)
emissions by projecting future trends
under the status quo. As shown in Figure
ES-2, total PM2.5 emissions are projected
to decrease in the future for most mobile
source sectors and years. The assessment
considered the impact from all mobile
source sectors, and the levels of emissions
shown in Figure ES-2 are based on the
assessment's geographic scope.
Figure ES-2. Total BAU PM2.5 Emissions by Mobile Source Sector
3,000
2,500
2,000
ra
a>
>-
1,500
1,000
500
Harbor
Rail
12020 ¦ 2030
CHE
Drayage
Figure ES-3. Relative Reductions for PM2.5
in 2020 (Scenario A)
Drayage
Rail
CHE
Harbor
Craft
OGV
EPA then estimated the potential reductions from a suite of
available strategies for all mobile source sectors for the
years 2020, 2030, and 2050. For example, Figure ES-3 shows
the break-out of PM2.5 reductions for all mobile source
sectors for Scenario A in the year 2020, with the highest
emission reductions being achieved in the drayage truck
sector. In this scenario, total PM2.5 emissions are projected
to be reduced by 47% in the year 2020 by replacing older
trucks with newer, cleaner trucks. This example illustrates
that voluntary, place-based actions can reduce emissions
from port activity and benefit public health in the
communities living near truck corridors.
National Port Strategy Assessment: Reducing Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gases at U.S. Ports
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Executive Summary
We can reduce emissions with effective strategies that are currently
available.
This assessment examined a suite of currently available strategies, including zero emissions (e.g.,
electric) technologies that can be used to develop voluntary programs to achieve additional emission
reductions. Some ports are already using the strategies in this assessment, including emerging
technologies, and their wider use could achieve even greater public health benefits.
Table 1-1 provides examples of some of the strategies in this assessment. The categories include
replacing older diesel fleets; operational improvements to reduce idling; and switching to cleaner fuels.
The strategies examined are not exhaustive; there may be other strategies that could also be effective at
a given port or for another application. For example, diesel retrofit technology has been a highly
effective strategy to reduce diesel emissions from school buses, transit buses, and long-haul trucks. EPA
did not include this technology option in its analysis since retrofitting port drayage trucks is less effective
than simply replacing them. While this assessment included a few strategies to improve operational
efficiency at ports, the focus was primarily on assessing technological strategies. EPA continues to
believe that operational strategies (e.g., reducing truck or locomotive idling) can be effective at reducing
diesel emissions.
Table ES-1. Examples of Strategy Scenarios Assessed
Sector
Scenario Description
Drayage Trucks
Replace older diesel trucks with trucks that meet cleaner EPA standards and
plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
Rail
Replace older line-haul locomotive engines with cleaner technologies, including
electric locomotives.
Improve fuel economy.
Replace older switcher locomotive engines with cleaner technologies and
Generator Set (GenSet) technology.
Cargo Handling Equipment
Replace older yard truck, crane, and container handling equipment with cleaner
technologies, including electric technologies.
Harbor Craft
Replace or repower older tugs and ferries with cleaner technologies, including
hybrid electric vessels.
Ocean-going Vessels
Switch to lower sulfur fuel levels that are below EPA's regulatory standards, and
liquified natural gas for certain vessel types.
Utilize shore power to reduce hoteling of container, passenger, and reefer
vessels.
Apply Advanced Marine Emission Control Systems for container and tanker
vessels.
National Port Strategy Assessment: Reducing Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gases at U.S. Ports
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Executive Summary
Replace older, dirtier diesel vehicles and equipment first.
As noted earlier, EPA's regulations for new diesel vehicles and equipment are projected to significantly
reduce NOx and PM2.5 emissions into the future. However, older trucks and equipment are longstanding
fixtures of many port operations, and it will take many years before these fleets turn over to newer
technology. Accelerating the retirement of older port vehicles and equipment and replacing them with
the cleanest technology will reduce emissions and increase public health benefits beyond what would
be achieved without further voluntary actions.
Table 1-2 provides examples of the emission reduction potential of port strategies evaluated in this
assessment. For example, the potential for replacing older drayage trucks with cleaner diesel trucks is
significant, with NOx being reduced in 2020 by 19-48% and PM2.5 being reduced by 43-62% as
compared to the BAU case. In 2030, adding plug-in hybrid electric vehicle fleets resulted in even more
NOx and PM2.5 relative reductions. In another example, shore power reductions of NOx and PM2.5 were
also significant, with higher reductions being expected if shore power was applied to a larger portion of
OGVs.
Table ES-2. Examples of Effective Port Strategies to Reduce NOx and PM2.5 Emissions
Strategy Scenario
Percent reduction from BAU
NOx
PM2.5
2020
2030
2020
2030
Replace older drayage trucks
19-48%
48-60%
43-62%
34-52%
Replace older switcher locomotives
16-34%
17-43%
22-44%
24-47%
Replace older CHE
17-39%
13-25%
18-37%
12-25%
Replace or repower harbor craft
10-24%
25-38%
13-41%
28-37%
Reduce OGV hoteling emissions with shore power16
4-9%
7-16%
3-8%
7-16%
16 The shore power results also account for the emissions from generating electricity.
National Port Strategy Assessment: Reducing Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gases at U.S. Ports
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Executive Summary
C02 continues to increase, but effective strategies are available.
Port-related C02 emissions are projected to increase from current levels for all mobile sources in all
future years, as shown in Figure ES-4, in large part due to significant increases in economic trade and
activity. In addition, most of EPA's existing regulations and standards do not address C02 emissions for
port mobile source sectors.17
Figure ES-4. Total BAU C02 Emissions by Mobile Source Sector
8,000,000
7,000,000
6,000,000
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Executive Summary
Reduction potential varies across mobile source sectors.
The voluntary strategies examined in this assessment do not achieve the same level of reductions across
all mobile source sectors and pollutants. Specifically, strategy scenarios that target land-side operations
(i.e., drayage trucks, locomotives, and CHE) are generally expected to result in greater emission
reductions than those targeting water-side operations (i.e., harbor craft and OGVs). This is illustrated in
Figure ES-5, which shows the total tons of NOx reduced from the 2020 and 2030 BAU cases assumed in
this assessment for land-side mobile source sectors.
Figure ES-5. Total NOx Reductions for Land-side Mobile Source Sectors
12,000
10,000
8,000
CHE
6,000
Rail
4,000 ¦ Dray
>-
2,000
0
I Remaining
2020/A 2020/B 2030/A 2030/B
Land-side Sector NOx Reductions
The 2020 and 2030 BAU emission levels are the total bars for 2020 and 2030, with the amount of NOx
emissions reduced from CHE, rail, and drayage truck strategies shown in different colors respectively.
For each of these years, there were two strategy scenarios examined (i.e., Scenarios A and B),19 with
Scenario B being a more aggressive suite of strategies than Scenario A. The significant levels of
reductions shown above are especially important for the drayage truck and rail sectors since these are
the sectors that are typically closer to neighborhoods, schools, and other parts of communities located
in close proximity to ports.
In contrast, the scenarios for harbor craft and OGV sectors produced lower, but still significant,
reductions from these respective 2020 and 2030 BAU emission levels. In practice, the most effective
emission reduction strategies for any mobile source sector would be those that are tailored to the
specific circumstances of a given port area.
19 For example, "2020/A" shows the emissions reduced from Scenario A in 2020.
National Port Strategy Assessment: Reducing Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gases at U.S. Ports
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Executive Summary
Effective strategies are available for every type and size of port.
EPA recognizes that many strategies reduce diesel emissions across different port emission profiles, as
illustrated by the effective strategies examined at the assessment's representative sample of U.S.
seaports. But the assessment could also be informative for voluntary decisions at other seaports, Great
Lakes and inland river ports, or other freight and passenger facilities with similar mobile source profiles.
EPA conducted a stratification analysis to further understand the assessment results, since U.S. ports
vary in size, purpose, mix of vessels, and ground transportation. This analysis assessed the effectiveness
of strategies for ports of different types: container, bulk, and passenger; and sizes: large and small.20
The stratification analysis shows that not all strategies can be expected to have the same results at all
ports. For example, Figure ES-6 illustrates the effectiveness of reducing emissions while OGVs are
operating their auxiliary engines. For the year 2020, switching to a cleaner fuel was projected to be
more effective for reducing emissions from ships carrying bulk cargo while shore power technology was
more effective at reducing NOx emissions for passenger ships. Shore power is expected to be more
effective at reducing NOx emissions for a passenger port because passenger ships tend to call the same
ports frequently, making it more feasible to adapt these vessels to use shore power.21 In contrast, ships
carrying bulk cargo typically do not call on the same port as often in a given year.
Stakeholders should consider what combination of strategies should be used to reduce emissions for a
particular port area, depending upon the type of activity at a port.
Figure ES-6. NOx Reduction Effectiveness of Different Strategies at Different Kinds of Ports (Scenario B)
Auxiliary Fuel Change Shore Power
8%
7%
6%
5%
4% ¦ "2020
a) 5%
4%
3%
ll ; il
12030
0%
Bulk Container Passenger Bulk Container Passenger
20 These terms are not official classifications, but were defined and used in this analysis to differentiate among port sources
considered in this assessment.
21 The shore power results also account for the emissions from generating electricity.
National Port Strategy Assessment: Reducing Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gases at U.S. Ports
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Executive Summary
More focus is needed to reduce port-related emissions.
State and local governments, ports and port operators, Tribes, communities, and other stakeholders can
use this assessment as a tool to inform priorities and decisions about their port area. EPA's assessment
illustrates how more investment in reducing port-related emissions through voluntary place-based
programs can make a difference. This is important to consider in future planning, with U.S. port and
private sector partners projected to spend $154.8 billion on port-related infrastructure, with an
additional $24.8 billion of investment by the federal government in U.S. ports through 2020.22
Many of the strategies in this assessment are also eligible for existing federal funding sources, such as
EPA's Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) grant program, which has been instrumental in furthering
emission reductions through clean diesel projects located at ports and goods movement hubs. Since the
first appropriation of the DERA program in Fiscal Year 2008, $148 million has gone toward 129 grants to
fund projects at or near ports, with $80 million of this amount going to projects specifically at port
facilities, including CHE upgrades, drayage truck replacements, locomotive engine repowers, and more.
Other sources of federal funding that have been used for port-related emission reduction projects
include the Department of Transportation's Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery
(TIGER) and Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) programs, and the Department
of Energy's Clean Cities program.
m /jf*
When assessing strategies for a specific
port area, here are some questions to
consider:
J Is there a port-specific emission
inventory or clean air plan
available to inform decisions?
S What is the type and size of the
port?
S What source sectors are the
most significant diesel emitters
at the port?
How old are the diesel fleets of
each port sector?
•f Is there an existing forum for
stakeholder participation?
22 Results of AAPA's Port Planned Infrastructure Investment Survey: Infrastructure investment plans for U.S. ports and their
private sector partners, 2016 through 2020, AAPA, April 6, 2016, http://aapa.files.cms-
plus.com/SeminarPresentations/2016Seminars/2016PRCommitteeMarchMeeting/2016-
2020%20Port%20Planned%20lnfrastructure%20lnvestment%20Survev%203-3-2016.pdf.
National Port Strategy Assessment: Reducing Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gases at U.S. Ports
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