PMSA’S Jacob says reforming California environmental act will boost renewable business

Reforming the California Environmental Quality Act will streamline permit processing for new and renewable business.

California is making the job of investing in renewable energy and manufacturing much more complicated because of the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). CEQA needs to be reformed so as to streamline project approvals, according to Mike Jacob, President, Pacific Merchant Shipping Association (PMSA).

In an interview with AJOT, Jacob said the CEQA process is slow, cumbersome and is hurting California’s ability to retain and attract new business as well as slowing down the upgrades that California is mandating for zero emissions investments.

For example, at Marine Terminals: “The permitting of marine terminals occurs within a very vigorous air quality regime enforced by the State of California at the ports. Marine terminals have very similar operating functions and so the generation of emissions by trucks and cargo-handling is predictable and should not require a brand-new environmental impact report evaluation of these already regulated operations when many of the performance characteristics are already dictated explicitly by the State’s own rules. Local environmental review of these potential impacts or alternatives serves virtually no purpose for decisionmakers when the marine terminal is already following the strictest set of air quality regulations in the country.”

Warehouses: Similarly, warehouses have predictable environmental impacts because:

• Most of their operations are conducted indoors.
• Outdoor activity is primarily truck related with loading and unloading operations.
• The warehouse is not a manufacturing facility and so there are no production related impacts.
• Most warehouse designs are similar and will have predictable rainwater runoff characteristics.

Under those characteristics “it should be possible to use existing data and experiences to produce a permit application based on past practices and characteristics,” Jacob said.

Unfortunately, “California does not allow for the streamlining of permit applications based on existing regulatory standards, past practices and experiences and so, as a result, a long, costly and time-consuming process slows down permit applications causing delays in economic development and job creation with negligible benefit to the environment.”

“This system needs to change,” Jacob added.

Green Fuels for Ships

Ships calling California ports “have already made substantial progress in reducing vessel emissions – SOx (Sulphur dioxide) has been reduced by over 98% and Diesel PM (particulate matter) is down 93% from ships in the latest Port of LA and Port of Long Beach emissions inventories. The next step for vessel emissions control is decarbonization. However, the move to zero emissions is likely to be long and expensive. One challenge facing California ports when faced with the issue of decarbonization of vessels will be providing vessels with alternative fuels. New ships that are coming online are being fueled by next generation fuel sources including LNG and methanol. There are other fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia that could provide zero emission solutions, but costs, production, supply, and delivery are a challenge. Carbon capture is another alternative for reducing emissions.”

Right now, “there is no agency in California that has been delegated with developing the infrastructure, delivery, and fuel necessary to achieve decarbonization for ships. For example, Maersk has built several ships powered by green methanol, but when it sailed its first methanol ship to California last year the company discovered that it could only source this fuel from China. Faced with the prospect that countries and regions are reluctant to invest in a fuel or fueling infrastructure that might not have a long-term market, vessel owners will need to respond to this uncertainty and have begun further diversifying their alternatively-fueled vessels into LNG when looking at their decarbonization goals.”

SB 298

PMSA is supporting legislation in the California Legislature “to implement a plan to produce, distribute, and deliver reduced carbon fuel regimes for ocean going vessels. The Pacific Merchant Shipping Association (PMSA) and its member companies are strongly committed to maintaining pathways to vessel use of alternative fuels in order to reduce the carbon intensity of vessel emissions throughout the world.”

As such, PMSA “applauds the introduction of SB 298, by Senator Anna Caballero (D-Merced), which will require the development of a state plan for the production and deployment of alternative fuels and carbon capture technologies at California’s public seaports. The use of alternative fuels by ocean-going vessels is rapidly growing around the world to facilitate international commitments to decarbonize ocean shipping. PMSA members are already investing billions of dollars in the construction of new, cleaner, alternative fueled and alternative fuel capable vessels. Under SB 298, the State will prepare to support these green initiatives and realize the immense air quality and greenhouse gas benefits of alternative fuels and carbon capture. Otherwise, availability of cleaner fuels in California will be severely hindered by a lack of fueling production and infrastructure.”

Both California and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) have established ambitious decarbonization targets, with the global goal of uptake of zero GHG (greenhouse gases) fuels by 2030 and net-zero GHG emissions from international shipping by 2050.

Jacob says one possibility might be “for the California Energy Commission to assume the responsibility for implementing an alternative fuels policy for ocean going vessels sailing to and from California ports,” Jacob said adding: “LNG may offer the best short-term opportunity for vessels calling on ports with an infrastructure and delivery system that already exists in other states that are handling LNG as an energy product, that’s not true in California which does not have any existing commercial LNG export terminals.”

Marine Terminals and Zero Emissions

The second challenge is “to transition marine terminals to zero emissions and that is being achieved by terminals that are automated and source electricity to power cargo handling equipment or secondly to incrementally switch over from diesel-powered cargo-handling equipment such as top handlers and rubber tire gantries and transition to zero emission battery power or hydrogen.”

The European Union has adopted a pragmatic approach which is to recognize that any progress in heavy duty equipment decarbonization should be supported: “Unfortunately, in California the South Coast Air Quality Management District and the California Air Resources Board have insisted on the adaptation of practices that demand totally zero tailpipe emission technologies even when cost and infrastructure aren’t available.”

At the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, “there is more innovation and investment in clean cargo handling equipment than anywhere else in the country, and we need to support the diversity of approaches to testing technology and investing in new equipment. Some terminals, like YTI (Yusen Terminals International) for example are still testing both battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell equipment… This is an incremental approach that is representative of how many terminals are making the slow but steady transition to zero emissions. Meanwhile APMT (A.P. Moller-Maersk Terminal) and TraPac at Los Angeles and Long Beach Container Terminal at Long Beach are examples of terminals that have already made the commitment to equipment that will be powered by electricity and thus primarily zero emission. For other terminals in Southern California and for the rest of the State, federal grants have helped finance the transition to zero emissions and driven technology decisions. However, this is changing because of the uncertainty of future support from the Trump administration to zero emission technology.”

Harbor Truck Challenge

Another challenge is in the transition of harbor trucks from diesel power to battery power. The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach’s Clean Air Action Plan requires that all harbor trucks accessing the two ports be zero emissions by 2035.

The challenge for truckers is that battery powered trucks are expensive and their range is limited and there are sometimes problems finding charging stations to charge a truck… As a result, truckers … often have “range anxiety.” The technology still needs to make the transition for trucks to be more affordable and more reliable. A key element is building more battery charging stations. The transition issues require a relationship with State and regional air quality districts that is collaborative and not adversarial. Even though there has been a 98% reduction in diesel emissions from trucks at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, regulators are still demanding 100% zero emissions at a time when that goal is still very expensive, and the technology is not readily available or feasible.”

In the European Union there is a more flexible and collaborative approach to decarbonization technologies and California could benefit by adopting a similar approach: “Punishing companies for not meeting regulatory goals that are not supported by batteries, charging stations, or sufficient alternative fuels is not a viable alternative.”

Port of Los Angeles DWP Problem

At the Port of Los Angeles, older Department of Water and Power (DWP) infrastructure provides electricity that can experience quality glitches that sometimes cause miniscule interruptions. The result of these interruptions can be that the operation of container cranes … can lead to shutting down ship to shore cranes which slows down operations. The Port of Los Angeles has been very responsive to terminal operator complaints and brought DWP officials to the Port to come up with a plan to solve the problem … Disruptions can be caused by old transmission lines and older substation infrastructure. The Port of LA has made a decision to upgrade the power delivery system by investing $500 million and this both solves this immediate power quality problem and also long-term power supply. At the Port of Long Beach, which is serviced by Southern California Edison, the power quality problem is not as serious, but they also need to address issues of long-term power supply.”