The meeting provided an update on regional efforts to transition cargo-handling equipment and drayage trucks to zero-emission operations.
The Port of Los Angeles held a meeting on Aug. 3, 2026, to educate the public about the future of zero-emission infrastructure at the San Pedro Bay port complex.
The meeting provided an update on the first phase of planning efforts aimed at supporting zero-emission cargo-handling equipment and drayage trucks operating at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The workshop was part of a Cooperative Agreement among the Port of Los Angeles, Port of Long Beach and the South Coast Air Quality Management District that was approved by the governing boards of all three agencies and executed back in December 2025.
The cooperative agreement established a long-term roadmap for reducing emissions throughout the San Pedro Bay port complex by requiring both ports to develop comprehensive zero-emission infrastructure plans for all major sources of port-related emissions.
While the first phase focuses on container terminal cargo-handling equipment and drayage trucks, future planning efforts will also address harbor craft, locomotives and ocean-going vessels that call at the nation’s busiest port complex.
Under the agreement, the ports will prepare the infrastructure plans in three phases, with a draft plan expected in May 2027. Final plans covering all major emissions categories are scheduled for completion by the end of 2029.
For recreational boaters and the Southern California maritime community, the initiative represents another step in the continued modernization of the San Pedro Bay ports. Although much of the planning centers on commercial cargo operations, future infrastructure improvements could also influence harbor craft operations, waterfront development and the broader effort to reduce emissions throughout one of the nation’s busiest maritime gateways.
The agreement builds upon the San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP), a voluntary emissions reduction strategy launched by the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in 2006. Since the program’s adoption, the Port of Los Angeles reports that diesel particulate matter emissions have been reduced by 90%, sulfur oxides by 98% and nitrogen oxides by 73%.
Port officials encourage community members, waterfront stakeholders and others interested in the future of air quality and port operations to attend the workshop or participate virtually as planning for the next phase of emissions reductions moves forward.
