New York-New Jersey seeks local harbor trucking oversight
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is joining the push by California ports to give ports exemption from federal trucking oversight, saying local regulation is needed to create stronger clean-trucks programs.
The Port Authority’s chairman and two senior executives sent a letter to Sen. Frank L. Lautenberg, D-N.J., calling for a change in the federal law to give ports the ability “to implement innovative programs that improve environmental, safety and congestion conditions.”
The letter, sent July 30 and obtained by The Journal of Commerce, says the exception the Port Authority wants “would not allow ports to limit competition” or to “enact regulations that affect rate, route or service of any motor carrier.”
The letter asks Lautenberg to seek the change in the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994, which set the current standard for federal pre-emption of local trucking regulation under federal legal provisions related to interstate commerce.
Ports in California, backed by environmental groups and organized labor, have also called for a change in the federal law since a court this year said parts of clean-trucks programs at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach violated the federal pre-emption against local regulation of price, routes or services by truckers.
The New York and New Jersey Port Authority says in its letter that the “archaic, prohibitive” 1994 law doesn’t allow local authorities to address the “significant challenges” they face in improving the environment and clearing congestion around ports.
The Port Authority did not immediately respond to a call for comment. The letter to Lautenberg was signed by Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Chairman Anthony R. Coscia, Executive Director Christopher O. Ward and Deputy Executive Director Susan Bass Levin.
The Port Authority’s chairman and two senior executives sent a letter to Sen. Frank L. Lautenberg, D-N.J., calling for a change in the federal law to give ports the ability “to implement innovative programs that improve environmental, safety and congestion conditions.”
The letter, sent July 30 and obtained by The Journal of Commerce, says the exception the Port Authority wants “would not allow ports to limit competition” or to “enact regulations that affect rate, route or service of any motor carrier.”
The letter asks Lautenberg to seek the change in the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994, which set the current standard for federal pre-emption of local trucking regulation under federal legal provisions related to interstate commerce.
Ports in California, backed by environmental groups and organized labor, have also called for a change in the federal law since a court this year said parts of clean-trucks programs at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach violated the federal pre-emption against local regulation of price, routes or services by truckers.
The New York and New Jersey Port Authority says in its letter that the “archaic, prohibitive” 1994 law doesn’t allow local authorities to address the “significant challenges” they face in improving the environment and clearing congestion around ports.
The Port Authority did not immediately respond to a call for comment. The letter to Lautenberg was signed by Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Chairman Anthony R. Coscia, Executive Director Christopher O. Ward and Deputy Executive Director Susan Bass Levin.