Harbor commissioners for the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach voted Monday to charge a fee on loaded cargo containers aimed at raising more than $1.4 billion to help pay for bridge, rail and highway construction.
The $15 per container fee goes into effect Jan. 1, 2009, jumps to $18 in 2010, then decreases to an unspecified amount two years later. It will remain in effect until the projects are fully funded, which officials expect will be seven years, but could be longer.
Funds raised by the fees are expected to cover about half the cost of building the slate of infrastructure projects, with the remaining money coming from federal and state sources.
Among the projects to be funded: construction of a six-lane bridge, a four-lane elevated expressway and several major railway track improvements.
The Los Angeles City Council must sign off on the proposed Infrastructure Cargo Fee before it goes into effect.
The fee is the latest charge tied to cargo containers moving through the neighboring ports as part of a sweeping effort to reduce air pollution in and around the harbors.
Last month, the ports approved a $35 fee on loaded containers beginning June 1. That measure is expected to raise around $1.6 billion to help pay to replace thousands of older diesel trucks with cleaner-burning models.
The two ports combined represent the nation's largest port complex and account for more than 40 percent of all containerized cargo entering the U.S. annually.
Exploding economic growth in Asia is expected to triple the cargo container volume at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach over the next two decades.
That has raised concerns over the impact pollution from trucks, ships and other vehicles at the ports is having on surrounding communities.
The ports' clean air initiative forecasts an 80 percent reduction in air pollution from port trucks in the next five years.
The $15 per container fee goes into effect Jan. 1, 2009, jumps to $18 in 2010, then decreases to an unspecified amount two years later. It will remain in effect until the projects are fully funded, which officials expect will be seven years, but could be longer.
Funds raised by the fees are expected to cover about half the cost of building the slate of infrastructure projects, with the remaining money coming from federal and state sources.
Among the projects to be funded: construction of a six-lane bridge, a four-lane elevated expressway and several major railway track improvements.
The Los Angeles City Council must sign off on the proposed Infrastructure Cargo Fee before it goes into effect.
The fee is the latest charge tied to cargo containers moving through the neighboring ports as part of a sweeping effort to reduce air pollution in and around the harbors.
Last month, the ports approved a $35 fee on loaded containers beginning June 1. That measure is expected to raise around $1.6 billion to help pay to replace thousands of older diesel trucks with cleaner-burning models.
The two ports combined represent the nation's largest port complex and account for more than 40 percent of all containerized cargo entering the U.S. annually.
Exploding economic growth in Asia is expected to triple the cargo container volume at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach over the next two decades.
That has raised concerns over the impact pollution from trucks, ships and other vehicles at the ports is having on surrounding communities.
The ports' clean air initiative forecasts an 80 percent reduction in air pollution from port trucks in the next five years.