Container Fee * USA - California Senate approves

California's Senate today approved the Ports Investment Bill, which would tack on a $30 fee per shipping container processed through the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland

Los Angeles,CAL,USA -The Los Angeles Times, by Tami Abdollah -August 5, 2008: -- ... The measure, which will go before Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, is expected to generate more than $300 million a year to improve the freight rail system and fund projects to reduce air pollution from port operations and freight transport... Research by the California Air Resources Board released in May concluded that 3,700 Californians die prematurely each year from the movement of goods... The shipment of cargo containers -- which rely on diesel-fueled ships, trucks and trains -- is expected to triple in the next couple of decades, according to the Coalition for Clean Air... Last week the Public Policy Institute of California released a statewide survey that showed 61% of Californians support such a fee... (Photo by Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times: Shipping containers fill a section of the Port of Los Angeles. State Sen. Alan Lowenthal's bill is a reworking of earlier versions that he says addresses concerns of business, environmentalists, the governor and L.A.'s mayor)