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Jun 16, 2009

CLEAN TRUCKS SUIT * USA - Maritime Commission files motion to withdraw port challenge

San Pedro,CAL,USA -The Trucker News Services -16 June 2009: -- The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) said today that it filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington a motion requesting the court to withdraw the commission’s challenge of FMC Agreement No. 201170, the Los Angeles/Long Beach Port Infrastructure and Environmental Programs Cooperative Working Agreement... The commission noted to the court that “the injunctive remedy under section 6(g) of the Shipping Act has become moot due to intervening events in the ATA litigation over which the commission had no influence or control,” the news release stated, adding that “ … effective on or about May 4, the Port of Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners took action that substantially eliminated the differences between the two Ports' exemptions from its Clean Truck Fees and incentives to truckers.”...

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Mar 11, 2009

CLEAN TRUCKS CHALLENGE * USA - Headed for the Top

Litigation likely to go all the way to the Supreme Court

Newark,NJ,USA -The Journal of Commerce Magazine, by Bill Mongelluzzo -Mar 4, 2009: -- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit will hear arguments in the American Trucking Associations' challenge to the Los Angeles-Long Beach clean-trucks plan, but litigation involving the controversial program will continue on for years regardless of what happens in the Pasadena courthouse... Litigation challenging the right of local and state bodies to regulate interstate commerce is complex and open to appeals. This case could be appealed all the way up to the Supreme Court of the United States, said Charles T. Carroll, executive director of the National Association of Waterfront Employers... The National Resources Defense Council, which is supporting the ports in the lawsuits, maintains that only large, well-financed motor carriers will have the pricing power and revenue needed to replace as many as 16,000 old trucks with new, low-emission trucks that cost about $100,000 each... David Pettit, senior attorney and director of the NDC's Southern California Air Program, said a sustainable trucking industry is a prerequisite for a viable clean-trucks program. "If it doesn't make economic sense, it doesn't make environmental sense," he said... Wednesday's hearing before the 9th Circuit court is on the ATA's request for a preliminary injunction against certain concession requirements. The FMC, meanwhile, is challenging the concession requirements in the Washington court, and the commission has also launched its own investigation of the clean-truck requirements that could extend into next year.

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Jan 24, 2009

CLEAN TRUCKS * USA - FMC judge allows petitioners in S. Calif. trucks case

Newark,NJ,USA -The Journal of Commerce Online, by R.G. Edmonson & Bill Mongelluzzo -January 23, 2009: -- A Federal Maritime Commission administrative law judge has ruled that petitioners in the Port of Los Angeles-Long Beach clean-trucks case can intervene in the proceedings.... The FMC administrative law judge’s order allows supporters and opponents of the anti-pollution program to use discovery procedures to collect information from the two port authorities and terminal operators that sought FMC approval for the plan... The FMC is concerned that certain concession requirements in the ports’ programs could reduce trucking competition and raise rates. The FMC’s main concern involves a Port of Los Angeles mandate that motor carriers employ drivers rather than contract with independent owner-operators... Petitioners in the case include the American Trucking Associations; Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association; three environmental groups filing jointly -- the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Sierra Club, and the Coalition for Clean Air -- and the National Association of Waterfront Employers... In a separate case involving the Southern California clean-trucks program, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit has set oral arguments for March 4 in Pasadena. That case involves a request by the American Trucking Associations for a preliminary injunction against the ports’ concession requirements... The ATA charges that a U.S. District Court in Los Angeles last summer erred in denying its request for a preliminary injunction based on truck safety and national security reasons. That decision is under appeal before the 9th Circuit...

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Aug 26, 2008

CLEAN TRUCKS SUIT * USA - Ports of L.A., Long Beach respond to ATA suit

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach filed a 60-page response to the American Trucking Association’s lawsuit

CAL,USA -Land Line Magazine -August 25, 2008: -- ... The ATA lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California claims federal regulations protecting interstate commerce prevent the ports from requiring that truckers be licensed concessionaires in order to enter the ports... In response to ATA’s claims, port attorneys contend that the ports are landlords issuing proprietary rules rather than regulations, and that being landlords negates ATA’s argument that trucks are protected under federal regulations governing interstate commerce... “As we will show, the concession contract aspect of the clean trucks program does not constitute ‘regulation’ as that concept is understood under the market participant doctrine but instead reflects the proprietary action of the Ports in their capacity as commercial enterprises and landlords”... Officials with the ports approved clean truck programs that will require trucks to meet 2007 engine emissions standards by December 2012, although that implementation may be delayed because of legal and regulatory action... The ATA’s suit seeks an injunction to prevent the ports from beginning the concessionaire portion of the clean trucks program... Both sides are scheduled to present their arguments before a federal judge on Sept. 8... The ATA appears to be at odds with at least two major carriers with memberships in the association who signed up this week to be concessionaires at the ports...

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Aug 23, 2008

CLEAN TRUCKS' SUIT * USA - L.A.-Long Beach Ports Defend Concession Plans In Court Filing

Ports' Opposition Brief

Long Beach,CA,USA -The Cunningham Report -21 Aug 2008: -- The Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach filed their response this morning to the American Trucking Associations' request for a preliminary injunction against the ports' plan to require all trucking companies servicing the port to obtain a concession and agree to a long list of equipment and operational requirements... The ATA filed suit July 28 in U.S. District Court against the ports. The suit seeks to block imposition of the ports' separate concession plans and asks that the judge issue a preliminary injunction against implementation of the plans until the case can be resolved... The ATA contends that the ports' plan to require concessions is an attempt to reregulate an interstate and international industry - something that is preempted by federal law... The ports in their response, however, claim:
* The ports are exempt from federal preemption because the law cited by the ATA does not apply to the tidelands property on which the ports are located.
* The ports are exempt because they are landlords - market participants - that have the right as commercial enterprises to set standards for those who wish to do business there.
* The ports are exempt because the law cited by the ATA does not apply to port actions directed at the safety and security of the ports - one of the major goals of the Clean Trucks Programs concession requirements.
* The ports also claim that the public health benefits of cleaning up the trucking industry outweigh whatever financial interests the industry may have in blocking the plan...

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