By Peter A. Buxbaum, AJOTAlthough international trade has experienced a dip in volumes in recent years, the broader trend over the last decade or more has been decidedly on the upside. These elevated cargo volumes has led to increases in the numbers of ship calls at major U.S. seaports and of containers and other cargo crossing their docks and has highlighted the contribution that vessels and vehicles make to pollution at and near the ports. Many ports, including port of New York and New Jersey, have embarked on environmental programs to mitigate the effects shipping operations have on the ports’ local environments. “The program is focused on the three primary sources of emissions in the port: ships, trucks, and cargo handling equipment,” said Rick Larrabee, executive director of the Port Authority’s port commerce department. The Port Authority has committed $30 million through 2013 to the program. As of the beginning of this year, pre-1994 trucks were banned from the port. “That ban is now being enforced,” said Larrabee. A Port Authority survey conducted two years ago indicated that around 700 trucks serving the port would need to be placed under this program. A more detailed study from December 2010 showed that the number had dropped to around 220. The truck replacement program combines Port Authority funds with a contribution from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to provide grants and low-interest loans to owner-operators and trucking companies looking to replace their older trucks serving the port. “We have received applications under this program to replace 192 older trucks,” said Larrabee. “We think we have pretty much captured the entire population of older trucks in this program.” Larrabee estimates that truck replacement will result in a reduction of 118 tons of nitrous oxide, 14 tons of particulate matter, and 1,675 tons of greenhouse gases per year from the local environment. “The enforcement program is going pretty well,” said Larrabee. “We have created a drayage truck registry which means that every truck calling on the port has to register and it can register only it if younger than 1994. The system is now being enforced by the Port Authority police. The number of unregistered trucks has been going down every week and we will continue with our enforcement efforts.” A second truck ban will go into effect in 2017. At that point, all trucks calling on port will be required to meet 2007 Environmental Protection Agency standards for diesel engines. The Ocean-Going Vessels Low Sulfur Fuel Program will encourage the use of low-sulfur fuel by providing financial incentives to operators of ocean vessels. “We are also focusing on other sources of pollution,” said Larrabee. “We are providing a 50 percent offset for lines willing to slow down and use low sulfur fuels.” That means that participating shipping lines will benefit from financial incentives for up to 50 percent of the cost differential between high-sulfur and low-sulfur fuel. Shipowners commit switch to low sulfur fuels in their main and auxiliary engines while in port. The program also calls for ships to voluntarily slow down upon entering the port. Four or five lines are today participating in the program, said Larrabee. The Cargo Handling Equipment Fleet Modernization Program will reimburse participating port tenants for 20 percent of the cost of replacing existing cargo handling equipment with new equipment that meets federal air-emission standards. “We are providing grant money to terminal operators that want to replace handling equipment with newer diesel technology,” said Larrabee. “Two or three terminals have taken us up on that.” Larrabee acknowledged that New York-New Jersey green programs are modeled on developments which have taken place in other ports. “We have tried to find ways to use best practices not only from ports around the United States but around the world to attack the problem of emissions that cause air pollution problems in our port,” he said. The p