The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will provide US$25 million for a partnership with regional air quality agencies to jump-start charging infrastructure for electric heavy-duty drayage trucks in the area.

In a statement, the ports said the US$135 million in projects led by the Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee will install up to 207 charging units at eight sites around Southern California: Wilmington, Rancho Dominguez, Rialto, Fontana, Commerce and the Port of Long Beach.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District is administering contracting for the projects.

"We're investing with our Clean Truck Fund to get both zero-emission (ZE) trucks and infrastructure on the street as quickly as possible," said Gene Seroka, executive director at the Port of Los Angeles.

"In addition to funding charging stations, we're partnering with the state of California to offer vouchers of up to US$250,000 toward the purchase of a ZE heavy-duty truck. Every day, we're making progress toward our goal of a zero-emission port," he added.

In separate actions this week, the Los Angeles Harbor Commission and the Long Beach Harbor Commission each approved allocating US$12.5 million from their respective Clean Truck Funds for the plan.

The Clean Truck Fund Rate is a key component of the ports' efforts to transition to a zero-emissions truck fleet by 2035, as established by the Clean Air Action Plan.

Rate collection began in April 2022 at US$10 per twenty-foot equivalent unit or US$20 per forty-foot equivalent unit.

Exemptions from the rate are provided for loaded containers hauled by zero-emissions trucks and, under limited circumstances, by low-nitrogen oxide trucks. Through March 2024, the Port of Los Angeles collected about US$78 million; the Port of Long Beach collected almost US$75 million.