Council approves side letter with China Shipping; critics say agreement lacks enforceable emissions mandates

The Los Angeles City Council approved a side letter with China Shipping on Wednesday that obliges the company and terminal operators to adopt a range of voluntary mitigation measures for a new terminal, prompting praise from the councilmember who sponsored the side letter and criticism from environmental groups that the measures are not mandatory.

Kavita Paul of the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Coalition for Clean Air urged the council to reject the proposed side letter, saying voluntary language such as "encourage, participate, consider" is too weak to protect communities that already face high diesel pollution exposure. "Voluntary measures are not gonna protect the public from toxic emissions," Paul said, citing the scale of the project and potential increases in vessel, truck and tugboat diesel trips.

Councilmember Janice Hahn, who has represented San Pedro and Wilmington neighborhoods, asked the council to approve the side letter while adding a requirement that an independent monitoring body report on compliance. Hahn said she asked the Port to convene a task force of independent experts and an environmental affairs office in the City to act as an outside monitoring agency that would report on whether the items in the side letter are being implemented; she said the port and China Shipping had agreed to mitigation actions and that a 90-day report would return to council after the terminal opens.

Larry Keller, executive director of the Harbor Department, described the side letter as a negotiated set of voluntary mitigation commitments the port and terminal operator and China Shipping agreed to provide in addition to the lease. "It's not punitive…it's not law," Keller told the council, but said the parties were committed to implementation on an "aggressive basis." Keller said the negotiated measures include things channel-level regulatory agencies cannot obtain and described the agreement as "historic."

Councilmember Jack Holden and others pressed staff on enforcement: if the city’s environmental affairs office or the port finds violations of the lease or side letter, what penalties apply. Keller said the lease remains the primary contract and enforcement would depend on its terms; staff indicated the environmental affairs office and other agencies could be involved in monitoring and follow-up.

The council approved the item on a recorded vote of 11 ayes and 1 no. Several council members said they supported the side letter while acknowledging environmental groups wanted stronger, mandatory measures, and Hahn pledged to pursue an independent task force to study and recommend additional mitigation measures for port growth going forward.

The decision puts into place a voluntary package of mitigation commitments tied to the China Shipping terminal while leaving questions about enforcement and the strength of mandatory emission reductions to future work by the port and the independent task force Hahn said she intends to assemble.