Los Angeles to Move Forward on China Shipping Terminal

By Karen Robes Meeks

On Oct. 8, the Los Angeles Harbor Commission is expected to certify the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (SEIR) for the Berths 97–109 (China Shipping) Container Terminal Project.

This final SEIR has been years in the making. In a letter to stakeholders, Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka spoke about finding out about “the languishing compliance with the 2008 China Shipping expansion Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and associated mitigation measures” when he first arrived at the port in 2014.

“With a focus on remaining solutions-oriented, I also immediately directed staff to begin a supplemental environmental impact report (SEIR) to bring about legal compliance and to ensure that we fulfill our obligations for the Berth 97–109 Container Terminal under the California Environmental Quality Act,” he wrote.

“After several years of required reassessment of the feasibility and necessity for each of the measures that were not implemented, including responses to many important comments from the public, we are now ready to present a Final SEIR to our Board of Harbor Commissioners for consideration.”

The special meeting will take place at 9 a.m. at the port’s administration building, 425 S. Palos Verdes St. in San Pedro, Calif.

For a copy of the Final SEIR, visit https://www.portoflosangeles.org/environment/environmental-documents.

LA Harbor Commission Head Steps Down

By Karen Robes Meeks

Ambassador Vilma Martinez will step down as president of the Los Angeles Harbor Commission, it was announced Thursday. Martinez, who has served on the board since 2013, led the Port of Los Angeles during its record cargo growth and the latest version of the Clean Air Action Plan.

“It’s been my honor and privilege to have served as president of the Los Angeles Harbor Commission,” said Ambassador Martinez. “I am very proud to have served our nation’s number one container port working alongside my fellow commissioners and port staff to assure that our port remains strongly competitive, grows sustainably and continues to be an engaged and supportive member of the community. I am forever grateful to [Los Angeles] Mayor [Eric] Garcetti for having allowed me this incredible opportunity to help shape the future of international trade in Los Angeles.”

Garcetti has nominated Jaime L. Lee to the Harbor Commission, which will require Los Angeles City Council’s approval.

For the last four years, Lee was a board president and a commissioner on the Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System Board of Administration. Prior to that, he served on the Los Angeles City Industrial Development Authority, the Los Angeles City Quality and Productivity Commission, and on the State of California’s Speech Language Pathology, Audiology & Hearing Aid Dispensers Board.

Long Beach Harbor Commission Shifts Meetings to Evenings

The Port of Long Beach Harbor Commission, which has typically met during the mid-day during most of its decades of existence, is switching to an evening schedule beginning in January 2014.

The panel’s regular, twice-monthly board meetings are being shifted to 6 pm on the second and fourth Mondays of each month.

The next two meetings are scheduled for 6 pm Jan. 13 and 27 at the Harbor Department headquarters, 925 Harbor Plaza, Long Beach, 90802.

Previously, the Board typically met at 1 pm on the first and third Mondays of each month.

The switch is expected to enable more public participation at the gatherings, something that the port has tried to make happen for years, even going so far as to conduct special meetings at locations off port or City of Long Beach property, such as at nearby schools and community centers.

Although Long Beach is making a switch, the harbor board for the adjoining Port of Los Angeles has no plans to change from a day to night meeting schedule in 2014. For the upcoming year, its meetings are mostly scheduled for at 8:30 am on the first and third Thursdays of each month, with a few rare exceptions where meetings are planned for the second and/or fourth Thursdays.

The Port of Long Beach Harbor Commission’s full meeting calendar for 2014 can be viewed at http://www.polb.com/cals/default.asp.

4 New LA Harbor Commissioners Seated

The Los Angeles Harbor Commission on Nov. 21 conducted its first meeting since new LA Mayor Eric Garcetti appointed four new members to the five-person body. The new members are:

Patricia Castellanos, who is deputy director of the LA Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE), a Teamsters-affiliated policy and advocacy nonprofit organization focused on advancing economic development strategies that lead to better jobs and an improved environment. Before joining LAANE, Castellanos was the harbor area director for former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Vilma Martinez, who most recently was U.S. Ambassador to Argentina from 2009-2013. Since 1982, Martinez has served as a partner in the law firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson, where she has specialized in federal and state court commercial litigation and equal employment opportunity and diversity policies for businesses.

Anthony Pirozzi, Jr., who is the director of systems integration, test and launch organization at the Boeing Satellite Development Center in El Segundo. He has worked for Boeing for 23 years, building and launching communication satellites. A San Pedro native, he became a member of the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce in 2006, and was chairman of its Board of Directors from 2010 to 2012. He has been a columnist for the local San Pedro Today newspaper since 2009.

Edward Renwick, who’s a partner at Los Angeles-based private investment firm The Yucaipa Companies, LLC. He also co-founded and is chief executive officer of Raineth Holdings, a $40 million real estate investment fund.

The sole holdover on the harbor board from the previous mayoral regime is former longshore union leader Dave Arian, who, like Castellanos and Pirozzi, lives in the Harbor area.

The Harbor Commission’s expected to elect its president and vice-president at its next Board meeting, scheduled for Dec. 12.

LA Harbor Board Approves Dredging Funding

The Los Angeles Harbor Commission has approved $7.5 million for the final phase of a project to deepen the port’s main channel. Under the project, the port’s main navigational channels and basins are being extended to a 53-foot depth.

The project’s final phase, for which the board approved funding Sept. 20, involves removal of dredge surcharge material and completion of a shallow water habitat in the outer harbor. Dredging and basin turning has already been completed.

“Channel deepening has been our single-most important infrastructure priority,” Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Geraldine Knatz said. “The completion of this project is critical to meeting the needs of the shipping lines that call at our port and growing our cargo business.”

The port’s nine container terminal tenants rely on the deep channels at the port to move cargo. According to the port, container terminals generate about 74 percent of port revenues. The port says the 15-year, $370 million project is expected to be completed in early 2013.

Port of LA Adopts Reduced Budget

The Los Angeles Harbor Commission June 7 adopted a 2012-13 fiscal year budget of about $954 million for the Port of Los Angeles, representing a 2.3 percent, or $22.5 million, decrease from the present fiscal year’s budget.

The financial plan, which goes into effect July 1, 2012, reflects the port’s conservative estimates of relatively flat operating revenues.

The port’s 2012-13 budget anticipates operating revenues of $398.6 million, about the same as the current fiscal year. However, it also projects an $8.3 million, or 4 percent, increase in total estimated expenditures above the current fiscal year. But despite the increase, total expenditures for 2012-13 remain lower than the 2011-12 budget.

Among the specifics: a capital budget of $285.7 million has been approved; infrastructure investments for fiscal year 2012-13 include $132 million in development projects at existing terminals such as the TraPac Container Terminal, the China Shipping Container Terminal and the APL facility at Berths 301-306.

Another $80.4 million is allocated for transportation projects to improve the movement of goods and vehicular traffic within the port and on surrounding roads and highways, and $19.2 million is dedicated to LA waterfront development projects.

The port also anticipates dedicating about $16.1 million to environmental programs and initiatives, including $6.3 million will be spent on Clean Air Action Plan measures, which include $2 million for the port’s vessel speed reduction program and a $1.5 million investment in a technology advancement program to advance green innovation.

LA’s reduced budget is in contrast with the Port of Long Beach, which recently approved a fiscal year 2012-13 budget that’s 12 percent larger than its current budget. The Long Beach budget, however, is $942 million, $12 million less than LA’s. Long Beach’s fiscal year begins Oct. 1.

An overview of the Port of LA’s budget can be seen at http://portoflosangeles.org/Board/2012/June%202012/60712_Item_20_Transmittal_1.pdf.