State of California

AIR RESOURCES BOARD

EXECUTIVE ORDER R-12-009

Adoption of Amendments to the Regulation for Mobile Cargo Handling Equipment at 

Ports and Intermodal Rail Yards

WHEREAS, on September 22, 2011, the Air Resources Board (ARB or Board) 

conducted a public hearing after issuance of a Notice of Public Hearing (45-Day Notice) 

to consider the approval for adoption of amendments to the “Regulation for Mobile 

Cargo Handling Equipment at Ports and Intermodal Rail Yards (CHE regulation), 

title 13, California Code of Regulations (Cal. Code Regs.), section 2479;

WHEREAS, ARB has a regulatory program certified under Public Resources Code 

section 21080.5, and pursuant to this program ARB conducts environmental analyses to 

meet the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA);

WHEREAS, ARB’s certified regulatory program provides that when an action 

contemplated by the Board may have a significant effect on the environment, ARB staff 

shall prepare a staff report that shall contain a description of the proposed action, an 

assessment of anticipated significant long or short-term adverse and beneficial 

environmental impacts associated with the proposed action, and a succinct analysis of 

those impacts; 

WHEREAS, concurrent with publication of the 45-Day Notice, ARB issued an Initial 

Statement of Reasons (Staff Report) that included an environmental analysis that 

addressed potential environmental impacts related to the proposed amendments given 

California’s economy and its impact on operation of cargo handling equipment emission 

sources;

WHEREAS, the environmental analysis found that the amendments will have no 

adverse impact on aesthetics, land-use/planning, population and housing, 

transportation, agricultural and forestry resources, cultural resources, mineral 

resources, public services, utility and service systems, geology and soils, hydrology and 

water quality, or recreation; 

WHEREAS, the environmental analysis further found that the amendments will not 

impact the intended goals of the initially adopted CHE regulation – to attain 85 percent 

diesel PM and 75 percent NOx emissions reductions relative to the 2005 baseline by 

2020 – and, for all ports, with the exception of the Port of Humboldt Bay, and all 

intermodal rail yards, will not have a significant impact on air quality; 

WHEREAS, the environmental analysis found that for the Port of Humboldt Bay, the 

amendment to exempt the port from the CHE regulation’s requirements will result in a 
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slight emissions increase, but because of decreased activity at the port, emissions will 

be less than the baseline used at the time the CHE regulation was initially adopted:

WHEREAS, at a public hearing on September 22, 2011, after consideration of the Staff 

Report and public comments received, the Board adopted Resolution 11-30, which 

directed the staff to modify the initially proposed amendments that were part of the 

45-Day Notice, consistent with the resolution and the suggested modifications 

presented by staff in Attachment B to the resolution (a copy of the resolution is attached 

hereto as Attachment 1); 

WHEREAS, in Resolution 11-30, the Board directed the Executive Officer to make the 

modifications to the initially proposed amendments to the regulation available for public 

comment for a period of 15 days, that he consider written comments submitted during 

the 15-day comment period, and make such further modifications as may be 

appropriate in light of the comments received;

WHEREAS, the Board further directed the Executive Officer to complete the regulatory 

modification and – as the decision maker for the purposes of California Code of 

Regulations, title 17, section 60007 – the environmental review process in accordance 

with the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act and CEQA under ARB’s 

certified regulatory program, approve the written responses to comments raising 

significant environmental issues, and take final action to adopt the proposed 

amendments to CHE regulation as modified, or return the matter to the Board for further 

consideration if he determines it is warranted;

WHEREAS, on June 15, 2012, ARB issued a Notice of Availability of Modified Text and 

Additional Documents that reflected the amendments considered by the Board and 

other conforming modifications and included an updated economic and emission 

benefits analysis, all of which were made available for public comment, with the 

changes to the originally proposed text clearly indicated, in accordance with the 

provisions of title 1, California Code of Regulations, section 44 (Notice of Modified Text, 

a copy of which is attached hereto as Attachment 2);

WHEREAS, written comments were received during the initial 45-day comment period 

and after issuance of the Notice of Modified Text, and oral comments were received as 

part of the testimony taken at the September 22, 2011 Board hearing, and among the 

comments received were comments that raised environmental issues; and 

WHEREAS, ARB staff has reviewed and summarized the comments received, including 

comments raising environmental issues, and prepared written responses thereto (a 

copy of which is attached hereto as Attachment 3).

NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the recitals and findings contained in 

Resolution 11-30 are incorporated by reference herein.
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IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that I hereby approve each of the written responses to 

comments raising significant environmental issues as set forth in Attachment 3.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that I hereby certify that the environmental analysis

prepared for the amendments to the CHE regulation was prepared in accordance with 

the requirements of ARB's certified regulatory program under CEQA.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, after fully considering the amendments as modified by 

the Notice of Modified Text, the environmental analysis, and the full record before me, I 

find:

Ports and Intermodal Rail Yards Other than the Port of Humboldt Bay

The amendments to the CHE regulation as they apply to all ports and intermodal rail 

yards, other than the Port of Humboldt Bay, will not result in any adverse impacts to any 

resource area statewide or in-and-around the ports and intermodal rail yards referenced 

above;

The amended regulation would substantially reduce both particulate matter (PM) and 

oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions, as compared to the environmental conditions that 

existed at the time the environmental analysis was prepared, although the emission 

benefits could, in the short term, be somewhat less than what were projected to occur 

with the regulation when it was adopted in 2005/2006;

To address this potential for a reduction in projected future emission benefits, the

amendments include:

• A requirement that all non-yard truck cargo handling equipment four 

years and older be annually tested for smoke opacity; 

• A requirement that owner/operators who request a third and fourth 

year compliance extension for equipment for which no verified 

diesel emission control strategy (VDECS) is commercially available

must agree to replace that equipment or some other piece of 

equipment in the fleet with electric or hybrid models, if such 

equipment is available and operationally feasible for use;

• A requirement that equipment meeting the Tier 4 family emission 

limits must be retrofitted with a Level 3 VDECS, if commercially 

available, within one year of the CHE equipment being acquired;

ARB considered but could not find any other modifications that would 

eliminate or further lessen the identified potential for a reduction in 

projected future NOx emission benefits while concurrently meeting the 

objectives of the amendments to provide compliance flexibility and

economic relief to affected industries, and still achieve the long-term 

emission reductions forecasted for the regulation;
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Based on the foregoing, the CHE regulation, as amended, will substantially reduce both 

PM and NOx emissions, and therefore, the amendments as they apply to all ports and 

intermodal rail yards, other than the Port of Humboldt Bay, will not result in any significant 

adverse environmental impacts on air quality.

Port of Humboldt Bay

The amendments to the CHE regulation exempt the low-throughput Port of Humboldt Bay 

from having to comply with the regulation, which will result in fewer projected future 

emission benefits compared to reductions forecasted when the regulation was initially 

adopted in 2005/2006 and may result in a slight increase in emissions in future years 

compared to the environmental conditions that existed at the time the environmental 

analysis was prepared.

To avoid or substantially lessen this potential for increased emissions, cargo handling 

equipment at the Port will be regulated as follows:

• All off-road equipment at the Port will be required to meet the 

compliance requirements of ARB’s In-Use Off-Road Diesel-Fueled 

Fleets Regulation, Cal. Code Regs., title 13, section 2449 et seq.,

• All on-road motor vehicles will be required to meet the requirements 

of ARB’s Regulation to Reduce Emissions of Diesel Particulate 

Matter, Oxides of Nitrogen and Other Criteria Pollutants from InUse Heavy-Duty Diesel-Fueled Vehicles, Cal. Code Regs., title 13, 

section 2025;

• If the Port subsequently exceeds the two-year average annual 

cargo throughput limit established in the CHE regulation or the 

population in the surrounding community increases to exceed 

50,000 persons, the amendments require that each owner or 

operator of cargo handling equipment at the Port needs submit a 

plan for compliance with the CHE regulation; 

ARB considered, but could not find, any other feasible mitigation or feasible alternatives 

to the amendments that would eliminate or further lessen the potential for increased 

emissions and concurrently meet the objectives of the amendments to provide the 

needed economic relief to affected industries, with concurrent social and economic 

benefits to local residents;

 

Despite the potential for a slight increase in emissions in future years, upon balancing the 

this potential for an adverse air quality impact against the severe economic conditions at 

the Port of Humboldt Bay (an approximate 89 percent drop in tonnage throughput

between 2005 and 2011), the benefits of this regulatory action, in terms of providing
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economic relief to terminal operations and social benefits of employment, are determined 

to be overriding considerations that warrant approval of the amendments and outweigh 

and override the potential for any potential adverse emissions impact;

The exemption of the Port of Humboldt Bay from the CHE regulation’s requirements will

not affect the NAAQS attainment status of the North Coast Air Basin;

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, the amendments to Cal. Code Regs., title 13, section 

2479, as set forth in Attachment 4 hereto, is adopted.

Executed this 2 day of August 2012, at Sacramento, California.

 /s/

_______________________

James N. Goldstene

Executive Officer

Attachments