The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners recently approved the final elements of a clean air initiative aimed at reducing pollution from trucks hauling cargo through the Port of Long Beach.

According to Associated Press reports, the commissioner voted unanimously to adopt several facets of the so-called clean trucks program, which looks to replace and modernize older-model trucks with ones that spew fewer harmful emissions.

AP attempted to contact the California Trucking Association for comment but was unsuccessful.

The program sets up a system for identifying and monitoring the trucks that enter the port so they can be monitored for compliance with security, maintenance and health insurance requirements.

Trucks operated by independent drivers or part of a trucking company fleet will be eligible to register for the program. Early drafts of the plan would have restricted access only to trucks operated by trucking companies, edging out the thousands of independent owner-operators that now haul cargo through the port and its neighboring Port of Los Angeles, AP reported.

The commission also adopted other elements of the program, including a proposal to push back the date when it will begin charging a $35 fee per loaded cargo container to October 1. It had previously been set for June 1. This measure is expected to raise around $1.6 billion to help pay to replace thousands of older diesel trucks with cleaner-burning models.

The commission also voted on a $2 billion financing plan for truck owners looking to upgrade their vehicles.

Exploding economic growth in Asia is expected to triple the cargo container volume at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach over the next two decades. This has raised concerns over the impact of pollution from trucks, ships and other vehicles at the ports is having on surrounding communities, AP said.

The two ports combined represent America’s largest port complex and account for more than 40 percent of all containerized cargo entering the U.S. annually.  The ports’ harbor commissions have each sought to enact a sweeping clean air initiative, which aims to slash air pollution from port trucks by 80 percent within four years. Under the proposed plan, only trucks built after 1993 will be able to haul cargo through the ports beginning in 2010. Two years later, all trucks servicing the ports must meet 2007 federal emission standards.