California’s ports are the lifeblood of the state’s economy supporting agriculture, manufacturing, and global trade abroad. We cannot talk about our ports without also talking about the men and women who make them work. Aboard tugboats and other harbor craft, these incredibly skilled workers safely guide the largest cargo ships in the world in and out of port. As they keep us and our sensitive coastal ecosystems safe, they should not have to worry about their boats melting down and catching on fire.
New regulations by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) raise serious safety concerns for the mariners serving on these vessels. The heart of the issue lies in a new mandate to retrofit certain vessels with unproven and unavailable technology known as Diesel Particulate Filters, or DPFs.