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The Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy, an initiative of the ports of Tacoma, Seattle and Vancouver, to reduce air emissions in the Puget Sound and Georgia air basins, has led to 'significant improvement' during its first three years, a new report says.

The newly released implementation report documents how the ports are meeting short- and long-term clean air goals for ships, cargo-handling equipment, rail, trucks and harbor craft.

The goals were adopted in early 2008 as part of the Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy. The implementation report highlights the improvements achieved by all three ports through their cooperative relationships with customers, tenants, and air and environmental regulatory agencies.

The 2010 results mark the end of the strategy’s first milestone, showing progress in producing cleaner air for the communities that surround the area's harbors.

A summary of the 2010 results have been included below.

* Ships: 44 percent of ships calling frequently used low sulphur fuels or electrical shore power to meet the performance measure.

* Harbor craft: Made progress through replaced engines, shore power connections, resurfaced hulls and low sulphur fuels.

* Cargo-handling equipment: 62 percent of diesel-powered equipment met the performance measure through retrofits, replacements or use of low sulphur fuels.

* Trucks: 98 percent of drayage trucks met the measure through outreach, engine retrofits or incentive programs.

The report shows detailed results for each port. It also outlines efforts currently underway to meet the more stringent 2015 standards.

Links to result highlights for the ports of Seattle and Tacoma have been provided below:

Port of Seattle - Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy

Port of Tacoma - Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy

Next steps include:

* 2011 update of baseline data from a 2005 inventory of air emissions from maritime-related diesel equipment in the greater Puget Sound region, and

* 2012 review of the strategy to incorporate lessons learned and set new goals.