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Environmental teams from the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach are to hold a joint community workshop on October 14 to gather input on the next update of the Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP). Initially adopted in 2006 and updated in 2010, this environmental plan put together strategies for the reduction of air pollution from port-related sources.

The Clean Air Action Plan Update Community Workshop is to be held on October 14, 2015, at 3-5 p.m., at Banning's Landing Community Center, 100 E. Water St., Wilmington, 90744. The workshop is open to the public.

Since its adoption, the CAAP has resulted in reductions in air pollution from the ships, trains, trucks, terminal equipment and harbour craft that operate in and around the ports. Over the past decade, levels of diesel particulate matter have dropped 82 percent, oxides of nitrogen fell 54 percent and oxides of sulphur have declined 90 percent, due largely to pollution-reducing strategies implemented under the plan.

The ports envisioned the CAAP as a "living document", and have periodically reviewed and updated it. In recent months, the ports have started gathering input from multiple stakeholders. The workshop is to include a presentation outlining the scope and timeline of the next update of the CAAP, as well as an interactive dialogue with attendees.

The Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach are two of the busiest ports in the United States, and combined are the tenth busiest port complex in the world. The two ports handle approximately 40 percent of the nation's total containerized imports and 25 percent of its total exports.