Meanwhile, POLA's long-term perspective has grown ever sharper in contrast. "People who think that this is all about getting our drayage fleet to 100-percent 2007 trucks and then wiping their hands and saying " we're done" "we cleaned the air" aren't seeing the big picture," POLA Executive Director Geraldine Knatz said. "Our program was designed to create a sustainable solution -- not a one shot deal."

POLA not only continues fighting in court, but is gaining allies nationwide in an activist-lead effort to rewrite the law that ATA is suing under-the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act, or F4A. Just the day before POLB announced its backroom deal to abandon the suit, the mayors of New York City and Newark, New Jersey added their voices to the growing chorus of voices praising POLA's plan and calling for Congress to modify F4A to explicitly authorize state and local governments to regulate port trucking to deal with air pollution, congestion and homeland security problems, as well as ill-defined "safety" concerns.

The timing could not have been more revealing of POLB's perceived bad faith. "If the law has been changed, then there's nothing left of the lawsuit for Long Beach to be afraid of." Pettit told Random Lengths.

"We've started to get a lot of interest and support," said Melissa Lin Perella, an NRDC attorney who is working on crafting proposed legislative language in consultation with other organizational members of the broad-based Coalition for Clean and Safe Ports (CCSP). "It seems like every week another port and another lawmaker comes out in support of amending the F4A," she added. Other prominent supporters include the port and mayor of Oakland (former Congressmember Ron Dellums), the San Francisco Bay Air Quality Management District, Broward County Mayor Stacy Ritter, and a growing number of congressmembers.

"I've always believed that cities should have the freedom to set their own policies in tackling tough problems - especially in the absence of strong federal leadership," New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.  "Cities can serve as laboratories for testing innovative new ideas.... And today, we're here because we've seen how an innovative program in Los Angeles - the Clean Truck Program - has produced real economic and environmental benefits."

"We're very pleased with the groundswell of support that has been building around the country," said POLA spokesman Arley Baker.  "It shows that the challenges that we are facing with our port drayage system are challenges that other cities and ports also recognize and want to proactively address."

The ATA claims it supports the ports clean air goals, and only opposes measures that have nothing to do with cleaning the air. But environmentalists and their allies dispute this claim. "This is simply not credible since the ATA has repeatedly worked against federal truck emissions standard proposed (and ultimately promulgated) by the U.S. EPA over the past twenty years," said Coral Lopez, a CCSP spokeswoman.  "And yes," she added, "they oppose climate-change legislation."

Furthermore, POLA's plan was enacted on the basis of two separate economic studies, both of which concluded that requiring truckers to be employees, rather than questionably-classified "independent owner-operators" was vital to ensuring long-term success, as only well-capitalized businesses could properly maintain the trucks, and be efficiently monitored for compliance. Long Beach claims that its plan is working, too, and the settlement won't jeopardize it.  Responding to sharp criticism from the NRDC, POLB's Executive Director, Richard D. Steinke said, in an online statement, "The NRDC's real objection to our program has nothing to do with clean air. By aligning itself with the Teamsters, who have been very public about their campaign to unionize port truckers nationwide, the NRDC is pursuing an agenda beyond air quality."

But Pettit rejected the claim. "We do have a similar tactical goal to the Teamsters, but for different reasons," he explained, "Our goal has everything to do with the sustainability of the Clean Trucks Program," which he said was jeopardized by placing the burden of upkeep on underpaid drivers-an argument echoing the two economic studies that POLA considered, but Long Beach chose to ignore. "The problem with the Long Beach settlement is that it throws sustainability right out the window," Pettit concluded.

That problem will start showing up much sooner than most people expect, according to Lopez. "Not all companies purchased brand new trucks," she explained. "Some of the clean trucks at the port are used trucks that already have over 150,000 miles on them which automatically means more maintenance costs due to wear and tear. Drivers are already delaying necessary maintenance because they simply can't afford both the lease payment and the cost to repair the truck."

What's more, Lopez explained, even with the concession system in place companies are already exploiting workers in violation of the plans. "For example, TTSI (Total Transportation Service, Inc) forced two drivers to lease one single truck, all while claiming that both drivers are 'independent owner operators' when in fact the workers are simply renting a truck that will probably never belong to either of them."  Both drivers were also charged for parking the truck-meaning the company made a profit from defrauding them.  Without the concession plan, Long Beach's power to prevent such abuses can only decline drastically, critics argue.

Long Beach's abandonment of those it swore to protect is not just an outrage against democratic sentiments, it's arguably illegal, Pettit said.  When asked about further efforts to fight the settlement, he said, "All the options are on the table include going to court."

An federal appeals court hearing on ATA's lawsuit was scheduled for November 4, as this issue went to press.