Once the industry’s dominant player with unprecedented growth, the Port of Long Beach now faces hard times thanks to a slew of growing competitors and a recent lawsuit brought against the Port by environmentalist organizations.

The Los Angeles Times on Monday featured an article on the struggles facing both the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles due to the rise of other shipping harbors – many of which offer their customers lower rates and are growing rapidly. The Port of Long Beach saw a sharp decline in containers handled in 2009, and the article examines ways that it may try to rebound this year. Among the top selling points; the extensive rail service extending from Southern California throughout the rest of the country.

Elsewhere, the Port of Long Beach is celebrating a victory for its Clean Trucks Program, as all pre-1993 trucks are banned from operation at the facility as of this week. In an effort to eliminate older, heavily-polluting trucks and improve air quality in the region. But it’s not all happy skies.

The National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) last week sued the Port over their settlement with the American Trucking Association after a long court battle over the Clean Trucks Program. The NRDC contends that the settlement relinquishes too much of the Port’s power to regulate the Clean Trucks Program and could potentially allow older, polluting trucks to operate at the Port because of the eased restrictions. The Port has contended from the beginning that the new rules do not limit their ability to keep dirty trucks out.

If this all sounds familiar, it’s because the NRDC filed a very similar appeal to the settlement back in November, which was rejected by City Attorney Robert Shannon because it was not filed within the 10-day window after the decision that is required. The staging-live.lbpost.com is awaiting word from Shannon for more information on this new NRDC lawsuit.