Southern California Gateway

The Southern California Gateway Office covers an area encompassing Arizona, Southern California (south of Point Conception), and the west coast of Mexico. This Gateway contains the single largest container port complex in the United States. With container volumes in excess of 15 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), the combined ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, known as the San Pedro Bay ports (SPB), rank first in the United States and fifth in the world. Approximately 40% of import container volumes entering the United States flow through SPB ports. The Gateway becomes the national “distribution center” for imported goods with cargo flowing through its numerous marine terminals to all areas of the country.

The top four ports (by tonnage) in this Gateway are Port of Los Angeles, Port of Long Beach, Port of San Diego, and Port of Hueneme.

With high cargo volumes, there are environmental risks and a growing demand for infrastructure development. In this respect, the southern California area leads the nation in the effort to balance the economic engine represented by the ports with environmental and community concerns. Given the intermodal nature of port activity in this Gateway, all modes of transportation are impacted and are jointly working together to achieve a balance. The Southern California Gateway Office works closely with all parties involved in the effort.

The Southern California’s Gateway Office’s subject matter expertise is Environmental Compliance and Congestion Mitigation and serves as the Gateway Team Leader for the Agency on regional and local issues.