LOS ANGELES --- Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Thursday, June 26, signed a law that will phase out the use of heavy-polluting diesel trucks carrying cargo from the Port of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times reported. The law is a key part of a $1.6 billion clean-air initiative that will affect more than 17,000 older diesel trucks.

"This is the most aggressive effort to clean up the air at a port anywhere in the world," Villaraigosa said during a news conference at City Hall. "Today, Angelenos can rest assured their children will breathe easier and so will their grandchildren," he said.

The law mandates that independent truck drivers serving the port become employees of trucking companies. Supporters of the law argued that independent, low-income drivers wouldn't be able to afford the $100,000 trucks that meet the port's stringent low-emissions standards.