The Port of Long Beach, Calif. and the American Trucking Association (ATA) have reached a settlement in an ATA lawsuit over a plan to clean up the air around the port.

Long Beach officials have agreed to strip their plan of a demand that trucking companies file financial reports, and of all other requirements that are not directly tied to the goal of getting cleaner trucks on the road. The agreement between Long Beach and the ATA must still be approved by a federal judge.

Under the change, trucking companies would agree to comply with environmental, safety and security requirements. They would be required to register their trucks with the port and equip them with radio frequency identification tags.

A ban on all 1988-and-older trucks from the ports is still in place. As of January, the ports will allow only 2004-or-later trucks. A year into the program, both ports have already beaten their most optimistic projections for new trucks and reduced emissions.

ATA is also suing the nearby Port of Los Angeles. The L.A. port's clean air plan includes a requirement that all drivers must be employees of logistics companies. This would eliminate independent truckers at the port by 2013. Los Angeles' plan has the support, however, of mayors Michael R. Bloomberg of New York, Cory Booker of Newark, N.J., and Ron Dellums of Oakland.