March 10th, 2008
Solving pollution on the high seas, however, may not prove easy.
Due to the slow response by the White House to toughen international standards for big ships, California senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, along with U.S. Rep. Hilda Solis (D-Ca.), have co-sponsored the Marine Vessel Emissions Reduction Act of 2007. The bill, which was introduced last May, requires the federal government to limit sulfur emissions from offshore vessels within 200 miles of U.S. coasts in order to reduce health-threatening soot and smog. Sen. Boxer said in a speech last month that this bill “would also significantly reduce emissions from both new and existing engines beginning in 2012 by requiring the use of the most advanced technologies.”
In addition, she said, it would save 700 lives a year in Southern California, as well as many lives nationally. “I believe that it is our moral duty to protect the health of our children, people with asthma, and all the people of ship air pollution. We cannot afford to wait any longer. We must protect the health of families in port communities across the nation.”
While this bill is pending in Congress, a federal appeals court ruled Feb. 27 that California, which already has a law in place regarding sulfur emissions, must receive approval from the federal government before limiting sulfur emissions from ocean-going ships that enter the state’s waters.
The initial ruling would have required ships to use low-sulfur fuel instead of bunker fuel within 24 miles of the California coast. The restrictions actually took effect in January of 2007 but were blocked in August by a federal judge. The judge ruled that California needed approval from the EPA before proceeding with its clean-air rules.
An appeals court allowed the limits to go back into effect in October, but a three-judge panel ruled in February that the low-sulfur requirements need to be approved by the EPA.
The decision sets back California’s plans to fight one of the area’s largest causes of smog.
In response, Karen Caesar, a spokesperson with the California Air Resources Board, said last Monday that the board’s legal staff is evaluating the decision and hopes to come up with a plan of action in the next few weeks. “The board cannot enforce the limits at this time, but some shipping companies have taken it upon themselves to use lower sulfur fuel,” she said.
Copyright © 2008 | Distributed by Noofangle Media
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