State’s regulations to conform to North American ECA
California’s Air Resources Board (CARB) has approved amendments to it state law “Fuel Sulphur and Other Operational Requirements for Ocean-Going Vessels within California Waters and 24 Nautical Miles of the California Baseline” .
The controversial Ocean-Going Vessels (OGV) Clean Fuel Regulations are intended to reduce the public’s exposure to air pollutants from the use of marine diesel fuel in main and auxiliary engines, and auxiliary boilers, on ocean-going vessels operating within 24 nautical miles of the California shoreline (baseline).
The amendments are intended to further align the OGV Clean Fuel Regulations with the recently adopted North American Emission Control Area (ECA). Under the North American ECA, OGVs sailing within a 200 nm zone of the North American coastline are required to use fuels with no more than 1.0 percent sulphur from 1 August, 2012 and no more than 0.1 percent sulphur from 1 January, 2015.
Unlike the California regulations the North American ECA does not specify what type of fuel must be used; it only establishes a fuel sulphur limit. To align California’s Phase 1 fuel requirements with the North American ECA’s August 2012 fuel sulphur requirement is to include a 1.0 percent fuel sulphur limit for the Phase 1 from 1 August next year to coincide with the North American ECA implementation date.
ARB says the change will ensure that there is no conflict between the Phase 1 requirements of the North American ECA and those in the OGV Clean Fuel Regulations.
In statement ARB added: “Based on the fuel availability analysis conducted for the OGV Clean Fuel Regulations 2008 original rule making and additional fuel sulphur content data collected from enforcement inspections since implementation of the regulations began in July 2009, ARB staff believes marine gas oil that meets the 1.0 percent fuel sulphur limit is readily available and is already being used by the vast majority of vessels visiting California
ports. The data collected to investigate fuel availability reveals that over 95 percent of the marine gas oil available worldwide can meet a 1.0 percent fuel sulphur limit.
The fuel inspection data indicates that on average, many of the most signifi cant bunkering regions are providing fuel at or within a few tenths of a percent of 0.1 percent sulphur, far below 1.0 percent. In the rare cases where the fuel may not be available, the regulations include a provision to allow a ship operator to purchase the fuel in California and pay a reduced fee under the non-compliance fee provision.
As such, ARB staff does not anticipate any adverse environmental impacts from the modification or any increased costs to the regulated industry above and beyond those costs already being incurred due to implementation of the regulation.”
The California state law continues top be opposed by the shipowners’ group Pacific Merchant Shipping Association (PMSA) which recently petitioned the country’s Supreme Court to overturn it on the grounds it exceeds the state’s powers.
Source: World Bunkering
