The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Broward County’s Port Everglades have signed a partnership agreement to study air emissions in a seaport scenario to inform sustainable development.
“This agreement is an important step forward in developing emission reduction scenarios and inventories for port communities.With this collaborative initiative, together EPA and Port Everglades can support sustainable development and cleaner air.” said Christopher Grundler, Director of EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality.
As part of EPA’s Ports Initiative, the agency will work with Port Everglades to coordinate research and modeling encompassing all port-related operations, technologies and growth scenarios. EPA also intends to develop separate emissions estimates for areas outside the port jurisdictional boundaries, such as highways and railways used by Port Everglades customers.
Future emission inventories will help track the port’s progress toward the goals and evaluate the effectiveness of technology and operational strategies used to reduce emissions at the port and surrounding areas.
Consistently ranked among the top three busiest cruise ports in the world, Port Everglades is also one of the nation’s leading container ports and South Florida’s main seaport for receiving petroleum products including gasoline, jet fuel and alternative fuels. The new partnership will allow EPA to develop future methods, provide lessons learned, and serve as practical examples that can be shared with other ports, related agencies, near-port communities, and stakeholders to support sustainable development.
Source: US EPA
