Not much precedential value can be given to it
A Los Angeles Superior Court has ruled that California’s laws regulating smoke emissions from ships’ diesel engines are inapplicable because they are preempted by the Federal Clean Air Act.
The ruling could have a significant impact on the selective enforcement of visible emissions limits against oceangoing ships calling in California.
The background for the case was a criminal complaint from the City Attorney for Los Angeles filed against the owners and managers of an oceangoing ship docked in the Port of Los Angeles, alleging violations of California Health and Safety Code Section 41701 and South Coast Air Quality Management District Rule 401.Both these laws set limits on the amount of smoke that may be emitted from a source.
The attorneys for the defendants made a motion to dismiss the charges based on Federal preemption principles, arguing that while the California provisions are enforceable against stationary sources the laws are preempted by the Federal Clean Air Act when applied to non-road mobile diesel engines, like the auxiliary engines on the ship in the case.
The Clean Air Act expressly delegates authority for the control of emissions from stationary sources to the states and control of emissions from mobile sources to the Federal Government. The doctrine of preemption provides that Federal law supersedes and is considered supreme over state laws.
While the Clean Air Act allows California to obtain an authorization from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to apply and enforce emissions standards to non-road engines, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has not obtained authorization to enforce California’s smoke abatement laws against the marine auxiliary engines found on most oceangoing ships.
The court agreed with the defendants’ central argument that the Federal Clean Air Act carved out non-road engines, such as those on ships, from enforcement of any state emissions standards, including these general smoke abatement laws.
This is very good news but it is important to notice that this decision came out of the Los Angeles Superior Court (state court) and not much precedential value can be given to it.
Source: BIMCO
