(California OGV Fuel Regulation coming into force on January 2014
The California Air Resources Board has issued Marine Advisory to remind owners and operator of the new requirements in the regulation for fuel sulfur and other operational requirements for ocean- going vessels within California Waters and 24 Nautical Miles of the California Baseline
The California OGV Fuel Regulation, which has been enforced since July 2009,provides significant air quality benefits by requiring ships to use cleaner, low sulfurmarine distillate fuel. The purpose of this advisory is to notify owners and operators ofupcoming changes in the fuel sulfur requirements beginning January 1, 2014, and toremind operators that they must comply with both the California OGV Fuel Regulationand the North American Emission Control Area (ECA) requirements. There are also2014 requirements for some vessels under California’s At-Berth Regulation.
Beginning January 1, 2014 the maximum fuel sulfur (S) limit for both marine gas oil(DMA) and marine diesel oil (DMB) will be 0.1% S. These Phase II requirements(shown in Table 1) will be enforced within the California OGV regulatory zone, which is24 nm off the coast of California, including islands
Fuel Requirement |
Effective Day |
ARB’s California OGV Fuel Requirement % Sulfur Content Limit |
Phase I | July 1, 2009 | Marine gas oil (DMA) at or below 1.5% sulfur; orMarine diesel oil (DMB) at or below 0.5% sulfur |
Phase I | August 1, 2012 | Marine gas oil (DMA) at or below 1.0% sulfur; orMarine diesel oil (DMB) at or below 0.5% sulfur |
Phase II | January 1, 2014 | Both marine gas oil (DMA) and marine dieseloil (DMB) at or below 0.1% sulfur |
Vessels must meet both the requirements of the California OGV Fuel Regulationand the ECA when entering California ports.
The California OGV Fuel Regulation contains a Noncompliance Fee Provision designedto accommodate vessel operators unable to find compliant fuel. Using this provision,vessel operators can pay a fee in lieu of direct compliance with the fuel standards. Inaddition, a vessel operator can use this provision without paying a fee once per vesselin 2014 if they are unable to source 0.1% sulfur fuel. To avoid paying the fee, a vesseloperator must make a good faith effort to acquire compliant fuel, use marine distillatefuel that meets the Phase I requirements that began on August 1, 2012 on the inbound voyage, and purchase and use compliant Phase II fuel for the remainderof the voyage in the California OGV regulatory zone. Vessel operators must alsocomply with the other provisions of the Noncompliance Fee Provision
California’s Ocean Going Vessel Regulatory Zone
Additional information
California OGV Fuel Regulation http://www.arb.ca.gov/ports/shorepower/shorepower.htm
http://www.arb.ca.gov/regact/2011/ogv11/ogv11.htm
http://www.arb.ca.gov/ports/marinevess/ogv.htm
ECA Requirements
http://www.epa.gov/otaq/oceanvessels.htm#north-american
Noncompliance Fee Provision
http://www.arb.ca.gov/ports/marinevess/ogv/ogvadvisories.htm