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Clearing the smoke on ship emission standards

What was the Great Lakes Congressional delegation thinking?

Those are some tough words, but they reflect what a lot of people are wondering after key politicians brokered a deal with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that will allow 26 ships to sail through a loophole and avoid complying with new progressive air pollution standards. The agreement could set a dangerous precedent when it comes time for these same ships to comply with new ballast treatment standards in our effort to fight against invasive species.

To protect human health, the EPA proposed more stringent exhaust emission standards for the largest marine diesel engines—called C3s—that sail within 200 miles of any U.S. coastline; this includes all vessel operations within the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River. The clean air act standards are part of a coordinated U.S.–Canada strategy to address the most egregious offenders when it comes to polluted emissions from large commercial marine vessels.

Sounds great right? Sure, unless you are in the shipping industry. Once the industry got wind of the new regulations they called their (and our) Great Lakes Congressional delegation for help. The shippers argued the regulations would force them out of business and that the public health concern wasn’t great enough to trump economics. Gee, we haven’t heard that before!

Representative David Obey (D-Wisconsin), James Oberstar (D-Minnesota) and other Great Lakes lawmakers responded by meeting with the EPA to hammer out an exception for the oldest ships working the Great Lakes. We—that is, the “rest of” the constituents—were able to only get glimpses of the closed door debate from a staffer quoted in the media who alluded to a cost-benefit analysis that would prove the shippers cause. But, when we asked to see such studies they could not be unearthed. In fact, when the EPA was asked, they didn’t know to what the staffer was referring.

Splashing more fuel upon this growing fire, the Canadian Embassy weighed-in supporting the Great Lakes shippers and asking the EPA to back off. In a letter, Paul Robertson, the Embassy’s Minister of Economics argued that the costs of compliance will be too high and force some companies to stop using iconic steamers that travel the lakes carrying lots of commodities.

A deal was struck that lets 26 lakers avoid complying with the new EPA standards. For the sake of profit and at a detriment to public health, 13 ships with C3 engines will get waivers from the EPA if they can prove they will go out of business by complying. Another 13 steamships (the real dinosaurs that burn dirty bunker fuel) got out of compliance all together. Nice…

Here is the best part, in order to ensure that this agreement went through, our Great Lakes House Members attached it in the form of an amendment to a must pass bill – ironically – the same bill that will provide $475 million for Great Lakes restoration programs. The Interior spending bill that pays for the operation of the EPA was overdue and had to be passed by October 31 so that government could continue to function. So, the amendment was sure to pass—and it did—although, not without some disgruntled comment from colleagues in both the House and Senate.

The exemption does the industry no favours. Politicians, instead of helping an aging fleet to modernize, let them drift aimlessly in the mid-20th century. Instead of offering a get-out-of-jail-free card, leaders could have pursued financial assistance to help those ships make a transition to a new, more fuel efficient and cleaner burning engines.

Now that the deal is done, there is some concern that this will become an issue for foreign ships operating in US waters. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) described the deal as very narrow in hopes of avoiding such a calamity. Still, others are worried that the loophole will undermine the coordinated bi-national strategy to protect human health in the US-Canada emissions control area. Time will tell.

Let’s hope our Great Lakes delegation can recover their restoration compass and gravitas among their colleagues. Future progress for restoration and clean air and water is at stake.

Tiffany Pache blogs for the Healing Our Waters Coalition at www.healthylakes.org

Debunking Bunker Fuel

Great Lakes United has been leading an effort to clear up many myths around the emissions standard and its impact on the shipping industry, the environment, and human health.

Working with the Ohio Environmental Council, Great Lakes United produced two factsheets. One provides an overview of the standard, while the second counters dire claims being made by the Great Lakes shipping industry. The factsheets are available online at: www.glu.org.

© 2010 Great Lakes News.