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Environment EPA emission standards likely for large ships

In a move that could affect ships that dock locally, the Environmental Protection Agency pledged to establish tougher emission standards for large seagoing vessels such as oil tankers, cruise ships and cargo vessels.

The EPA will issue a proposed rule in April 2002 and complete the standards in January 2003. Military vessels are unlikely to be included in the standards, said Martin Wagner, attorney for Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund.

In the fiscal year ended in June, there were 516 commercial vessels docking either at the 10th Avenue or National City ports, with a total of 2.4 million tons of cargo, said Rita Vandergaw, spokeswoman for the San Diego Unified Port District.

As for cruise ships, 99 docked in San Diego during the last fiscal year, with almost 176,000 passengers either embarking, disembarking or in transit, she said.

The decision by the EPA settles a lawsuit filed by Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund on behalf of the Bluewater Network. The lawsuit challenged the EPA’s failure to set standards for nitrogen oxide emissions, Wagner said.

The world’s biggest ships account for 14 percent of total nitrogen oxides and 16 percent of all sulfur oxide emissions from petroleum sources. Large ships belch 273 thousand tons per year , 748 tons each day , of nitrogen oxides into U.S. air, he said.

“This settlement is a victory for clean air in U.S. cities and around the world,” Wagner said. “This agreement will ensure that the agency sets standards that promote human health and a clean environment, instead of blindly adopting the lowest-common-denominator standards advocated by the shipping industry.”

Worldwide shipping is expected to triple by 2020 as a result of global trade agreements, furthering the role of the largest type of ship engines , or “Category 3” , as a significant contributor of important pollutants, including nitrogen oxides, he said.

The EPA had claimed overseas marine pollution comes under the jurisdiction of an international treaty called the MARPOL Convention. But Wagner pointed out the treaty is unlikely to take effect for some time, because it requires ratification by countries responsible for at least 50 percent of world shipping traffic.

So far only three nations, representing only 9 percent of the world shipping, have ratified it. The treaty has not yet been submitted to the U.S. Senate for ratification, he said.

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