II 

Calendar No. 870 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1499 

[Report No. 110–413] 

To amend the Clean Air Act to reduce air pollution from marine vessels. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 24, 2007 

Mrs. BOXER (for herself, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. CARDIN, 

Mr. CARPER, Mrs. CLINTON, and Mr. WARNER) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment 

and Public Works 

JULY 10 (legislative day, JULY 9), 2008 

Reported by Mrs. BOXER, without amendment 

A BILL 

To amend the Clean Air Act to reduce air pollution from 

marine vessels. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Marine Vessel Emis5 sions Reduction Act of 2008’’. 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
2 

•S 1499 RS

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds that— 

3 (1) emissions of air pollutants from marine ves4 sels contribute significantly to dangerous air pollu5 tion in many areas in the United States; 

6 (2) current levels of control on those emissions 

7 are not adequate to protect air quality and public 

8 health; 

9 (3) to protect air quality and public health, ef10 forts by State and local governments to control emis11 sions from marine vessels must be augmented by the 

12 Federal Government; 

13 (4) although the Environmental Protection 

14 Agency may require additional controls on domestic 

15 and international marine vessels entering United 

16 States ports, significant emission reductions must be 

17 achieved in the near future; and 

18 (5) it is urgent and necessary to require the 

19 Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

20 Agency to establish standards to reduce emissions of 

21 air pollutants from marine vessels in a sufficient pe22 riod of time to allow all areas in the United States 

23 to meet air quality standards in accordance with ap24 plicable deadlines. 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
3 

•S 1499 RS

1 SEC. 3. MARINE VESSEL FUEL SULFUR. 

2 Section 211 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7545) 

3 is amended— 

4 (1) by redesignating the first subsection (r) (re5 lating to fuel and fuel additive importers and impor6 tation) as subsection (u) and moving that subsection 

7 so as to appear at the end of the section; and 

8 (2) by inserting after subsection (o) the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(p) MARINE VESSEL FUEL SULFUR.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (3), 

12 not later than December 15, 2008, the Adminis13 trator shall promulgate regulations that, effective be14 ginning on December 31, 2010, require marine ves15 sels described in paragraph (2) to use fuel that con16 tains not more than 1,000 parts per million of sulfur 

17 in the main and auxiliary engines of the vessels. 

18 ‘‘(2) APPLICABILITY.—The regulations promul19 gated pursuant to paragraph (1) shall apply to all 

20 marine vessels, including any vessel flagged in a 

21 country other than the United States, at any time 

22 at which the vessels are, on entering or leaving a 

23 port or offshore terminal of the United States— 

24 ‘‘(A) within 200 miles of the west coast of 

25 the continental United States; and 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
4 

•S 1499 RS

1 ‘‘(B) within such distance of the east coast 

2 or Gulf coast of the United States, or the 

3 shoreline of the Great Lakes or St. Lawrence 

4 Seaway, as the Administrator determines to be 

5 appropriate for the purpose of protecting public 

6 health and the environment. 

7 ‘‘(3) INTERIM REQUIREMENT.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the 

9 requirement of paragraph (1), the Adminis10 trator may promulgate regulations under that 

11 paragraph that permit marine vessel fuel sulfur 

12 content in excess of 1,000 parts per million if 

13 the Administrator determines that compliance 

14 with the requirement of paragraph (1) is not 

15 technically feasible by December 31, 2010. 

16 ‘‘(B) REGULATIONS.—If the Administrator 

17 makes a determination described in subpara18 graph (A), the Administrator shall promulgate 

19 regulations that require marine vessels— 

20 ‘‘(i) beginning on December 31, 2010, 

21 to use fuel that contains— 

22 ‘‘(I) the lowest quantity of sulfur 

23 that is technically feasible by that 

24 date; and 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
5 

•S 1499 RS

1 ‘‘(II) in no event a quantity of 

2 sulfur in excess of 2,000 parts per 

3 million; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) to achieve compliance with the 

5 requirement of paragraph (1) on the ear6 liest practicable date by which compliance 

7 is technically feasible. 

8 ‘‘(4) ALTERNATIVE COMPLIANCE MECHA9 NISM.—The Administrator may provide for an alter10 native mechanism of compliance under this sub11 section for a marine vessel if the Administrator de12 termines that— 

13 ‘‘(A) the vessel employs a control tech14 nology that reduces emissions from the vessel of 

15 sulfur oxides and particulate matter to at least 

16 the same degree as the reduction that would be 

17 achieved by the vessel through compliance with 

18 the applicable fuel sulfur content limitation 

19 under this subsection; and 

20 ‘‘(B) the emission reductions achieved as 

21 described in subparagraph (A) are in addition 

22 to any reductions required to achieve compli23 ance with an applicable engine emission stand24 ard issued by the Administrator or the head of 

25 another Federal agency. 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
6 

•S 1499 RS

1 ‘‘(5) NO EFFECT ON OTHER AUTHORITY.— 

2 Nothing in this subsection limits or otherwise affects 

3 any authority of the Administrator to regulate fuels 

4 or fuel additives for use in marine vessels or any 

5 other nonroad vehicle or engine under this Act or 

6 any other provision of law.’’. 

7 SEC. 4. ADVANCED MARINE VESSEL EMISSION CONTROLS. 

8 Section 213 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7547) 

9 is amended— 

10 (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub11 section (f); and 

12 (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(d) ADVANCED MARINE VESSEL EMISSION CON15 TROLS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) STANDARDS FOR OCEANGOING VESSELS.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than De18 cember 15, 2008, the Administrator shall pro19 mulgate, and from time to time revise, regula20 tions that establish standards for emissions of 

21 oxides of nitrogen, particulate matter, hydro22 carbons, and carbon monoxide from newly-man23 ufactured and in-use main and auxiliary en24 gines in oceangoing marine vessels that enter or 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
7 

•S 1499 RS

1 leave a port or offshore terminal of the United 

2 States. 

3 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT.—The standards 

4 under subparagraph (A) shall require, effective 

5 beginning on January 1, 2012, that the engines 

6 described in that subparagraph achieve the 

7 greatest degree of emission reduction achievable 

8 through the application of technology that the 

9 Administrator determines, in accordance with 

10 this paragraph, will be available for the affected 

11 engines. 

12 ‘‘(C) ADDITIONAL FACTORS FOR CONSID13 ERATION.— 

14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In promulgating a 

15 standard under this paragraph, the Admin16 istrator shall take into consideration— 

17 ‘‘(I) whether the engine is newly18 manufactured or in-use (and, if the 

19 engine is in-use, the age of the en20 gine); 

21 ‘‘(II) the cost of applying an 

22 emission reduction technology in a pe23 riod of time sufficient to achieve com24 pliance with the standard; 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
8 

•S 1499 RS

1 ‘‘(III) noise, energy, and safety 

2 factors associated with the application 

3 of the technology; and 

4 ‘‘(IV) the feasibility, benefits, 

5 and costs of requiring— 

6 ‘‘(aa) the maximum level of 

7 control required by regulations 

8 applicable to on-road, nonroad, 

9 and stationary engines; and 

10 ‘‘(bb) the maximum level of 

11 control achieved by sources from 

12 which control technologies may 

13 be transferred, including sources 

14 that use advanced aftertreatment 

15 technologies. 

16 ‘‘(ii) DETERMINATION.— 

17 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—If the Ad18 ministrator determines, after consider19 ation of the factors described in clause 

20 (i), that a maximum level of control 

21 described in clause (i)(IV) will not be 

22 technically achievable by January 1, 

23 2012, the Administrator shall promul24 gate standards under subparagraph 

25 (A) that require the maximum level of 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
9 

•S 1499 RS

1 control that the Administrator deter2 mines will be technically achievable by 

3 that date. 

4 ‘‘(II) ADDITIONAL STANDARDS.— 

5 If the Administrator makes a deter6 mination under subclause (I), the Ad7 ministrator shall promulgate addi8 tional standards under subparagraph 

9 (A) that require, effective beginning 

10 on January 1, 2016— 

11 ‘‘(aa) the maximum level of 

12 control described in clause 

13 (i)(IV); or 

14 ‘‘(bb) if the Administrator 

15 determines, after consideration of 

16 the factors described in clause 

17 (i), that a maximum level of con18 trol described in subclause (IV) 

19 of that clause is not technically 

20 achievable by January 1, 2016, 

21 the maximum level of control 

22 that the Administrator deter23 mines will be technically achiev24 able by that date. 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
10 

•S 1499 RS

1 ‘‘(2) APPLICABILITY.—Standards applicable to 

2 marine engines and marine vessels promulgated 

3 under this section shall be applicable to vessels that 

4 enter or leave a port or offshore terminal of the 

5 United States, including vessels flagged in any coun6 try other than the United States. 

7 ‘‘(3) ENFORCEMENT.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The standards estab9 lished under this subsection shall be enforced in 

10 accordance with subsection (f). 

11 ‘‘(B) ENFORCEMENT AGAINST CERTAIN

12 PERSONS.—At the discretion of the Adminis13 trator, any standard established under this sub14 section relating to in-use engines may be en15 forced against— 

16 ‘‘(i) the owner or operator of an in17 use engine; 

18 ‘‘(ii) any person that rebuilds or 

19 maintains an in-use engine; or 

20 ‘‘(iii) such other person as the Admin21 istrator determines to be appropriate. 

22 ‘‘(4) NO EFFECT ON OTHER AUTHORITY.— 

23 Nothing in this subsection limits or otherwise affects 

24 any authority of the Administrator to regulate emisVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:54 Jul 11, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1499.RS S1499

wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
11 

•S 1499 RS

1 sions of engines in marine vessels under this Act or 

2 any other provision of law.’’. 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
Calendar No. 870 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1499 

[Report No. 110

–413] 

A BILL 

To amend the Clean Air Act to reduce air pollution 

from marine vessels. 

JULY 10 (legislative day, JULY 9), 2008 

Reported without amendment 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS