EPA head announces new port emissions proposal

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

31 Mar 2009

Federal government officials want stricter emissions standards imposed on large ships to improve the air quality of major seaport communities. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson said Monday that the United States is asking the International Maritime Organization to create a 230-mile buffer zone around the nation's coastline.
Jackson says ships operating in that zone would face stricter limits on the sulfur content of their fuel beginning in 2015. She also says new ships must use advanced emission-control technologies beginning in 2016.
Jackson made the announcement at a news conference in Port Newark in northern New Jersey.
The EPA says 40 of the 100 largest U.S. ports are located in metropolitan areas that fail to meet federal air quality standards.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — The head of the Environmental Protection Agency is expected to announce a new proposal to limit ship emissions at major seaport communities.
EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson will be joined Monday by New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, her former boss, and U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg at a noon news conference in Port Newark. It's part of the Port of New York and New Jersey, the East Coast's largest port complex.
The EPA says 40 of the 100 largest U.S. ports are located in metropolitan areas that fail to meet federal air quality standards.
A coalition of environmental groups estimates that 87 million Americans live in such port communities.

Source: Associated Press