Summary of U.S. Goverment and EPA Regulatory Authority for Low Sulfur Marine Fuel Rules

EPA recently proposed &'Control of Emissions from New Marine Compression-Ignition Engines at or Above 30 Liters per Cylinder (published August 26, 2009)&' to reflect the emission limits recently adopted in amendments to Annex VI to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (a treaty called &'MARPOL&'). Also, Canada and the United States have recently issued a &'Proposal of Emission Control Area Designation for Geographic Control of Emissions from Ships&' or &'EAC&' proposal to further revise Annex VI. The EAC proposal should be offered for a vote by MARPOL Annex VI parties in March 2010 and possibly in force in August 2012. Entities affected by these deveopments will want to know the full scope and timing of these new rules, as well as the scope of EPA's and U.S. Government's discretion and authority to enforce them, as well as enforcement mechanisms. This presentation will summarize the limits of governmental discretion and enforcement mechanisms to provide necessary perspective to entities affected by these new rules.