Americas News
U.S. Senators Call for "Hybrid" Approach to ECA Rules
U.S. senators from Alaska and Hawaii are calling for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to apply what they call a "hybrid" approach to air emission rules for cruise ships under the North American Emission Control Area (ECA).
In a letter to the EPA, Senators Mark Begich of Alaska and Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka of Hawaii wrote in support of a plan in which cruise ships would be required to burn low-sulfur fuel close to communities, but could return to standard bunkers in more remote areas.
The letter says the hybrid approach, proposed by the cruise industry, would "achieve the same public health benefits" as continuously using low-sulfur fuel.
"Any federal rule increasing transportation costs to our geographically disadvantaged states has to be examined closely," it says.
"We expect agency policy-makers to balance the costs incurred by operators of large vessels with the need to reduce harmful emissions through the use of lower sulfur fuel when inside the ECA."
The ECA went into effect on August 1, 2012, requiring ships to use fuel with a maximum sulfur content of 1 percent by weight, and the limit is scheduled to drop to 0.1 percent in 2015.
The state of Alaska has filed a lawsuit calling for enforcement of the ECA along its coast to be permanently suspended.
