Action targets the EPA waiver behind the Commercial Harbor Craft rule. File Image / Pixabay.

• H.J.Res.213 passed the House on Wednesday, 210 Republicans and three Democrats in favour
• Targets the EPA waiver behind the Commercial Harbor Craft rule, which has put California tugs and ferries on renewable diesel since 2023
• Follows Tuesday's 216-211 vote against the At-Berth shore power rule
• Campaign group Pacific Environment calls on the Senate to block both; operators say the rule's diesel filter requirement is unworkable

The US House of Representatives has voted to overturn the federal waiver behind California's Commercial Harbor Craft rule, the regulation that has required tugs, ferries, and other workboats in the state to run on renewable diesel since 2023.

House Joint Resolution 213, sponsored by California Republican James Gallagher, passed 214 to 208 on Wednesday evening, with three Democrats joining 210 Republicans and one independent in favour, according to the House Clerk's record.

It came a day after the House voted 216 to 211 to overturn the At-Berth shore power rule, and both resolutions now go to the Senate, where Ohio Republican Bernie Moreno has filed the harbor craft companion and a simple majority is enough.

Both use the Congressional Review Act to disapprove Environmental Protection Agency authorisations transmitted to Congress as rules in July, and repeal would bar any substantially similar waiver in future.

The harbor craft regulation, adopted in 2009 and amended in 2022, is a significant driver of renewable diesel bunker demand on the US West Coast, mandating R99 or R100 for the state's harbor craft fleet since January 2023 and requiring most vessels to fit diesel particulate filters.

Industry says the filter requirement cannot be met, with no workable marine particulate filter yet designed and the US Coast Guard declining to certify them, according to trade publication The Waterways Journal, and the American Waterways Operators has backed Moreno's resolution, arguing the rule's effects reach beyond California into interstate commerce.

Climate campaign group Pacific Environment, which has led opposition to the resolutions, said in an emailed statement that the vote would kill American competitiveness in shipbuilding.

"California's At Berth and Commercial Harbor Craft waivers spurred investments in cleaner vessels, port infrastructure and maritime innovations. Now all eyes turn to the Senate," said its senior climate campaign director Teresa Bui.