9 June 2023 (Lloyd's List) - A PAIR of bills introduced on World Oceans Day by Democrat lawmakers in both chambers of US Congress are designed to cultivate ambitious cuts in ocean shipping emissions.
Citing the International Maritime Organization’s “failure” to advance a solution consistent with with global decarbonisation goals, senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Alex Padilla propose levying a carbon tax on cargo vessels in excess of 10,000 gross tonnes calling at US ports, starting in 2024.
“The International Maritime Pollution Accountability Act would impose a pollution fee on large marine vessels offloading cargo at US ports, driving industry-wide decarbonisation efforts and incentivising the use and development of cleaner maritime fuels,” according to a statement from Whitehouse’s office.
The senators propose a $150 per tonne fee on carbon emissions generated by vessels on their voyage to the US, in addition to a $6.30 per lb fee for nitrogen oxides, $18 per lb for sulphur dioxide, and $38.9 per lb for particle pollution (PM 2.5) emitted.
Should the IMO enact an equal or stricter fee on marine greenhouse gas emissions, the bill’s $150 per tonne fee would cease. “There is an urgent need for shipping to decarbonise. We know for a fact that regulation has to be part of that equation,” argued Maersk chief infrastructure officer Rabab Raafat Boulos.
“This new piece of legislation cements the US as a pioneer in the green transition and should help spur the much-needed production of green maritime fuels. Maersk particularly welcomes the immediate inclusion of a lifecycle perspective for all fuels that takes all relevant greenhouse gases into consideration. The IMO sunset clause will also send a strong signal.”
According to the statement, the pollution fees are estimated to raise by about $250bn over 10 years, which would be used to provide funding for maritime decarbonisation.
“The revenues collected from the fees would go toward modernising the Jones Act fleet with low-carbon vessels, revitalising US shipbuilding, and reducing pollutants in America’s port communities, along our coasts and in our oceans.”
Whitehouse and Padilla also introduced the Clean Shipping Act of 2023 along with fellow Democrat Robert Garcia, who introduced it in the House of Representatives.
The bill seeks to reduce the carbon intensity of vessels in excess of 400 gross tonnes to zero by 2040 based on a 2024 baseline, introducing intensifying incremental reductions every three to four years, starting in 2027.
Notably, a 2024 baseline will likely be higher than the 2008 baseline used by the IMO and European Union to set emission-reduction targets. The baseline will be calculated as the average carbon intensity of the fuel used by all vessels on voyages involving US ports.
The bill’s language, however, caveats its ambitious goals by stating that if the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency — who implements the Clean Air Act — finds that the standards set in the bill are not technologically or economically feasible by the prescribed deadlines, they must come up with alternative standards that will achieve the maximum feasible reduction.
It also allows the Environmental Protection Agency administrator to adopt the IMO’s carbon intensity standards for a calendar year if they are equally or more stringent than the one set forth under the bill.
Lawmakers are also seeking to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants generated by vessels anchored or berthed in US waters and ports by 2030, although this section also provides an exception in case the reduction is not economically or technologically feasible.
Vessels violating the standards can be exposed to civil lawsuits under the Clean Air Act.
The bills will have to garner bipartisan support if they are to reach president Joe Biden’s desk. The Clean Shipping Act was introduced in the previous Congress last summer, but did not gain any traction.
However, a recent poll by non-profit advocacy group ClimateNexus, Yale’s programme on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication found strong support among 1,760 registered voters for maritime decarbonisation policies, including gradually requiring cargo vessels to cut carbon emissions by 2040.
About 83% of participants supported the requirement, with 46% “strongly” supporting it. A total of 39% strongly supported laws that would require ships to produce no carbon or air pollution while docked in US ports by 2030. A total of 38% “somewhat” supported such measures.
“We need an all-hands-on-deck approach to prevent the worst effects of climate change, so we are introducing new legislation to encourage clean shipping, reduce the dirty fossil fuels polluting our oceans, and protect neighbours from the air pollutants plaguing port communities,” Whitehouse argued.
“I am glad to introduce this pair of bills with senator Padilla to steer the global shipping industry away from emission-heavy fuels and toward sustainable shipping technologies that are being developed here in America.”
