EPA And Cities Focus On Cleaning Up Water-Faring Vessels

"Cutting pollution on the waterfront is an important part of the effort to cut smog and greenhouse-gas emissions. According to New York City's estimate, waterborne transportation represents 8 percent of its overall emissions. It's far higher in California, where commercial oceangoing vessels are responsible for about 80 percent of emissions of sulfur oxides and almost 13 percent of the nitrogen oxides emitted by mobile sources in the state, according to estimates by the Air Resources Board.

That's one reason that ferry services around the nation are looking for new ways to operate. The changes are important because ferries are a high-profile form of transportation, carting both tourists and commuters. In essence, they can become "floating billboards" for what can be done.

"What better way to reduce emission than using cleaner, renewable energy out on the water?" says Teri Shore of Friends of the Earth in San Francisco. "Clearly, diesel ferries need to be cleaned up."

In fact, starting last Friday, the US Environmental Protection Agency is requiring refiners to provide ultralow sulfur diesel for harbor vessels, such as tugs and ferries. This is expected to cut emissions from about 3,000 parts per million to a maximum of 500 parts per million. By 2012, the EPA will require that marine engines be designed so that total emissions are 15 parts per million or less.

"When you pair the clean diesel with a clean engine, you get an even more dramatic pollution reduction," says John Millett, a spokesman for the EPA."