The Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles have taken another important step in implementing their joint Clean Air Action Plan. On March 24th the two port commissions met together to approve a new incentive program to get ocean-going vessel operators to switch to less-polluting marine distillate fuel.
Normally these ships burn a very dirty, heavy bunker fuel. Under the new incentive, the ports will actually pay the cost difference between the heavier and the lighter, cleaner fuel. Between the two ports, these payments could total nearly $19 million for the one-year duration of the program. After a year, state regulations and port lease requirements are expected to kick in and achieve similar effects: reductions averaging about ten percent in some key air pollutants.
The catch is that to qualify for the financial support, vessels must participate in the Vessel Speed Reduction (VSR) program, which has proven to be very effective in reducing ship emissions. Under this program, vessels are encouraged to reduce their speed within 20 nautical miles of San Pedro Bay, an action that reduces ship engine emissions. Starting in 2006, the Port of Long Beach created the Green Flag incentive program, offering public recognition and reduced dockage fees to carriers whose fleets achieve over 90% compliance with the speed limits. The Marine Exchange of Southern California tracks the speeds of all vessels entering and leaving our ports, providing an excellent means of verifying compliance. In January of this year, overall compliance was just over 92%, according to port-published figures.
The new incentive will go one step farther, encouraging a fuel switch that some carriers have already voluntarily pledged to make. The incentive serves to hasten the fuel switch and reduce emissions earlier than under the future requirements.
I like these vessel programs a great deal because they do a very important thing: they reduce emissions from vessels that are generally not under U.S. jurisdiction. California’s U.S. Senators, Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, are sponsoring the federal Marine Vessel Emissions Reduction Act, but even if it passes, the law will only apply to American ships. The rest of the international fleet answers to the International Maritime Organization. While the IMO has begun to grapple with fuel and emission standards, it has yet to adopt tough requirements. I think it’s great that our ports have found creative and effective ways to get at one of the most difficult – and biggest – emission sources in Southern California goods movement. We’re not “home free” on vessel emissions, but we’ve made a good start.