Dennis L. Bryant, who does maritime regulatory consulting since his retirement as a marine lawyer, discusses the joint US - Canada proposal for an ECA in the current Maritime Reporter. The interesting portion of his article is his reference "after several years of indecision and debate, the United States Senate gave its advice and consent to the Protocol on April 7, 2006 and, on July 21, 2008, Congress enacted the Maritime Pollution Prevention Act of 2008 to implement MARPOL Annex VI domestically."
The above suggests to me that all North American waters will be governed by the ECA requirements, once IMO approves the application. The reason for this thinking is the primary argument for seeking the designation of an ECA. The core argument in the US - Canada submission is the projected health benefit from lower marine air emissions. If the submission is approved, it is approved to protect the health of the population. If the coastal population benefits from fuel switching 200 nautical miles offshore, surely 1/3 of Canada's population will benefit from cleaner fuels in ships traveling HWY H2O!
- Gernot Seebacher
- Gernot is the president of Hermont Marine, a company specializing in pollution abatement and shipboard support. He has a mechanical engineering degree and has been working with the Canadian marine industry for over 33 years. He is actively involved in marine organizations: he participates in the CMAC standing committee on the environment and their working group on air emissions; he has participated in and organized various environmental working groups; he was the executive secretary of the Canadian Institue of Marine Engineering (CIMARE) for over 16 years.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment