EPA's proposed rulemaking

On August 28, 2009 the US EPA posted the proposed rulemaking for ECA compliant air emissions in the internal waters of the USA.

I did not read the full text of the ECA document, but had some e-mail exchanges with a US consultant.

The question I had was in regard to ECA compliance for the St. Lawrence Seaway. As everyone knows, there is no provision for innocent passage in an ECA, the ship has to comply with the ECA requirements. Which for a Canadian ship sailing from Montreal to Lake Ontario means it has to meet with the EPA imposed emission criteria. The implications are that with a rigid ECA application, Canadian ships would need to conform with US emission requirements on internal trade.

Dennis Bryant suggests that there is nothing limiting the EPA from issuing a waiver to Canadian Lakers on the ECA requirements; which would be a nice, neighborly gesture.

The wild card in all of this is the states' liberty to impose more stringent requirements for their waters, as they did in the VGP. The question I have then, could New York void the EPA's waver on ECA compliance for Canadian Lakers by insisting on ECA compliance?