Great Lakes Steamship Repower
Incentive Program
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is publishing a
Direct Final Rule to add a provision to our marine diesel engine
program to encourage owners of Great Lakes steamships to repower
those steamships with cleaner Tier 2 or later marine diesel engines.
Overview
The 13 U.S. steamships that operate on the Great Lakes use propulsion technology
that was developed before the advent of modern diesel engines. Due to safety and
other considerations, these steamships are exempt from the fuel sulfur requirements
that will begin to apply on the Great Lakes in August, 2012.1
Steam power plants can use 30 to 50 percent more fuel than comparable diesel engines,
with resulting high particulate matter (PM) and sulfur oxides (SOx) emissions.
However, the high cost of repower projects and the requirement to use lower sulfur
fuel in the replacement diesel engines can discourage owners from replacing their
steam engines.
To encourage voluntary steamship repowers, we are adding a new incentive provision
to our marine diesel engine program. This provision will provide an automatic, lim-
ited fuel waiver for qualifying repowered Great Lakes steamships that will allow the
owner to use higher sulfur residual fuel in the repowered diesel engine for a specified
period of time.
Voluntary replacement of steam power plants with modern fuel-efficient marine diesel
engines will result in significant reductions. During the period of the waiver SOx
emissions from a typical steamship would be reduced by 34 percent. In the long term,
after the waiver expires and the ship must use low sulfur fuel, SOx and PM emissions
would be reduced by 97 percent and 84 percent, respectively, when compared to the
steam power plant. These emission reductions will provide human health and welfare
benefits for people who live in the Great Lakes region.
SEPA
1 See our final Category 3 marine diesel rule, 75 FR 22896, April 30, 2010. This document is
available at our website, www.epa.gov/otaq/oceanvessels.htm .
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Transportation and Air Quality
EPA-420-F-12-003
January 2012
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The automatic Great Lakes steamship repower fuel waiver is valid through December 31, 2025;
after that date, repowered steamships will be required to use fuel that complies with the sulfur
limits that apply on the Great Lakes, or use an exhaust gas cleaning system (scrubber) or other
technology or procedure that achieves equivalent sulfur emission limits.
To qualify, the steamship must operate exclusively on the Great Lakes and must have been in
service on October 30, 2009, where "in service" means operating as a steamship, but is not liiri'
ited to actually performing that service on that day. The replacement engine must be a Tier 2 or
cleaner marine diesel engine as specified in 40 CFR 1042.104. Reporting and other requirements
to take advantage of the waiver are set out in the rulemaking package,
Public Participation Opportunities
This rule is being released as a direct final rule. However, comments can be submitted under
a parallel Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). Comments will be accepted for 30 days
beginning when the NPRM is published in the Federal Register. All comments should be identi-
fied by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2011-0928 and submitted by one of the following methods:
Internet: www.regulations.gov
E-mail: A-and-R-docket@epa.gov
Mail:
Environmental Protection Agency
Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center (6102T)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20460
Hand Delivery:
EPA West Building
EPA Docket Center (Room 3334)
1301 Constitution Avenue NW
Washington, DC
For More Information
You can access the rule and related documents on EPA's Office of Transportation and Air
Quality (OTAQ) Web site at:
www.epa.gov/otaq/oceanvessels.htm
For more information on this Direct Final Rule, please contact the Assessment and Standards
Division at:
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Assessment and Standards Division
Office of Transportation and Air Quality
2000 Traverwood Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
Voice-mail: (734) 214-4636
E-mail: asdinfo@epa.gov
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