Frequently Asked Questions About
the Great Lakes Residual Fuel
Availability Waiver
EPA's Coordinated Strategy for large ships includes limits on the
sulfur content of fuel used onboard ships operating in specially
designated areas. On the Great Lakes, a 10,000 ppm fuel sulfur limit
applies from August 1, 2012 through December 31, 2014; afterwards,
a more stringent 1,000 ppm limit applies. EPA's regulations allow
Great Lakes ship operators to use residual fuel exceeding the 10,000
ppm standard if compliant residual fuel is not available at Great Lakes
ports. This Fact Sheet provides additional information about the Great
Lakes residual fuel availability waiver and how to exercise it.
What is EPA's Coordinated Strategy and how does it apply to the Great Lakes?
What are the Great Lakes provisions?
How do I exercise the Great Lakes residual fuel availability waiver?
What information must I include in my waiver report?
How do I submit my waiver report?
Where do I find more information?
What is EPA's Coordinated Strategy and how does it apply to the Great Lakes?
EPA's Coordinated Strategy addresses emissions from large ships, including those that
operate on the U.S. portions of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway.1 It consists
of three parts:
(i) national Clean Air Act emission standards for new Category 3 engines
installed on U.S. vessels and national sulfur limits for fuel produced, distrib-
uted, and sold in the United States;2
1 The Coordinated Strategy is set out in our Category 3 Marine Rule (75 FR 22896, April 30, 2010).
See our website, www.epa.gov/otaq/oceanvessels.htm, for more information.
2 Category 3 marine diesel engines have per cylinder displacement at or above 30 liters. The Clean
Air Act engine and fuel standards are contained in 40 CFR 80, 94, and 1042.
SEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Transportation and Air Quality
EPA-420-F-12-008
January 2012
-------
o
;
(ii) international emission standards for marine diesel engines above 130 kW installed
on any vessel and international marine fuel sulfur limits that apply worldwide, contained
in Annex VI to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from
Ships (MARPOL Annex VI);3 and
(iii) more stringent international engine emission standards and fuel sulfur limits that
apply to ships operating in specially designated emission control areas (EGAs), desig-
nated by amendment to MARPOL Annex VI,
There are two designated U.S. EGAs: the North American EGA and the U.S. Caribbean EGA.4
Our national regulations clarify that EGA requirements apply in U.S. internal waters shoreward
of a designated EGA; this includes the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway.5 Therefore, in
addition to being subject to Clean Air Act requirements for new marine diesel engines and
marine fuels, ships operating on the U.S. portions of the Great Lakes must comply with the
North American EGA requirements and use fuel that does not exceed the EGA sulfur limits:
10,000 ppm sulfur from August 1, 2012 through December 31, 2014, and 1,000 ppm thereafter.6
What are the Great Lakes provisions?
To address the particular nature of Great Lakes shipping, our regulations at 40 CFR 1043.95
include three provisions that are available to any ship, including a foreign ship, that operates
exclusively in the Great Lakes:
(a) Steamship exemption: Great Lakes steamships are excluded from the EGA fuel stan-
dards. This provision avoids immediate retirement of steamships, which may not be able
to operate safely on distillate diesel fuel. However, we expect these vessels will be retired
eventually because of their higher fuel usage when compared to diesel engines (a steam
engine can consume up to twice as much fuel a modern diesel engine),
(b) Economic hardship provision: a Great Lakes ship owner may petition EPA for a tern-
porary exemption from the long'term (2015) EGA fuel sulfur requirement. The owner
must show that despite taking all reasonable business, technical, and economic steps to
comply with the fuel sulfur requirements, the burden of compliance costs would create a
serious economic hardship for the company. The Agency will evaluate each application
on a case-by-case basis.
3 The MARPOL Annex VI engine and fuel standards are contained in 40 CFR 1043.
4 The North American EGA entered into force on August 1, 2011, and the fuel requirements will begin to apply
on August 1, 2012. The U.S. Caribbean Sea EGA will enter into force on January 1, 2013, and the fuel sulfur
requirements will begin to apply on January 1, 2014. For more information about these EGAs, see our website
www.epa.gov/otaq/oceanvessels.htm.
5 These areas are called EGA associated areas. The Great Lakes are defined as all the streams, rivers, lakes, and
other bodies of water that are within the drainage basin of the St. Lawrence River, west of Anticosti Island. See 40
CFR 1043.20.
6 As an alternative to operating on lower sulfur fuel, an alternative method (e.g., exhaust gas cleaning device such
as a scrubber) may be used as long as the alternative method is at least as effective in terms of emission reductions.
-------
c/3
;
(c) Residual fuel availability waiver: prior to January 1, 2015, a Great Lakes ship may
use residual fuel that exceeds the 10,000 ppm interim EGA fuel sulfur limit on the condi-
tion that the ship operator bunkers with the lowest sulfur marine residual fuel that was
available within the port area where the vessel bunkered the fuel.
How do I exercise the Great Lakes residual fuel availability waiver?
Any owner of a ship operating exclusively in the Great Lakes, including a foreign ship, can
exercise the Great Lakes residual fuel availability waiver.
The Great Lakes residual fuel availability waiver is available only with respect to the interim
10,000 ppm fuel sulfur limit that applies in the Great Lakes from August 1, 2012 through
December 31, 2014. It does not apply to the long-term 1,000 ppm EGA fuel sulfur limit. The
waiver allows the ship operator to purchase and use residual fuel that exceeds the 10,000 ppm
sulfur limit if compliant residual fuel is not available. Otherwise, the alternative would have
been the purchase of distillate fuel, which is not required until 2015 and which Great Lakes
ships may not be prepared to use prior to that date.
The Great Lakes residual fuel availability waiver is not an unconditional waiver from the fuel
sulfur requirements. The regulations specify that you must purchase the lowest sulfur marine
residual fuel that is available within the port area where your vessel bunkers the fuel (40 CFR
1043.95(c)). Port area means the geographic limits of the port as specified by the Army Corps
of Engineers. The geographic limits for the top 150 ports in the United States, including
Great Lakes ports, are listed in the Principle Ports of the United States database available at
www.ndc.iwr.usace.army.mil/data/datappor.htm. Information for all ports is available at
www.ndc.iwr.usace.army.mil//ports/ports.asp. For Canadian Ports, you should refer to the
Letters Patent for the relevant port, or similar legal description.
You are not required to obtain advance approval from EPA to exercise the Great Lakes residual
fuel availability waiver. However, as specified in 40 CFR 1043.95(c), you must send a report to
EPA's Designated Certification Officer (see address at the end of this Fact Sheet) that identifies
the fuel that was used instead of compliant fuel. In your waiver report, you will need to tell EPA
how you determined that no compliant residual fuel was available in the port area at which you
bunkered the fuel and how you determined that you bunkered with the lowest sulfur marine
residual fuel that was available. The method you use to make these determinations should be
consistent across all the waiver reports you file. In making your availability determination, you
may limit your search to those residual fuels that are available through marine terminal opera-
tors. If you limit your search for the lowest sulfur marine residual fuel to those fuels that meets
certain operating requirements of your engine, for example with respect to viscosity or other fuel
parameters, an explanation of these fuel requirements and a range of the acceptable values must
be specified in your report.
You must send this report to the address specified below within three months of the fueling
event. EPA has determined that, for multiple occurrences, you may combine all events that
-------
Cfl
occur during a three-month period into one report to be submitted within 45 days of the end of
each calendar quarter and include all events that occurred during that quarter.
Ship owners exercising the Great Lakes residual fuel availability waiver remain subject to all
other reporting and recordkeeping requirements contained in 40 CFR 1043.70, including those
relevant to the fuel sulfur regulations such as the requirement to obtain and retain bunker
delivery notes.
What information must I include in my waiver report?
For EPA to determine if a ship owner meets the requirements in 40 CFR 1043.95(c), your Great
Lakes residual fuel availability waiver report should contain at minimum the following information:
(1) The name of the vessel, the vessel identification number, its home port, the name of
the owner and its corporate address, and the name of the operator and its corporate address,
(2) The date and time of the fueling event, the port area in which it occurred as defined
by the Army Corps of Engineers for U.S. ports, or the Letters Patent or similar legal
description for Canadian ports, name of the fuel supplier and facility address, quantity of
residual fuel purchased, and sulfur content of residual fuel purchased (as documented by
bunker delivery note),
(3) Description of how you determined that no residual fuel meeting the 10,000 ppm
sulfur limit was available,
(4) Description of how you determined that the residual fuel you purchased had the lowest
sulfur content of any residual fuel available in that port area.
We may ask you to add information to your written report so we can determine whether the
residual fuel purchased had the lowest sulfur content of available residual fuel.
This waiver report must be submitted in written form. In addition, to ensure the report can be
considered official and the information contained in the report reliable, the report needs to be
signed by an authorized representative of your company and contain the following statement:
We submit this report under 40 CFR 1043.95(c). All the information in this report is
true and accurate to the best of my knowledge. I know of the penalties for violating the
Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships and the regulations. (Authorized Company Repre-
sentative)
(1 ^ See 40 CFR 1042.915 for information on how we treat information you consider confidential.
cti
cx
-------
Cfl
How do I submit my waiver report?
Send your Great Lakes residual fuel availability waiver written reports to the EPA Designated
Certification Officer at the following address:
For U.S. Mail:
U.S. EPA
Attn: Fuel Availability Waivers
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW 6405J
Washington, DC 20460
For overnight or courier services:
U.S. EPA
Attn: Fuel Availability Waivers
1310 L Street, NW, Room 602A
Washington, DC 20005
Where do I find more information?
You can find information about the applicable standards and related documents on EPA's Office
of Transportation and Air Quality web site at:
www.epa.gov/otaq/oceanvessels.htm
For general information on related topics, please contact EPA OTAQ Public Inquiries at:
www.epa.gov/otaq/omS'Cmt.htm
------- |