[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 131 (Monday, July 9, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31753-31754]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-14681]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OAR-2018-0396; FRL-9980-46-OAR]
Notice of Intent To Hold a Workshop for a Study on the Impacts of
Compliance With the ECA Fuel Sulfur Limits on U.S. Coastal Shipping
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of workshop.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing a
stakeholder workshop to be held in Washington, DC, on July 30, 2018.
This workshop will engage individuals and companies involved in U.S.
coastal shipping as transportation providers or users, as well as
states, local communities, and interested citizens, in the development
of a study of the impacts on that sector of the North American Emission
Control Area (ECA) fuel sulfur limits for ships. The Agency will
provide background on the study, describe the proposed analytic
methodology, and solicit stakeholder input regarding the selection of
transportation routes to be studied and data inputs.
DATES: The workshop will be held on July 30, 2018 at the location noted
below under ADDRESSES. The workshop will begin at 10:00 a.m. EST and
end at 3:00 p.m. EST. Parties wishing to attend the workshop should
notify the contact person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
by July 23, 2018. Additional information regarding the workshop appears
below under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
ADDRESSES: The workshop will be held at the following location: Room
1153, William Jefferson Clinton East, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20460. Additional information related to the workshop
will be posted on the EPA website at: https://www.epa.gov/regulations-emissions-vehicles-and-engines/designation-north-american-emission-control-area-marine. Interested parties should check the website for
any updated information.
[[Page 31754]]
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julia MacAllister, Office of
Transportation and Air Quality, Assessment and Standards Division,
Environmental Protection Agency, 2000 Traverwood Drive, Ann Arbor, MI
48105; telephone number: 734-214-4131; email address:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. How can I get copies of this document and other related information?
A. Docket
EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket ID No.
EPA-HQ-OAR-2018-0396. Publicly available docket materials are available
either electronically through www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at
the EPA Docket Center, (EPA/DC) EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution
Ave. NW, Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center Public Reading Room is
open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding
legal holidays. The telephone number for the Public Reading Room is
(202) 566-1744.
B. Electronic Access
You may access this Federal Register document electronically from
the Government Printing Office under the ``Federal Register'' listings
at FDSys (http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collection.action?collectionCode=FR).
II. Overview
The North American Emission Control Area (ECA) was designated in
2010 by amendment to Annex VI to the International Convention for the
Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL).\1\ Beginning January 1,
2015, the sulfur content of fuel used by ships operating in the ECA may
not exceed 1,000 ppm. By the year 2030, this program is expected to
reduce annual emissions of NOX, SOX, and
PM2.5 by 1.2 million, 1.3 million, and 143,000 tons,
respectively. The magnitude of these reductions would continue well
beyond 2030, and are estimated to annually prevent between 12,000 and
30,000 PM-related premature deaths; between 210 and 920 ozone-related
premature deaths; 1,400,000 work days lost; and 9,600,000 minor
restricted-activity days. The estimated annual monetized health
benefits of the North American Emission Control Area in 2030 would be
between $110 and $270 billion, assuming a 3 percent discount rate (or
between $99 and $240 billion assuming a 7 percent discount rate). The
annual cost of the overall program in 2030 would be significantly less,
at approximately $3.1 billion. This cost includes $2.5 billion in fuel
costs, $0.6 billion in NOX control operating costs (e.g.,
urea consumption), and $0.05 billion in variable costs.\2\
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\1\ See: https://www.epa.gov/regulations-emissions-vehicles-and-engines/designation-north-american-emission-control-area-marine.
\2\ For analysis of the 2030 benefits and costs of the North
American ECA, see Final Rule, Control of Emissions From New Marine
Compression-Ignition Engines at or Above 30 Liters per Cylinder;
this rule is available at https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2010-04-30/pdf/2010-2534.pdf.
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In Senate Report 114-281 (June 16, 2016),\3\ Members of the Senate
Committee on Appropriations indicated that while they support efforts
to reduce pollution from marine vessels, ``the Committee is concerned
the mandate for fuel with a sulfur content of 0.1% in the North
American Emission Control Area is having a disproportionately negative
impact on vessels which have engines that generate less than 32,000
horsepower [and] this impact may cause some shippers to shift from
marine based transport to less efficient, higher emitting modes.'' As a
result, ``to avoid negative environmental consequences and modal
shifting, the Committee directs the Agency to consider exempting
vessels with engines that generate less than 32,000 horsepower and
operate more than 50 miles from the coastline.'' \4\ In response to the
Committee's concerns, EPA intends to perform a study of the economic
impacts of compliance with the North American ECA fuel sulfur limits on
coastal shipping.\5\ The study will be based on the approach the Agency
used for a similar study carried out in 2012 examining the impacts of
the application of the ECA fuel sulfur limits on the Great Lakes
shipping industry.\6\ That study used a combination of geospatial
transportation route modeling and cost modeling to examine the impacts
of the ECA fuel sulfur requirements for a specific set of
transportation routes identified by stakeholders as being at risk for
transportation mode shift.
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\3\ Committee Report [To accompany S. 3068]; this report is
available at https://www.congress.gov/114/crpt/srpt281/CRPT-114srpt281.pdf. The Joint Explanatory Statement accompanying the
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 (Pub. L. 115-31), refers to
Senate Report 114-281 as carrying the same emphasis in regard to the
administration of programs.
\4\ Ships that generate less than 32,000 horsepower represent
about 85 percent of all ships that visit U.S. ports.
\5\ Coastal shipping, also called coastwise or short sea
shipping, generally means marine transportation along a coast
without crossing an ocean. For the purpose of this study, coastal
shipping means the transportation of goods or materials by ship from
an originating port located in North America, Mexico, or Central
America to a United States destination port located on the Pacific,
Atlantic, or Gulf coasts, or vice versa, but excludes shipping
between Great Lakes ports.
\6\ See https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=EPA-HQ-OAR-2007-0121-0586 and https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyPDF.cgi/P100E7EW.PDF?Dockey=P100E7EW.PDF.
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Input from coastal transportation industry stakeholders and other
industries involved in alternative transportation modes will be
essential to identify the transportation routes to be studied: Those
routes that may be at risk of transportation mode shift as a result of
increased operating costs due to the use of ECA fuel. Stakeholder input
also will be important for essential data, including ship
characteristics.
To facilitate stakeholder participation, EPA will conduct a
workshop on July 30, 2018, at the location noted above under ADDRESSES.
At this meeting, the Agency will explain the purpose of this economic
impact study, describe the methodology that was used for a similar
study of the impacts of ECA compliance on the Great Lakes, and explain
the methodology that will be applied to this study of the economic
impacts of the ECA fuel sulfur requirements on the U.S. coastal marine
transportation. EPA will also describe the data needs of the study, how
interested stakeholders can help EPA obtain that data, and EPA's
procedures to ensure the protection of confidential business
information.
EPA invites and encourages participation by all manner of coastal
shipping stakeholders: Shipping companies, both those with ships that
are capable of operating on heavy fuel oil and those with ships that
are designed to operate solely on distillate diesel fuel; companies
that provide alternative land-based transportation (rail and highway
truck); companies that utilize coastal marine transportation; state and
local governments; environmental and community groups; and others who
are interested in or who have information that may be useful for this
study.
A draft agenda for the workshop can be found at: https://www.epa.gov/regulations-emissions-vehicles-and-engines/designation-north-american-emission-control-area-marine. EPA also plans to place
relevant materials in that docket as they become available.
Dated: June 27, 2018.
Christopher Grundler,
Director, Office of Transportation and Air Quality.
[FR Doc. 2018-14681 Filed 7-6-18; 8:45 am]
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