BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: sb 793
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: lara
VERSION: 4/1/13
Analysis by: Erin Riches FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: April 30, 2013
SUBJECT:
Air pollution: oceangoing vessels
DESCRIPTION:
This bill exempts vessels, under limited circumstances, from the
state Air Resources Board's regulations governing vessels at
port.
ANALYSIS:
In November 2006, California voters approved Proposition 1B, the
Highway Safety, Traffic Reduction, Air Quality, and Port
Security Bond Act of 2006. Proposition 1B authorized the state
to issue $19.925 billion in general obligation bonds for
transportation-related programs, including $1.0 billion for the
Goods Movement Emission Reduction Program (program). The state
Air Resources Board (ARB) administers this program, which funds
projects to retrofit and replace high-polluting trucks and
locomotives, as well as projects to reduce emissions from
vessels at berth in ports.
In December 2007, ARB approved the Airborne Toxic Control
Measure for Auxiliary Diesel Engines Operated on Ocean-Going
Vessels At-Berth in a California Port regulation (at-berth
regulation). The at-berth regulation applies to all container
vessels, passenger vessels (cruise ships), and refrigerated
cargo vessels that visit California ports (defined as the Ports
of Hueneme, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Oakland, and San Diego).
The regulation does not apply to vehicle carriers, bulk ships,
and tankers. The at-berth regulation:
Provides that a vessel fleet refers to vessels owned and
operated by, or otherwise under the direct control of, the
same person. The regulation deems that each fleet is composed
of one type of vessel (e.g., Carnival cruise ships) and that
fleets are separate for each port (e.g., Carnival would have a
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Port of Los Angeles fleet and a Port of San Francisco fleet).
Requires vessel fleet operators visiting California ports to
reduce at-berth emissions by either turning off their
auxiliary engines and connecting the vessel to shore-based
power, or by using alternative control techniques that achieve
equivalent emission reductions.
Requires that by January 1, 2014, at least 50 percent of a
vessel fleet's visit to a port must meet operational time
limits, as follows: a vessel may operate its auxiliary diesel
engines for no more than three hours if the vessel transfers
the engines to shore-based power, or no more than five hours
if the vessel does not transfer the engines to shore-based
power. For example, if a fleet makes 10 visits to a
California port during a quarter, in at least five of those
visits its vessels' auxiliary diesel engines must be operated
no more than three or five hours total, depending on whether a
transfer to shore-based power occurs.
Requires that by January 1, 2014, a vessel fleet's onboard
auxiliary diesel engine power generation while docked at berth
shall be reduced by at least 50 percent from the fleet's
baseline power generation.
Increases the two requirements above to 70 percent by 2017 and
to 80 percent by 2020.
Provides exemptions from limits on hours of operation in cases
of emergency events, such as the port being unable to provide
electrical power due to equipment failure or a transmission or
distribution emergency, or delays caused by US Coast Guard or
US Department of Homeland Security inspections.
Requires both terminal and vessel fleet operators to submit
compliance plans to ARB. Terminal operators submitted their
initial plans in July 2009; the regulation requires them to
submit updates in July 2013, July 2016, and July 2019. Fleet
operators also submitted their initial plans in July 2009,
with updates required in July 2011, July 2013, July 2016, and
July 2019.
This bill exempts a vessel from the at-berth regulation's
operational time limits if the vessel's testing and safety
inspections of its equipment allowing the use of shoreside
electricity validates its safety, and:
The vessel operator has made the necessary effort to complete
testing and inspection;
The vessel operator has notified ARB;
The vessel operator has properly recorded the testing and
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validation procedures, as specified; and
The vessel operator or terminal operator has ordered or
scheduled any necessary repairs for the earliest possible
time.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . The author states that although the at-berth
regulation exempts vessel operators from operational time
limits under emergency circumstances, it does not provide any
exemptions for non-emergency circumstances. This bill seeks
to provide a safety net for vessel operators who are
attempting to comply with the regulation but are unable to
successfully connect to shoreside power, whether due to a
problem on the port side or with the ship.
2.Background . The at-berth regulation requires a vessel
operator, when in port, to either turn off auxiliary engines
and connect to shoreside power (e.g., grid-based electrical
power) or use alternative control techniques to achieve
emissions reductions. Most vessel fleet operators have chosen
the first option. Accordingly, vessel fleet operators are
making significant capital investments to retrofit, improve,
and/or modify equipment to make vessels capable of connecting
with an external power source when at port. On the land side,
California terminal and port operators are undertaking
projects - partially funded with Proposition 1B funds - to
provide onshore electrical power at their berths. About 60
berths are operational to date, and ARB expects another 34
berth projects to come on line in 2013.
The at-berth regulation requires a vessel operator bringing a
vessel into a port for the first time to test and validate
shoreside power interactions in order to certify those
connections as successful. In an effort to help ensure that
these complex interactions will be successful on both sides,
the at-berth regulation also requires both vessel fleet
operators and terminal operators to submit plans to ARB. The
next update for both plans is due July 1, 2013.
Currently, if testing shows the connections are not
successful, the vessel operator can switch back to auxiliary
engine power without consequence. Beginning January 1, 2014,
however, ARB could significantly penalize a vessel operator in
this situation for exceeding operational time limits. The
Pacific Merchant Shipping Association (PMSA), sponsor of this
bill, points out that fleets will have vessels making initial
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visits to ports on an ongoing basis as they add new ships; in
addition, passing test procedures at one port does not qualify
a vessel to pass at another port. PMSA seeks to ensure that a
vessel entering a port for the first time after January 1,
2014, is protected against penalties if it exceeds operational
time limits because testing procedures indicate that linking
to shoreside power is unsafe or not possible.
3.Solution in search of a problem ? The sponsor and author of
this bill state that they have submitted several letters to
ARB requesting assistance with this issue and have not
received a response. ARB indicates that because no major
issues have been encountered thus far in testing and
validation procedures with the several dozen berths that are
already providing shoreside power, it does not expect issues
to arise next year. If problems do occur, ARB has the
flexibility to exempt from penalties vessels that exceed
operational time limits. ARB indicates it would prefer to
deal with such incidents on a case-by-case basis to ensure
that the vessel operators in question are indeed making a good
faith effort to comply, as compared to the blanket exemption
provided by this bill. If this bill becomes law, ARB will
have to begin a new rulemaking process to amend the at-berth
regulation, which could take up to two years and thus would
not address PMSA's desire for protections beginning January 1,
2014.
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday, April 24,
2013.)
SUPPORT: Pacific Merchant Shipping Association (sponsor)
OPPOSED: None received.