Posted:
December 23, 2009
Congressman David Obey (D-WI), chairman of the Appropriations Committee, has praised the Great Lakes maritime community and the Environmental Protection Agency on an agreement that enables new EPA emission standards to be enacted while preventing the needless loss of thousands of jobs in the shipping, steel and mining industries in the Great Lakes region.
The EPA Dec. 22 finalized new emission regulations for large vessels in U.S. waters. The final regulations incorporate provisions made possible by Rep. Obey, Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN) and other members from the Great Lakes Congressional delegation. These provisions maintain unprecedented new air quality requirements for the Great Lakes region, while allowing 13 U.S.-flagged steamships to remain in service on the Lakes and providing flexibility for 13 lakers powered by category 3 diesel engines.
Maritime interests throughout the region hailed the finalization of the EPA regulations with the provisions to accommodate the Great Lakes vessels.
"This is a victory for Great Lakes shipping, the economy and the environment -- a true victory for practical politics," said AMO National Vice President for the Great Lakes Don Cree, who serves as president of the Great Lakes Maritime Task Force. "The original EPA regulations unintentionally and unnecessarily would have decimated shipping, even though these vessels move much more cargo with far fewer emissions than land-based modes of transportation.
"The finalization of the provisions drafted under the leadership of Congressmen Obey and Oberstar saves hundreds of U.S. shipping jobs and thousands more in the industries that depend on the effective, efficient cargo transportation reliably provided by Great Lakes ships," Cree said.
Had the EPA regulations been enacted as proposed, the steamships would have been removed from service in 2012 and the continued operation of the 13 motor vessels would have been drastically jeopardized or rendered impossible. These vessels are in most cases manned by licensed deck and engineering officers and stewards represented by AMO. The loss of these ships from service would have meant the direct loss of hundreds of jobs.
"The initial EPA proposal, which was included in a proposed rule unveiled this summer, simply failed to understand the impact on both the economy and the environment of the Great Lakes region," Rep. Obey said. "It would have meant the loss of thousands of good paying jobs and vital industries to foreign companies with no improvement and, in fact, a possible deterioration in air quality. That's because it would have shifted cargo to more polluting modes of transportation such as trucks and rail, it would have raised the cost of doing business for the steel industry and others, shifting even more manufacturing to China and it would have shifted demand for products like coal and limestone to other regions."
AMO, the largest maritime officers' union on the Lakes, filed comments with the EPA critical of the provisions that would have had a devastating and permanent impact on Great Lakes shipping and the jobs it sustains. AMO was the only maritime officers' union present during the initial Capitol Hill meeting on the proposed EPA regulations and was the only officers' union present at a later meeting thanking Congressman Obey for his leadership in brokering the agreement with the EPA.
The EPA regulations to address emissions from large ocean-going vessels will require these vessels to switch to low-sulfur distillate fuels beginning in 2012 and to ultra-low sulfur fuels in 2015. These fuels cannot be safely used in the steamships on the Lakes, and the regulations would have created difficult if not insurmountable obstacles to the operation of the 13 U.S.-flagged lakers powered by category 3 engines. The agreement exempts the steamships from the regulations and provides a waiver option for the motor vessels, allowing the ships to continue working and their operators time to make informed business decisions.
"After hearing from the maritime community, a bipartisan group of members of Congress, including Jim Oberstar and myself, agreed to help explain to EPA the unintended consequences and to bring the two sides together to negotiate a way forward that would preserve jobs while reducing toxic emissions," Rep. Obey said.
"That's what we did and I am pleased that we were able to bring the parties together," he said. "Whenever someone is trying to promote environmental cleanup, we have heard people say it will cost jobs. That was not true when those charges were being made in the 1970s over the Clean Water Act, and it is not true today. This agreement shows that we can move forward to promote jobs and economic growth at the same time that we are cleaning up our environment."
Agreement finalized to save jobs, enable shipping to continue as greenest cargo transportation on the Great Lakes
Congressman David Obey (D-WI), chairman of the Appropriations Committee, has praised the Great Lakes maritime community and the Environmental Protection Agency on an agreement that enables new EPA emission standards to be enacted while preventing the needless loss of thousands of jobs in the shipping, steel and mining industries in the Great Lakes region.
The EPA Dec. 22 finalized new emission regulations for large vessels in U.S. waters. The final regulations incorporate provisions made possible by Rep. Obey, Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN) and other members from the Great Lakes Congressional delegation. These provisions maintain unprecedented new air quality requirements for the Great Lakes region, while allowing 13 U.S.-flagged steamships to remain in service on the Lakes and providing flexibility for 13 lakers powered by category 3 diesel engines.
Maritime interests throughout the region hailed the finalization of the EPA regulations with the provisions to accommodate the Great Lakes vessels.
"This is a victory for Great Lakes shipping, the economy and the environment -- a true victory for practical politics," said AMO National Vice President for the Great Lakes Don Cree, who serves as president of the Great Lakes Maritime Task Force. "The original EPA regulations unintentionally and unnecessarily would have decimated shipping, even though these vessels move much more cargo with far fewer emissions than land-based modes of transportation.
"The finalization of the provisions drafted under the leadership of Congressmen Obey and Oberstar saves hundreds of U.S. shipping jobs and thousands more in the industries that depend on the effective, efficient cargo transportation reliably provided by Great Lakes ships," Cree said.
Had the EPA regulations been enacted as proposed, the steamships would have been removed from service in 2012 and the continued operation of the 13 motor vessels would have been drastically jeopardized or rendered impossible. These vessels are in most cases manned by licensed deck and engineering officers and stewards represented by AMO. The loss of these ships from service would have meant the direct loss of hundreds of jobs.
"The initial EPA proposal, which was included in a proposed rule unveiled this summer, simply failed to understand the impact on both the economy and the environment of the Great Lakes region," Rep. Obey said. "It would have meant the loss of thousands of good paying jobs and vital industries to foreign companies with no improvement and, in fact, a possible deterioration in air quality. That's because it would have shifted cargo to more polluting modes of transportation such as trucks and rail, it would have raised the cost of doing business for the steel industry and others, shifting even more manufacturing to China and it would have shifted demand for products like coal and limestone to other regions."
AMO, the largest maritime officers' union on the Lakes, filed comments with the EPA critical of the provisions that would have had a devastating and permanent impact on Great Lakes shipping and the jobs it sustains. AMO was the only maritime officers' union present during the initial Capitol Hill meeting on the proposed EPA regulations and was the only officers' union present at a later meeting thanking Congressman Obey for his leadership in brokering the agreement with the EPA.
The EPA regulations to address emissions from large ocean-going vessels will require these vessels to switch to low-sulfur distillate fuels beginning in 2012 and to ultra-low sulfur fuels in 2015. These fuels cannot be safely used in the steamships on the Lakes, and the regulations would have created difficult if not insurmountable obstacles to the operation of the 13 U.S.-flagged lakers powered by category 3 engines. The agreement exempts the steamships from the regulations and provides a waiver option for the motor vessels, allowing the ships to continue working and their operators time to make informed business decisions.
"After hearing from the maritime community, a bipartisan group of members of Congress, including Jim Oberstar and myself, agreed to help explain to EPA the unintended consequences and to bring the two sides together to negotiate a way forward that would preserve jobs while reducing toxic emissions," Rep. Obey said.
"That's what we did and I am pleased that we were able to bring the parties together," he said. "Whenever someone is trying to promote environmental cleanup, we have heard people say it will cost jobs. That was not true when those charges were being made in the 1970s over the Clean Water Act, and it is not true today. This agreement shows that we can move forward to promote jobs and economic growth at the same time that we are cleaning up our environment."