ADDRESSING AIR-QUALITY ISSUES AT PORTS SPURS A GROWING AIR CONSULTING PRACTICE AT ENVIRON

摘要

The volume of commerce moving through U.S. ports is growing by double-digit rates, and the volume of air emissions at these facilities, which are already major sources of regional air-quality problems, are increasing accordingly. Stationary sources are a relatively minor part of the problem; ship, train and truck traffic generates substantial emissions, and dealing with these emissions is an extremely complex issue. "Because of their nature, ports are difficult for local regulators to deal with," notes Joseph Hower, a principal in the Los Angeles office of the $100-million international consulting firm Environ Corp. (www.enviro corp.com). Most of the sources of emissions are mobile, he explains, and mobile sources have traditionally been the toughest to control from a regulatory standpoint. What's more, EPA regulations apply only to U.S.-flagged ships, and "more than 90% of the ships that call at U.S. ports are not US flagged," Hower explains. An added complication is that the international body of law governing ship emissions—MARPOL VI—has not been ratified by the United States.