Bluewater Network News

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is not required by the Clean Air Act (CAA) to immediately set emission standards for marine diesel engines higher than the standards provided for in MARPOL Annex VI. In the instant case, an environmental advocacy group sued the EPA after that agency promulgated a regulation that adopted the MARPOL standard for large marine diesel engines. Plaintiffs argued that the CAA is a technology-forcing statute, requiring the EPA to adopt standards higher than those already in existence. The court, noting that the EPA had adopted a two-step approach calling for potentially higher standards in 2007, ruled that the agency’s decision was not arbitrary. Bluewater Network v.

Two hybrid ferries powered by the wind and sun will carry visitors to Alcatraz under a new ten-year contract between the National Park Service and Hornblower Cruises and Events. To help win the multi-million dollar contract, the ferry operator committed to build two brand new hybrid-electric passenger vessels that maximize the use of solar and wind energy, with zero emissions at the wharf. The first will be built within two years, and the second by year five. The hybrid vessels in the winning proposal by Hornblower were designed by Solar Sailor and modeled on the Solar Sailor ferry in Sydney, Australia. Bluewater Network introduced the Solar Sailor concept to ferry planners on the Bay five years ago and have been lobbying for such a vessel ever since.

The San Francisco Bay Area Water Transit Authority is starting to build boats, issuing a Letter of Intent to Award a contract to Nichols Brothers Boat Builders to construct two new 149 passenger vessels. Vessel construction will start this summer, and the first boats will be delivered by 2007. “We’re proud to be leading the way with regional ferry service,” says Charlene Haught-Johnson, chair of the Board of Directors of the Authority. “We’ve promised to deliver a reliable, cost-effective, convenient and environmentally friendly water transit system. These boats are the first of 10 new boats that the Authority expects to build over the next 10 years. Mary Frances Culnane, the Authority’s Manager of Marine Engineering, will manage the construction contract for the Authority.

Copley News Service reports that air quality regulators have doused trash fires on cruise ships traversing the California coast. By unanimous vote Thursday, the California Air Resources Board adopted rules to implement legislation that bars cruise ships from burning refuse within 3 miles of shore. In doing so, smog fighters also signaled their intention to take up similar regulations for many other vessels, including mammoth cargo ships, tankers and military carriers based in San Diego. Cruise ships are a big part of the California waterfront economy, making 652 stops, including 361 at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Port calls could increase 25 percent over the next decade, state officials estimate.

Under a plan spelled out in SB 428, by state Senator Don Perata (D-Alameda), a new panel will be created to oversee the development of a proposed network of high-speed ferries serving the entire San Francisco Bay Area. The new panel will be called the San Francisco Bay Area Water Transit Authority. Governor Gray Davis signed the bill last year, giving the Transit Authority the go-ahead to prepare a detailed plan for expanding ferry services in the San Francisco Bay Area for the legislature's approval. The authority's 11-member board will be made up of local elected officials, environmentalists, business leaders and transportation experts; four appointed by the Governor and two each appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules and the Assembly Committee on Rules.