U.S. House passes emissions standards bill

U.S. House passes emissions standards bill    The U.S. House of Representatives Monday approved legislation aimed at cutting emissions from diesel powered ships.
   If passed by the Senate and signed into law, the bill would give the U.S. Coast Guard and Environmental Protection Agency authority to develop and set emission standards for domestic and foreign-flagged vessels entering U.S. waters.
   The legislation would align U.S. ship emission standards and requirements with current international treaty regulations set by the International Maritime Organization in 1997. These regulations, which took effect in 2005, limit sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions from ship exhausts. The U.S. Senate adopted the treaty last year.
   According to a recent report issued by the International Council on Clean Transportation, ocean-going vessels produce more sulfur dioxide emissions than all the world’s cars, trucks and buses combined.
   Ports on the West Coast have come under increasing fire over diesel emissions from truck, train and ship emissions related to port activity. The twin ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, the nation's busiest container ports, are the largest single-point source of diesel pollution in the Southern California basin.