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The California Air Resources Board (CARB or Board) will begin performing an additional analysis of fuel samples obtained during the inspection of ocean-going vessels. As international regulatory sulfur limits have become stricter, it has inadvertently created situations where a vessel’s fuel may in fact meet the sulfur limits of the International and California regulations, but not meet the standards for distillate grade fuel, as required by California law. This difference is significant. Studies have shown that the use of distillate fuel vs. lower sulfur residual grade fuel reduces the formation of directly emitted particulate from diesel engines considerably.
Recognizing this issue, CARB staff is seeking to improve compliance by performing this additional analysis of collected fuel samples. As provided by the California Ocean-Going Vessel Fuel Regulation ISO 8217 will be used to determine whether the fuel meets the specifications of distillate grade fuel. An enforcement advisory was released in October 2020 (Marine Notice 2020-2) that outlined the important amendment to CARB’s Ocean-Going Vessel Fuel Regulation enforcement procedures.
Beginning May 2021, Enforcement staff will begin further analysis of samples taken during the inspection procedure.
The Marine Notice, which was released in October 2020, and all relevant regulatory documents are available on the Ocean-Going Vessel Fuel Regulation webpage.
Contact
Inquiries concerning enforcement inspection procedures can be directed to Alex Barber, Air Pollution Specialist, or Debbi Klossing, Manager, Railroad and Marine Enforcement Section.
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