Even before the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach unveiled an ambitious clean-air plan last week, an international agency that regulates the global shipping industry was considering whether to strengthen outdated emissions standards for cargo vessels -- a move that could significantly improve air quality.
"There should be more stringent standards," said Eivind Vagslid, an environmental official with the International Maritime Organization, which began considering a revision of its 1997 regulations in April. "The levels of the past were set quite leniently to get nations to ratify them and to make them technically achievable."
Over the years, the world fleet of cargo vessels has emerged as a leading source of sulfur oxides, particulates and nitrogen oxides. Many ships emit as much exhaust per day as 12,000 cars.
The emissions have been linked to global warming, respiratory illnesses and premature deaths. In the Los Angeles area, studies show that diesel exhaust from trucks, locomotives, heavy equipment and ships causes cancer and is responsible for 70% of pollution-related health problems and hundreds of deaths every year.
If tougher maritime organization standards are adopted, they could reduce a large source of air pollution for the Los Angeles-Long Beach harbor complex, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, which are next to a main shipping lane, and Bay Area ports such as Oakland.
Almost 5,800 ships called at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach last year, releasing roughly 14,000 tons of air pollutants. In 2004, more than 7,200 ships sailed past Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, releasing almost 16,000 tons of pollutants.
Air quality officials in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties fear that projected growth in ship traffic will erase gains they have made in cutting pollution from onshore sources such as automobiles, manufacturers and businesses.
"It's good to see the talks are going on," said Tom Murphy, a manager at the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District. "The current IMO standards are nonstandards."
Based in London, the International Maritime Organization develops international standards for ship safety, security, vessel design, environmental protection and crew training. It has 166 member nations, including the United States. The agency's rules are enforced by port authorities, coast guards and maritime agencies around the world.
The organization could adopt revised standards as early as next July.
