Fuel Use Requirements for Great Lakes Steamships (Renewal)

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) adopted requirements for marine vessels operating in and around U.S. territorial waters to use reduced-sulfur diesel fuel. This requirement does not apply for steamships, but it would apply for steamships that are converted to run on diesel engines. A regulatory provision allows vessel owners to qualify for a waiver from the fuel-use requirements for a defined period for such converted vessels. One condition of the exemption from the fuel standard is that engines meet current emission standards. EPA uses the data to oversee compliance with regulatory requirements, including communicating with affected companies and answering questions from the public or other industry participants regarding the waiver in question. Since the IMO Tier III NOx standards apply for Category 3 engines installed on U.S. vessels, we don’t expect anyone to use the steamship exemption.

The latest form for Fuel Use Requirements for Great Lakes Steamships (Renewal) expires 2021-11-30 and can be found here.