Sponsors (17)
Official title: To amend the Clean Air Act to provide for the establishment of standards to limit the carbon intensity of the fuel used by certain vessels, and for other purposes.
Introduced July 10, 2025 by Robert Garcia · Last progress July 10, 2025
This bill forces deep cuts in maritime pollution that deliver substantial local public‑health and climate benefits but does so at the cost of higher shipping and infrastructure expenses, administrative burdens, and potentially strained implementation if standards are relaxed or timelines prove tight.
Residents of port and nearby urban communities (including children, seniors, and port workers) would see large reductions in local air pollution as in-port vessel emissions are eliminated or sharply reduced by 2035, improving respiratory and cardiovascular health.
The maritime sector (shippers, utilities, and the broader public) would contribute substantially to national greenhouse gas cuts as vessel lifecycle fuel carbon intensity is progressively reduced toward large emissions reductions by 2050.
Ports, utilities, and clean-energy suppliers would gain regulatory certainty from clear deadlines (2029 rulemaking, 2035 in-port targets), encouraging investment in zero-emission port infrastructure and technologies.
Ship operators, shippers, and ultimately consumers and small businesses would face higher costs as owners retrofit/replace vessels, purchase low‑carbon fuels, or pay for shore power — raising shipping costs and consumer prices.
Local governments, utilities, port authorities, and ratepayers could face substantial upfront costs to build shore power, hydrogen, charging, and other zero‑emission port infrastructure.
If EPA finds full elimination technologically or economically infeasible and relaxes standards or adopts only 'maximum feasible' reductions, the law could deliver weaker-than-intended emissions and pollution outcomes for communities and the climate.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Directs EPA to set lifecycle fuel carbon‑intensity standards for large vessels with phased reductions to full decarbonization by 2050 and to eliminate at‑berth/anchorage emissions by 2035.
Requires the EPA to set and enforce lifecycle carbon-intensity standards for fuel used by large ships on covered voyages, with phased reduction targets from 2030 through full decarbonization by 2050, plus annual reporting by vessel owners/operators. It also directs EPA to eliminate (or achieve the maximum feasible reduction of) greenhouse gas and criteria pollutant emissions from vessels at berth or at anchorage in the U.S. contiguous zone by January 1, 2035, with standards to be issued by January 1, 2029. The bill creates new Clean Air Act authorities and timelines, includes feasibility and economic exception provisions, allows crediting and averaging mechanisms, exempts very infrequent callers, and requires public annual reporting of per-voyage fuel carbon intensity and emissions.