Sponsors (4)
Introduced July 10, 2025 by Sheldon Whitehouse · Last progress July 10, 2025
This bill shifts more of the costs of marine pollution onto shippers and importers through per‑pollutant fees, data-driven oversight, and targeted grants—trading higher shipping and compliance costs (and transitional burdens) for cleaner air in port communities, stronger emissions accounting, and funding to accelerate zero‑emission maritime technologies.
Residents of port and coastal communities (including fenceline neighborhoods) would see reduced local air pollution and related health harms as fees, monitoring, and grant-funded projects incentivize cleaner in-port operations and fund local mitigation.
Ports, shippers, and regulators would face stronger incentives and clearer tools to reduce greenhouse gases and other marine pollutants—through fee structures, voyage attribution rules, and data-driven oversight—lowering shipping's climate and environmental impacts (including special protections for polar regions).
Operators calling U.S. ports would be charged fees tied to pollutant intensity (NOx, SO2, PM) and lifecycle fuel profiles, creating market signals that encourage switching to lower‑emission fuels and technologies.
Shippers, importers, and ultimately consumers and businesses would face higher shipping costs—driven by new fees, fuel switching costs, and compliance expenses—likely raising prices for imported goods.
Strict payment rules (including importer prepayment) and steep late-payment penalties could create severe cash-flow stress for carriers and importers, risking bankruptcies, cargo entry delays, and supply‑chain disruptions.
The bill imposes complex reporting, verification, and lifecycle-accounting requirements and references multiple statutes, increasing compliance burdens and legal/regulatory uncertainty for operators, ports, and agencies.
Based on analysis of 7 sections of legislative text.
Creates lifecycle CO2‑equivalent and air‑pollutant fees on covered cargo voyages, requires voyage/fuel reporting, and directs 25% of fees to retrofit or replace Jones Act vessels with low‑carbon propulsion.
Imposes lifecycle greenhouse‑gas and air‑pollutant fees on large foreign and domestic cargo voyages to the United States, requires detailed voyage and fuel reporting to the EPA, and directs a portion of collected fees to a grant and loan program to replace or retrofit Jones Act vessels so they run on batteries or very low‑carbon fuels. The bill sets per‑unit CO2‑equivalent and per‑pound NOx, SO2, and PM fee rates, rules for importer liability and foreign‑fee offsets, penalties for late payment, and a sunset if an equivalent global fee is adopted. The EPA must develop lifecycle emissions profiles for marine fuels and collect fees starting January 1, 2027; the Maritime Administration must use 25% of prior‑year fee receipts beginning in fiscal year 2029 to fund vessel replacement/retrofit awards, prioritizing greenhouse‑gas and air‑quality benefits and relief for overburdened communities.