Transcript Slide 1

Environmental Policy Issues on the
Horizon for U.S. Ports
Meredith Martino
Manager, Government Relations and
Environmental Policy
March 1, 2010
American Association of Port Authorities
703.684.5700 • www.aapa-ports.org
1
AAPA Overview
Committed to keeping seaports
navigable/secure/sustainable
•
AAPA - a hemispheric alliance of
160 port authorities, including 13
in Caribbean
•
Members include 300 related
organizations
•
Association promotes info
sharing/education & training
2
Seaports Deliver Environmental Stewardship
Port authorities are committed to significantly reducing
environmental impacts on their surrounding communities
and natural resources
• AAPA members embrace sustainability as
standard business practice, balancing
economic prosperity pursuit with natural
resources protection
• Throughout Western Hemisphere, seaports
engaging in cutting-edge programs,
initiatives that protect water, air, soil
3
The Regulatory Environment
Policy milestones have been reached on some issues…
• Ballast water
• EPA’s Vessel General Permit entered into effect in December 2008
• Air emissions
• North American Emissions Control Area expected to be approved this month by the
IMO
• EPA Regulations to implement ECA standards in U.S. waters were finalized in
December 2009
footer goes here
4
Pending/Potential Regulations
…but still have new aspects that are developing
• Ballast water
• Draft Coast Guard rulemaking on discharge standards accepted comments through
December 2009
• Air emissions
• EPA finding that it can regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act
• This finding enables the agency to move forward with a climate change regulatory
program without Congressional action or approval
• Chamber of Commerce and others are legally challenging this finding
footer goes here
5
Beyond Regulations
Agency processes may play out outside the Federal Register
• Executive Orders
• Policies and guidance documents from the President’s Council on Environmental
Quality
• Direction from Office of Management and Budget
• Voluntary programs and initiatives from the Administrator or Secretary’s office
at EPA, Department of Transportation and other agencies
footer goes here
6
Marine Spatial Planning
“Ocean zoning” is getting a lot of attention
• CEQ is leading efforts to develop a National Ocean Policy
• Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning is a key part of those efforts
• MSP maps various uses of the coasts and oceans and overlays them into a
single plan
• Environmental groups, aquaculture, oil and gas industries all have a stake in
this process
footer goes here
7
AAPA Supports Marine Spatial Planning That
Recognizes, Includes Human Use Aspects Of
The Coastal Environment
Pressures confronting those
responsible for managing
coastal resources include:
Marine spatial planning:
• facilitation of commerce
• Ensures needs of all are met
• preservation of habitat
• access to energy sources
• Offers opportunities to plan for
the future
• Protects human uses of the
waterfront
• coastal community growth,
including increased public
access
8
Health Impact Assessment
Going beyond calculating health risks
• While Health Risk Assessments look at specific risks associated with a project
(air quality impacts, etc), HIA is much broader
• Similar in scope to an Environmental Impact Assessment, an HIA looks
broadly at how a project or policy would impact community health
• Topics evaluated can include access to health care, disease impacts
(cardiovascular problems, diabetes, etc) and others
• EPA held an HIA scoping meeting on Port of Los Angeles project
• San Pedro-based community groups want to include this as a standard review
of projects
footer goes here
9
Sustainable/Livable Communities
Administration is taking a bigger picture look at planning
• The Obama Administration finally has most of its political appointees in place
• Larger, cross-cutting themes are beginning to emerge across agency lines and
budgets
• EPA has created an Office of Sustainable Communities and eliminated its
Sector Strategies program
• Department of Transportation has identified Livable Communities as one of its
priorities in the FY ‘11 proposed budget
• Goal is to coordinate commerce, housing and transportation
footer goes here
10
Environmental Justice
“Social” pillar of sustainability continues to receive attention
• Federal government is paying more attention to how environmental impacts
affect nearby communities, especially low-income and minority populations
• National Environmental Justice Advisory Committee had a Goods Movement
Working Group that issued a report on reducing air emissions in September
2009
• Port of Seattle represented port industry in the group
• Key recommendation is to increase impacted communities’ “capacity and
effectiveness to engage in and influence decisions related to goods movement”
footer goes here
11
Potential Legislative Action
Congressional priorities don’t necessarily match Administration
• Focus on Capitol Hill continues
to be economic recovery and
jobs
• Growing budget deficit is a
hindrance to new or expensive
programs
footer goes here
12
Trucking Regulation/F4A
Addressing trucks air emissions may play out legislatively
• Environmental and labor interests are pushing hard to amend the FAA
Authorization Act to allow local governments to more strictly regulate trucking
industry to address a variety of concerns, including environmental
• Port authorities have taken a variety of approaches to reduce emissions from
drayage trucks
• AAPA does not think there is a need at this time for Congress to amend F4A
• Many ports are implementing clean truck programs to reduce truck emissions
in port communities
footer goes here
13
Climate Change Legislation
Legislation stalled but threat of EPA action may break impasse
• House of Representatives
passed comprehensive climate
bill last fall
• Senate Environment and
Public Works Committee
marked up a bill without any
Republican participation
• One-party action has
effectively killed climate
change legislation for the near
future
footer goes here
14
DERA Funding and Reauthorization
Ports continue to do well, program set to expire next year
• Diesel Emissions Reduction Act funds grants to reduce diesel emissions from
targeted sectors and public fleets
• Ports/marine received approximately 20% of the available funds from the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
• FY ‘09 and FY ‘10 competition results are expected to be announced soon
• FY ‘11 request was $60 million – level funding from last year but less than
authorized amount of $200 million or identified needs of $1 billion
• Program set to sunset next year
• AAPA is part of a coalition of manufacturers, environmental groups and users
to work on reauthorization
footer goes here
15
Meredith Martino
[email protected]
American Association of Port Authorities
www.aapa-ports.org ● 703-684-5700
16