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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 Authorities703.684.5700 • www.aapa-ports.org

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AAPA Overview

• AAPA - a hemispheric alliance of 160 port authorities, including 13 in Caribbean

• Members include 300 related organizations

• Association promotes info sharing/education & training

Committed to keeping seaports navigable/secure/sustainable

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Seaports Deliver Environmental Stewardship

• 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

Port authorities are committed to significantly reducing environmental impacts on their surrounding communities and natural resources

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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

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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

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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

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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

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AAPA Supports Marine Spatial Planning That Recognizes, Includes Human Use Aspects Of The Coastal Environment

Pressures confronting those responsible for managing coastal resources include:

• facilitation of commerce

• preservation of habitat

• access to energy sources

• coastal community growth, including increased public access

Marine spatial planning:• Offers opportunities to plan for

the future

• Ensures needs of all are met

• Protects human uses of the waterfront

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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

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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

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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”

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Potential Legislative Action

• Focus on Capitol Hill continues to be economic recovery and jobs

• Growing budget deficit is a hindrance to new or expensive programs

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Congressional priorities don’t necessarily match Administration

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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

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Climate Change Legislation

• 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

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Legislation stalled but threat of EPA action may break impasse

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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

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American Association of Port Authoritieswww.aapa-ports.org ● 703-684-5700

Meredith Martinommartino@aapa-ports.org