House Votes To End California Harbor Craft Waiver

The House of Representatives voted on Sept. 16, in H.J. Res. 213, to use the Congressional Review Act to overturn the EPA waiver that allowed California to enforce strict emissions rules on commercial harbor craft. The California rule, known as the Harbor Craft rule, imposed the requirement on all harbor craft except fishing vessels to attach diesel particulate filters (DPFs) to marine engines as a condition of operating. Maritime interests, including the American Waterways Operators, have long opposed the rule. The revocation passed to the Senate and must be signed by the President to become law.
The vote came a day after the House voted to overturn California’s authority to mandate shore-side power or emissions-capture technology for docked vessels.
The House’s action came after an attempt by EPA to do the same thing administratively, instead of by Congressional statute, met with a rebuff in the courts. The House’s vote is the latest move in the administration’s multi-front war to dismantle the Biden environmental agenda, and also to strip California of its special regulatory powers under the Clean Air Act to create additional stricter emissions regulations that other states may follow instead of federal regulations. It’s the only state with that privilege, granted originally by Congress to deal with what was believed in 1970 to be a unique and urgent smog problem.
Under the regime, California must apply to EPA for individual waivers from the CAA to regulate various emissions-producing activities. Until recently, EPA regularly granted such waiver requests.
The Congressional Review Act was cited by the EPA in its efforts to repeal California’s CAA waivers. But on September 2, a federal judge sided with California in blocking EPA’s attempt to reclassify four of the state’s waivers on emissions requirements for passenger vehicles, trucks and certain lawn, garden and small off-road equipment.
Judge Beryl Howell ruled that the attempt to reclassify California’s emissions standards as “rules” rather than “orders” was illegal. Under the CRA, a state “order” can be revoked by the EPA without right of judicial review or appeal, whereas the judge argued that a final agency “rule” enacted under a provision granted by Congress (as was the original California waiver) must be revoked by Congress as a whole, not a federal agency.
Howell not only ordered that the EPA withdraw its attempt to reclassify the orders as rules but ordered the EPA to change its language on all public statements about the matter, substituting “rules” for “orders” back to and including the original June 12 ruling in which it announced its intention. She ordered EPA to submit a status report by September 12.

Maritime Stake
California’s Harbor Craft Rule mandates that all harbor craft except fishing boats install diesel particulate filters (DPFs) on marine engines. It was enacted by the California Air Resources Board and signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in the face of strenuous opposition by the state’s maritime operators, despite near-unanimous bipartisan support by California legislators for exempting harbor craft from the requirement.
DPFs were earlier required in California for trucks, and they are becoming standard on new car models, but marine DPFs need to operate at very high temperatures. The Coast Guard has refused to certify or accept them due to safety considerations. The market for marine DPFs is small compared to that for trucks and cars, meaning it offers less return on investment. Only a handful of companies have offered equipment to integrate the marine engine requirements, like Rypos active filters and a few certified OEM systems with integrated aftertreatment.