Lloyd’s Register (LR) has issued a statutory alert update on California regulations limiting sulfur in fuel oils used in coastal waters. The regulatory boundary has been expanded to be 24 nautical miles from the California shoreline, including 24 miles from the shoreline of each of the Channel Islands. A small region is exempt to encourage vessels to transit to and from Los Angeles and Long Beach using the established shipping lanes in the Santa Barbara Channel.
According to LR, there is no change in the present fuel requirement, but a change for 2012, requiring marine gas oil at or below 1.0 percent sulfur, changed from 1.5 percent, or marine diesel oil at or below 0.5 percent sulfur, effective from Aug. 1. Phase II has been delayed from 2012 to Jan. 1, 2014, requiring marine gas oil or marine diesel oil at or below 0.1 percent sulfur.
A non-compliance fee structure has been reduced, but starts at $45,000 per call.