Wednesday, July 9, 2008

US CONGRESS APPROVES MARPOL VI VERSION OF SENATE

The U.S. House of Representatives voted yesterday to approve the Senate version of the Maritime Pollution Prevention Act of 2008 (H.R. 802), which President George Bush, who supported the bill, is expected to sign soon. The law is expected to be submitted by the U.S. government to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) as part of its official accession to MARPOL Annex VI rules.

Despite the relatively quick passage of its Marpol VI compliance, the United States government has earlier stated that it intends to follow up the move with several petitions seeking to have the IMO declare some coastal waters including California as Emission Control Areas. Other coastal waters will also be added in the near future.

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