Clean Shipping Act of 2025
The Clean Shipping Act of 2025 would add a new Marine Greenhouse Gas Fuel Standard to the Clean Air Act and create in-port zero-emission standards for vessels in U.S. waters. It defines a baseline carbon intensity (the average lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions per unit of fuel energy) using 2027 data and then requires progressively stricter limits on the carbon intensity of fuels used by vessels on covered voyages (commercial passenger or cargo transport between U.S. ports or between a U.S. port and a foreign port). By 2050 and thereafter, vessels would be required to achieve a 100% reduction relative to that baseline. The bill also establishes in-port standards to eliminate emissions from vessels at anchorage or berths in the U.S. contiguous zone by 2035, with feasibility-based exceptions if technology or cost make full compliance impractical. It mandates monitoring, reporting, and public disclosure of vessel-specific carbon intensity, fuel use, and total emissions, and provides enforcement under the Clean Air Act, with exemptions for short voyages and options for averaging or crediting overcompliance. The act contemplates possible alignment with international standards (IMO) to avoid duplicative or conflicting rules.
Key Points
- 1Marine GHG Fuel Standards: Requires vessels on covered voyages (U.S. and foreign-port voyages) to meet progressively stricter carbon-intensity targets measured as grams CO2e per megajoule of fuel energy, based on a 2027 baseline. Targets include 30% reduction (2030–2034), 58% (2034–2039), 83% (2040–2044), 92% (2045–2049), and 100% (2050+). Finalized deadlines are staggered, with initial standard due by Jan 1, 2029 and later standards due two years before they take effect.
- 2Feasibility and Flexibility: If a target is not technologically or economically feasible by the deadline, regulators must implement the maximum feasible reduction instead, considering net emissions reductions and broader health and environmental impacts.
- 3International Harmonization: If IMO standards for the same year are equal or more stringent, U.S. standards may be aligned with or adopted from IMO.
- 4Exemptions and Averaging: Vessels on covered voyages for 30 days or fewer in a year are exempt for that year; carbon intensity can be averaged across vessels under common ownership/control; overcompliance can be credited toward future standards.
- 5Monitoring and Reporting: Requires the fleet owner/operator to report annual data on carbon intensity for each covered voyage, fuel used per voyage, and total emissions (CO2e). EPA must publish an annual, public report summarizing data and explanations of carbon intensity and emissions; DOT must also publish a copy.
- 6Enforcement: Standards and reporting obligations are treated as emission standards under the Clean Air Act, enabling enforcement mechanisms.
- 7In-Port Zero Emission Standards: Adds a new subsection to set standards to eliminate emissions of GHGs and certain air pollutants from vessels at anchorage or berth in the U.S. contiguous zone by 2035, with an explicit feasibility-based exception if full compliance is not technologically or economically feasible; considerations include net emission reductions and environmental and public health impacts.