EPA Finalizes Long-Awaited Vessel Rule, With New ‘Laker’ Standards

EPA has released its long-awaited final rule governing pollution releases from ships, including performance standards for devices to limit such discharges, as well as equipment standards for new “laker” ships that operate exclusively in the Great Lakes -- and signaling areas where the agency could seek to regulate existing lakers in the future. The final Clean Water Act (CWA) rule, which EPA posted online Sept. 24 ahead of its yet-unscheduled publication in the Federal Register , establishes national standards of...