Commenting on the new standards, EMA president Jed Mandel said, 'Today’s final rule establishes difficult stretch goals for the industry. But we are prepared to meet the challenge. It will not be an easy task. Application of advanced diesel emission reduction technology in marine vessels is very challenging due, among other things, to the constraints imposed by the marine environment.

'This final rule is another significant milestone for EPA and EMA in our efforts to further reduce emissions from new marine vessels and locomotives, and to make them as clean as possible. The Marine and Locomotive Engine Rule completes a series of technology forcing national emissions standards developed by EPA over the last eight years that have strengthened the previous emissions standards for all major applications of heavy duty diesel engines, from on highway trucks and buses, to non-road construction and farm equipment, new stationary engines, and, today, marine vessels and locomotives. With implementation of those rules, clean diesel is no longer an oxymoron, but a proven, efficient, cost effective and clean technology that powers our nation’s economy.'

The final rule announced last month will push oxides of nitrogen (NOx) reductions to their limit and result in near zero levels of particulate matter (PM) and hydrocarbon emissions. This will eventually require the use of ultra low sulfur diesel fuel and the addition of exhaust after-treatment emissions control equipment to marine and locomotive engines, technology that the industry is currently applying to on-highway trucks and is being developed for non-road equipment.

Mandel concluded, 'We wouldn’t be here today without the willingness of our industry to make the commitment necessary to implement these tough new marine and locomotive rules. And we wouldn’t have these tough new rules without the tremendous effort on the part of EPA, especially the staff at the Office of Transportation and Air Quality, to reach out to all affected stakeholders, to learn and understand the complexity of the marine and locomotive markets, and to develop a final rule that is stringent yet workable. Congratulations are in order to EPA and to all the stakeholders who made this significant rule possible. Now, the real work begins, making the emissions reductions a marketplace reality.'