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Environmental Quality Branch
Bay 2/08
Spring Place
105 Commercial Road
Southampton
SO15 1EG
United Kingdom
+44 (0)23 8032 9367
+44 (0)23 8032 9204
environment@mcga.gov.uk
21st May 2009

Dear Colleague,

CONSULTATION ON PROPOSALS TO IMPLEMENT, BY MEANS OF MERCHANT SHIPPING REGULATIONS, COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 2005/33/EC AS REGARDS THE SULPHUR CONTENT OF MARINE FUELS AND CONTAINING PROVISIONS AMENDING DIRECTIVE 1999/32/EC

Consultation from 21st May 2009 to 2nd July 2009

1.    The Secretary of State proposes making Regulations to give effect to Council Directive 2005/33/EC as regards the sulphur content of marine fuels and containing provisions amending Directive 1999/32/EC. The amended Directive is referred to as the Sulphur Content of Marine Fuels Directive (SCMFD).

2.    Your comments are sought on the draft Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships) (Amendment) Regulations 2009 “The Regulations” and associated documents.

3.    The Documents being consulted upon can be found in and downloaded from the ‘Consultations’ Section of the MCA website:

http://www.mcga.gov.uk/c4mca/mcga07-home/shipsandcargoes/consultation/mcga-currentconsultations.htm

Summary of the Provisions

4.    The provisions of the draft Regulations amend The Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships) Regulations 2008 (“SI 2008/2924”) which implement MARPOL Annex VI. (SI 2008/2924 can be downloaded from http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2008/pdf/uksi_20082924_en.pdf). They concern:

• the maximum sulphur content of marine fuels used in SOx Emission Control Areas (SECA) and by passenger ships operating on regular services to or from Community ports

• the maximum sulphur content of marine fuels used by inland waterway vessels and ships at berth in Community ports

• trials and use of new emission abatement technologies

• sampling and analysis of marine fuels to monitor compliance and enforce the Regulations.

5.    Standard enforcement and penalty provisions are included in the draft Regulations.

Consultation Package

6.    Enclosed with this letter is a consultation package on the Regulations containing the following documents:

Annex A:    Draft Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships) (Amendment) Regulations 2009.

Annex B:    Council Directive 1999/32/EC as amended by Council Directive 2005/33/EC – “The Sulphur Content of Marine Fuels Directive” (unofficial consolidated text).

Annex C:    Draft Impact Assessment (IA) for the draft Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships) (Amendment) Regulations 2009.

Annex D:    DfT Value For Money Statement.

Annex E:    Code of Practice on Consultation.

Annex F:    List of Consultees.

Annex G:    Consultation Feedback Form.

Invitation to Comment

7.    Your views on the consultation package are invited. In particular:

DRAFT REGULATIONS

•Do you consider that, as drafted, the proposed Regulations appropriately cover the requirements of the SCMFD?

•Specifically we would appreciate comments on the following:

  • The Directive requires a period of time which is “sufficient” to allow the crew to complete any necessary fuel oil changeover operation. We propose that the definition of “sufficient” be left to the professional judgement of a surveyor. As part of this consultation we ask consultees to identify the parameters they consider should be considered by a surveyor when deciding what is “sufficient” time for fuel changeover
  • Definition of “short voyage” – Regulation 2 of S.I. 2008/2924 provides a definition for short voyage which limits the distance to 600 miles to reflect other current UK regulations. IMO Assembly Resolution A.997(25) adopted on 29 November 2007 states that for the purpose of MARPOL Annex VI regulation 9(6) a “short voyage” provides a limit of 1000 miles.  Do you agree that the UK should adopt this increased limit?
  • The implications of the sulphur limit for 0.1% marine fuel whilst ships are at berth in a Community port. What operational issues might arise?
  • How the Directive relates to the revised MARPOL Annex VI adopted in October 2008?

•Do you have any comments on the proposed penalties?

•Has the MCA consulted with the correct stakeholders?  Can you suggest any interested parties that the MCA has not consulted with?

DRAFT IMPACT ASSESSMENT

•All new legislation is now required to be accompanied by an Impact Assessment which sets out the potential additional costs and benefits likely to arise from its introduction.

•In producing the Impact Assessment at Annex C we have sought to identify the scope and objectives of the Regulations and the additional costs and potential benefits arising from implementation of the proposed Regulations to meet those objectives.

•To improve the robustness of the draft assessment it would be appreciated if you could provide responses to the following questions:-

(a)are your existing practices already in line with the proposed new requirements? If not, how will you meet the requirements and at what overall cost?

(b)is your existing equipment in compliance with the proposed new requirements? If not, what changes do you envisage being required and at what overall cost?

(c)what other changes, if any, do you see being required to enable you to comply with the new requirements and at what overall costs?

(d)do you agree with the scope of potential benefits arising from the new requirements? Do you agree with the financial benefit that will be realised should the Regulations come into force?

(e)are there any significant costs or benefits which we have overlooked?

(f)do you agree with the recommendation in Section 11 of the Impact Assessment that Option 1 is the most appropriate way forward?

To improve the quantification of the costs and benefits, it would be appreciated if your responses could be provided under the following headings:-

(A)COSTS

(a)Description and scale of key monetised costs

(b)One-off (Transition) Annual Costs

(c)Annual Average Cost (excluding one-off costs)

(d)Total Cost

(e)Other key non-monetised costs

(B)BENEFITS

(a)Description and scale of key monetised benefits  

(b)One-off (Transition) Annual Benefits

(c)Annual Average Benefits (excluding one-off costs)

(d)Total Benefit

(e)Other key non-monetised benefits

(C)ANNUAL COST PER ORGANISATION (excluding one-off)

In producing a figure for annual costs per organisation it will first be necessary to separate the responses, together with any cost  figures supplied, into the relevant business size category i.e. “Micro” (0 - 9 employees); “Small” (10 - 49 employees); “Medium” (50 - 249 employees) and “Large” (250 + employees). It would be appreciated therefore if, when submitting cost or benefit figures or even confirming that no costs or benefits arise, you could also advise which business size category your organisation fits into.   

Your assistance in providing these figures would be greatly appreciated. In the event that cost/benefit information is not provided it will be assumed that you do not envisage the proposed Regulations resulting in any additional costs or benefits for your organisation.

8.    Comments on these and any other comments you wish to make should be provided in writing by post, fax or email to:-

SCMFD Consultation
c/o Dr Edmund Hughes
Environmental Policy
Maritime & Coastguard Agency
Bay 2/08, Spring Place
105 Commercial Road
Southampton
SO15 1EG

Tel:   023 8032 9367
Fax:   023 8032 9204
Email:  environment@mcga.gov.uk

This consultation process will run for 6 weeks. The deadline for submission of comments is the 2nd July 2009.
If you require hard copies of the documents that are being consulted on please contact the above address or telephone 023 8032 9367.

9.    Information provided in response to this consultation, including personal information, may be published or disclosed in accordance with the access to information regimes. These are primarily the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

10.    If you want the information that you provide to be treated as confidential please be aware that, under the FOIA, there is a statutory Code of Practice with which public authorities must comply and which deals, amongst other things, with obligations of confidence. In view of this it would be helpful if you could explain to us why you regard the information you have provided as confidential. If we receive a request for disclosure of the information we will take full account of your explanation, but we cannot give an assurance that confidentiality can be maintained in all circumstances. An automatic confidentiality disclaimed generated by your IT system will not, of itself, be regarded as binding on the MCA.

11.    The MCA will process your personal data in accordance with the Data Protection Act and in the majority of circumstances this will mean that your personal data will not be disclosed to third parties.

12.    After the consultation period has ended time will be required for the analysis and presentation of the results.  The consultation comments and MCA responses will then be published on the MCA website, in the ‘Closed Consultations’ section. In the light of any comments received, the draft Regulations will be reviewed with the aim of them coming into force about three months after the end of the consultation.

13.    If your address details require any amendment, or you consider there are other persons who should be consulted or if you do not wish to be consulted on the implementation of EC Directives, please could you advise Edmund Hughes accordingly.  

14.    This consultation is being conducted in accordance with Cabinet Office Code of Practice on Written Consultations published in July 2008.

15.    Electronic versions of the consultation documents can be found on the MCA’s website using the following address “http://www.mcga.gov.uk/c4mca/mcga07-home/shipsandcargoes/consultations.htm”. This will open up the "Current Consultations" page on which is listed the consultation on " Draft Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships) (Amendment) Regulations 2009”.

Yours faithfully
Jonathan Simpson

Head of Environmental Policy