EPA proposes stricter air quality measures for foreign ships

The US' Environmental protection Agency (EPA) has announced that it has begun procedures for the recommendation that foreign freighters in US and Canadian waters are subjected to stricter emissions standards.

An application has been submitted by the EPA to the International Maritime Organisation suggesting that a 230-mile emissions control area be introduced along US coastlines.

In the opinion of EPA administrator Linda Jackson, this would "protect the air and water along our shores and the health of people in our coastal communities".

The suggestion has been backed by bodies in Los Angeles and Long Beach, as S David Freeman, head of the Los Angeles Board of Harbour Commissioners, described the move as the EPA "rising up from the dead and beginning to live again".

This news comes after a study from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration concluded that emissions form diesel-powered vessels are significantly impacting upon air quality and health in US coastal areas.