American Iron & Steel Institute, on behalf of its US member companies, thanks the US Environmental Protection Agency and Congress, particularly Congressmen Mr Obey and Mr Oberstar, for working with the Lake Carriers Association and our member companies on compromise regulations for large vessels sailing on the Great Lakes.

Mr Thomas J Gibson president & CEO of AISI said that "AISI would like to thank the US EPA and Congressmen Mr Obey (D-WI) and Mr Oberstar (D-MN) for their leadership in reaching this important compromise. The decision to allow for the continued sale of residual fuel for consumption in existing maritime boilers helps sustain the maritime economy on the Great Lakes, which includes the shipping of raw materials for steelmaking."

The three part compromise states that the Great Lakes steamships will be exempted from the new EPA regulations, as steamships cannot burn low-sulfur fuel without risking a catastrophic engine explosion, the final rule issue by EPA will include a waiver provision to address either the inadequate supply of low sulfur fuel or serious economic hardship caused by the increased cost of such fuel and EPA will evaluate the economic impact of the final rule on Great Lakes carriers, and issue a report within 6 months.

(Sourced from www.steel.org)