S. 2243 — International Maritime Pollution Accountability Act of 2025

This section states congressional findings that greenhouse gas emissions from the marine shipping industry account for nearly 3% of total global anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions and are increasing rapidly, and that ports are a large source of air pollution contributing to poor air quality and worse health outcomes in surrounding neighborhoods.

This section defines 14 terms for purposes of the Act, including "Administrator" (i.e., the EPA Administrator); "calendar quarter"; "cargo or freight" (excluding passengers, vessel fuel, stores, and equipment); "covered voyage" (i.e., a voyage by a self-propelled vessel of 5,000 gross tons or more primarily transporting cargo or freight from a port of origin to a final U.S. port of call, excluding certain Outer Continental Shelf voyages, military/food aid/disaster relief voyages, and voyages by Jones Act vessels); "criteria air pollutant" (as defined in the Clean Air Act); and "importer" (i.e., a party qualifying as importer of record under 19 U.S.C. 1484(a)(2)(B), the statute governing customs entry documentation and procedures). It also defines shipping-related terms such as "port of origin," "final port of call," "intermediate port," and "ultimately bound for the United States" (i.e., cargo offloaded in or subsequently transported to the United States).

This section requires the operator of each covered voyage to submit specified information to the Administrator beginning January 1, 2027, including (1) voyage details such as ports of origin and call, distances traveled, and times spent traveling or in port; (2) fuel consumption by mass and location (i.e., between ports, in U.S. ports, U.S. waters, and polar regions north of 60 degrees north latitude or south of 60 degrees south latitude); (3) cargo or freight details such as total mass transported, on-board masses, offload/onload percentages at intermediate ports, and ultimate destinations of offloaded cargo; and (4) time connected to the U.S. electrical grid in port, plus any other information necessary to calculate fees under sections 5 and 6. Operators must submit the information for voyages ending in a calendar quarter no later than 30 days after the quarter's end.

This section establishes a fee on lifecycle carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO₂-e) emissions from fuels used in covered voyages by cargo vessels. It directs the EPA Administrator to develop, by January 1, 2027, a CO₂-e emissions profile for each maritime fuel, expressed in metric tons per unit mass combusted. Starting January 1, 2027, the Administrator must assess the fee on voyage operators within 30 days of receiving required fuel consumption data under section 4(a), calculated as the total mass of each fuel consumed multiplied by its CO₂-e emissions rate and $150 per metric ton CO₂-e. The fee rate adjusts annually from 2028 by the prior year's CPI increase plus 5 percentage points; triples for voyage portions in polar regions (north of 60 degrees north latitude or south of 60 degrees south latitude); and reduces to credit costs of Tier 1 or Tier 2 remedial units paid (or that would be paid absent surplus units) under Annex VI of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships. Fees are due by the later of 30 days after assessment or year-end, with a 20% penalty for late payment (increasing by an additional 20% per consecutive 30-day period). For qualified importing voyages (i.e., primarily cargo voyages offloading at foreign ports U.S.-bound cargo ultimately arriving by sea, land, or air), starting January 1, 2027, importers must report adjusted voyage data under section 4(b); the Administrator assesses a prorated fee on the importer's share (by mass) of U.S.-bound cargo, reduced by any fee assessed on the voyage operator under the prior provisions.

This section directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop, by January 1, 2027, a lifecycle emissions profile for each fuel used in maritime shipping that expresses emissions of nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) per unit mass combusted. The section requires EPA, beginning January 1, 2027, to assess a fee on operators of covered voyages based on information submitted under section 4(a), with the fee amount calculated as the sum across fuel types consumed within the U.S. exclusive economic zone, territorial sea, and internal waters of (1) fuel mass multiplied by nitrogen oxides emissions (in pounds per unit mass) multiplied by $6.30; (2) the same for sulfur dioxide emissions multiplied by $18; and (3) the same for PM_2.5 emissions multiplied by $38.90. Beginning in 2028, EPA must annually adjust these rates by the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers plus 5 percentage points. Fees are due not later than 30 days after assessment or the end of the calendar year of assessment, whichever is later; late payment incurs a 20% increase, plus an additional 20% for each consecutive 30-day period thereafter.

This section establishes a program within the Maritime Administration, funded for FY2029 and each fiscal year thereafter by appropriations equal to 25% of fees collected under sections 5 and 6 during the previous calendar year, to award grants, rebates, and low-interest loans to owners of Jones Act vessels (i.e., vessels eligible for domestic coastwise trade under 46 U.S.C. § 55102) currently using marine fuel oil to replace or retrofit such vessels exclusively propelled by batteries, low-carbon fuels (i.e., marine fuels with lifecycle CO2-e emissions at least 90% less than marine fuel oil), or other zero-emissions technologies. The program is modeled on EPA's Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) national grant program (42 U.S.C. § 16131 et seq.); prioritizes projects maximizing greenhouse gas reductions, public health benefits from criteria pollutant reductions, water quality improvements, cost-effectiveness, and air pollution alleviation in nonattainment areas or other disproportionately impacted communities; allows up to 1% of funds for program administration; includes clawback provisions for noncompliance; and, if no eligible Jones Act vessels exist, extends to any U.S.-flag vessel. This section also establishes a Department of Energy grant program, similarly funded at 25% of such fees for FY2029 and thereafter, to award competitive grants to eligible entities (e.g., states, maritime companies, port authorities, universities, fuel producers, technology developers, nonprofits) for projects to produce, transport, blend, or store low-carbon maritime fuels or to develop, demonstrate, or apply low-emission maritime technologies.