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Whitehouse, Padilla, Matsui, Mullin reintroduce legislation to reduce ocean shipping pollution, modernize maritime industry

Photo credit: Albin Berline/Pexels
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ranking Member on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW), and Alex Padilla (D-CA), a member of the Committee, along with Representatives Doris Matsui (D-CA-07) and Kevin Mullin (D-CA-15), reintroduced legislation aimed at reducing harmful pollution from the global shipping industry. Maritime shipping is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions around the world and a major contributor to air pollution in port communities. Led by Senators Whitehouse and Padilla and Representatives Matsui and Mullin, the bicameral International Maritime Pollution Accountability Act would decarbonize the emissions-heavy maritime shipping industry, prevent the release of criteria air pollutants in port communities, and revitalize the U.S. shipping industry. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Peter Welch (D-VT) are cosponsors. Senators Whitehouse and Padilla also reintroduced the Clean Shipping Act of 2025, led by Representative Robert Garcia (D-CA-42) in the House of Representatives, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the shipping industry to protect the health of port communities and address the environmental injustice impacts of the climate crisis. “As climate change destroys lives and drives up costs for families, we need an all-hands-on-deck approach to avoid the worst consequences for communities, businesses, and the environment,” said Ranking Member Whitehouse. “Encouragingly, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has put forward a global carbon price on shipping emissions.  This legislation reinforces that work, further cutting harmful emissions while supporting the maritime innovators that are pioneering clean technologies to protect public health and can help put us on course to climate safety.” “California’s ports are the powerhouse of our country’s economy, moving critical freight and providing good-paying jobs, all while leading the nation’s decarbonizing efforts. But neighboring communities have been forced to shoulder the brunt of global shipping pollution for too long,” said Senator Padilla. “Our legislation would strengthen the sustainability of our shipping industry by reducing emissions in maritime transportation while simultaneously protecting coastal communities. The health of our communities and our planet requires us to be forward-looking and ambitious — we owe future generations nothing less than bold, transformative action.” “The climate crisis isn’t a distant threat. It’s here, it’s accelerating, and it’s devastating communities across our state and our country,” said Congresswoman Matsui, who co-led reintroduction of the International Maritime Pollution Accountability Act in the House. “We must act quickly to reduce greenhouse gases and other harmful air pollution across our economy. The International Maritime Pollution Accountability Act takes decisive action to slash pollution from cargo ships and provide urgently needed investment in clean maritime technology and infrastructure. While the International Maritime Organization made history this spring by approving a global net-zero shipping framework, President Trump tried to derail negotiations and continues to block any action to fight climate change. This bill would ensure the U.S. is leading—not lagging—on climate action.  As Trump and his allies double down on climate denial and fossil fuel handouts, we’re fighting back with real solutions that protect public health and the planet.” “Communities near our ports—like those in the San Francisco Bay Area — bear the brunt of pollution from ships that fuel global trade. The International Maritime Pollution Accountability Act ensures that the global shipping industry does its part to reduce emissions. The revenue from these pollution fees will help speed the shift to cleaner ships and healthier ports. I’m proud to partner with Congresswoman Matsui to advance this policy that meets the urgency of the climate crisis while protecting the people and places most impacted by maritime emissions,” said Congressman Kevin Mullin, who co-led reintroduction of the International Maritime Pollution Accountability Act in the House. “Investing in green transportation–both on land and at sea–is vital to tackling the climate crisis. That includes supporting clean shipping initiatives that help protect communities from harmful emissions,” said Senator Welch, a cosponsor of the International Maritime Pollution Accountability Act.  “I’m glad to join Senator Whitehouse in introducing this bill to increase accountability for large polluters and help modernize America’s shipping fleet and port infrastructure.” “We applaud Senator Whitehouse and Representative Matsui for reintroducing the International Maritime Pollution Accountability Act of 2025. This bill will ensure that the shipping industry pays its fair share in the fight against climate change. It will raise billions of dollars over the next decade, funds that would be reinvested into cleaner ships and port infrastructure, as well as maritime workforce training and development. The bill will curb the shipping industry’s massive pollution problem and help protect port communities that are disproportionately exposed to harmful emissions. Now is the time for the U.S. to show global leadership in the transition to a zero-emission shipping industry, and we call on Congress to pass this important legislation,” said Antonio Santos, federal climate policy director at Pacific Environment. Globally, maritime shipping is a major source of climate-warming pollution, including climate-warming GHG emissions (carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide) and harmful air pollutant emissions (oxides of nitrogen, sulfur dioxide and fine particulate matter). According to the International Maritime Organization 2020 GHG study, the global shipping industry emits approximately one billion tons of GHG emissions per year, roughly three percent of total anthropogenic global-warming carbon-dioxide emissions. The study projects in future scenarios that shipping’s GHG emissions could more than double between 2018 and 2050 without action. These emissions are not only harmful for the environment, but they jeopardize the air quality and public health of the nearly 40 percent of Americans who live within three miles of a port. Maritime shipping is the largest source of traded goods, both for the U.S. and globally.  Unlike other modes of transportation (trucks, planes, etc.), marine shipping vessels rarely pay fuel taxes.  Implementing a pollution fee would address this loophole while encouraging domestic manufacturing and reducing the U.S. trade deficit, which approached $1.2 trillion in 2024.

International Maritime Pollution Accountability Act

The International Maritime Pollution Accountability Act would:

  • Impose a pollution fee on the largest marine vessels offloading cargo at U.S. ports, driving industry-wide decarbonization efforts and incentivizing the use and development of cleaner maritime fuels.
  • Levy a $150 per ton fee on the carbon emissions of fuel burned on an inbound trip, as well as fees for the nitrogen oxides ($6.30/lb.), sulfur dioxide ($18/lb.), and particle pollution (PM2.5) ($38.90/lb.) that ships emit. The fees would apply only to those ships with 5,000 gross tonnage or more, excluding most of the domestic industry, and the fee on carbon emissions would sunset if the IMO implemented and enforced a fee on the greenhouse gas emissions of marine shipping that was equal to or greater than the $150 per ton fee levied in the bill.
  • Provide critical funding for modernizing the Jones Act fleet with low-carbon vessels, revitalizing and electrifying U.S. shipbuilding, and addressing pollutants in America’s port communities, along our coasts and in our oceans.
The International Maritime Pollution Accountability Act has been endorsed by EV Maritime, Friends of the Earth, GreenLatinos, Ocean Conservancy, Pacific Environment, San Pedro & Peninsula Homeowners Coalition, Sierra Club, 350 Bay Area Action and 350 Brooklyn.

Clean Shipping Act of 2025

The Clean Shipping Act of 2025 would set a path to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from all ocean shipping companies that do business with the United States. It would direct the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set progressively tighter carbon intensity standards for fuels used by ships in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Specifically, the bill would direct the EPA to:
  • Set carbon intensity standards for fuels used by ships. The bill sets progressively tighter carbon intensity standards for fuels used by ships consistent with a 1.5°C decarbonization pathway. These standards would require lifecycle carbon dioxide-equivalent reductions of 30 percent from January 1, 2030; 58 percent from January 1, 2034; 83 percent from January 1, 2040; 92 percent from January 1, 2045; and 100 percent from January 1, 2050 (based on a 2027 baseline).
  • Set requirements to eliminate in-port ship emissions by 2035. By January 1, 2035, all ships at-berth or at-anchor in U.S. ports would emit zero GHG emissions and zero air pollutant emissions.
Full text of the International Maritime Pollution Accountability Act is available here, and a one-pager is available here. Full text of the Clean Shipping Act of 2025 is available here.
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