MEC&F Expert Engineers : 12/16/15

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Metropolitan Engineering, Consulting, Forensics, and Environmental Remediation Services. Construction, Investigation, Remediation and Forensic Expert Engineers


Construction Defects, Construction Claims, Engineering, Property & Casualty Investigations, Assessment, Site Investigation, Remediation, Litigation and Indoor-Air Expert Engineers

Bill Stephan, PhD, PE, CIH, CHMM, JD, MBA
Principal Engineer

P.O. Box 520
Tenafly, New Jersey 07670-0520
Phone: (973) 897-8162
Fax: (973) 810-0440



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Firm Overview


The engineering and forensic firm of Metropolitan Forensics and Consulting Engineering and Environmental Services was established for the purpose of providing a high value service to the insurance industry and to the insured companies or individuals. Our founding principal (Bill Stephan) is a licensed professional engineer in several states, including, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Delaware.



We specialize in the in-situ remediation of petroleum and chlorinated spills, the defense of liability claims, the investigation and defense of first or third party insurance claims and the handling of subrogation claims.  We are also experts on oil and gas energy sector issues (design, investigations, construction oversight), renewable energy sector (wind turbines, solar panels, biofuels, etc), vapor intrusion evaluation, vapor phase and transport and in design on vapor mitigation systems.  Additionally, we offer forensic engineering services, including age-dating of contaminant releases, construction defects, oversight, evaluation of remedial alternatives, sub-slab ventilation system design and installation.  The list of our core services is:



  • Cause and Origin Investigations
  • Construction Failure Analysis (Residential, Industrial and Commercial)
  • Structural Integrity Evaluation
  • Site Investigation
  • Tank removals and tank installations; licensed and insured to perform entire UST work
  • In-Situ Remediation of Soil and Groundwater
  • Vapor intrusion, indoor air evaluation and mitigation
  • Causation
  • Forensic Investigations (age-dating)
  • Oversight
  • Review of Remedial Action Work Plans
  • Reserve Estimation
  • Cost Allocation
  • RAWP Preparation
  • Site Remediation
  • Cleanup Level Development and Negotiation
  • Subrogation
  • Expert Witness/Litigation Support
  • Licensed Site Remediation Professional (LSRP) Services
  • Construction Claims (Delay, Differing Site Conditions, Loss of Productivity, Acceleration, and others)

 



















Additional Specialty Service Areas

Age Dating
Boilers & Burners
Bridges
Building Codes
Building Inspections


Construction Accident
   Reconstruction
Construction Defects
Construction Delay Claims

Construction Surety Claims
Construction Disputes
Construction Differing Condition Claims
Construction Oversight
Construction Management
Construction Acceleration Claims

Construction Failures
Construction Injuries
Contractor Performance Issues
Corrosion


Defective Designs
Defective Roadway Design
   Evaluations


Earthquake
Electrical Accidents/Injuries
Electrical Equipment Failures
Electrical Fires
Elevators, Escalators
   & Conveyors
Embedded Software Hazards
   & Analysis
Equipment Failures
Errors and Omissions
Explosions

Failure Analysis
Fire
Fire Codes
Fire Protection Systems
Fire Suppression Systems

Flood Damage Assessment

Foundation Systems

Gas Systems

Hailstorm damage

Heating & Ventilation Systems
Heavy Construction
Highway/Roadway Design
Human Factors


Indoor Air Quality
Laboratory Services
Ladders, Scaffolding Falls
   & Failures
Lightning

Mechanical Defect Evaluations
Metallurgical Age Dating
Mold Causation
Natural Disasters/Weather
   Related Issues
Nuclear Energy
Occupational Hazards
   & Illness

Piping
Playground Equipment Injuries
Plumbing
Product Failures
Roofing Problems & Failures
Safety Codes
Safety & Human Factors
   Engineering
Scalding
Scene Mapping and Photographs
Sick Building Syndrome
Sports Equipment Injuries
Standardized Codes
Steam Systems
Subrogation Issues


Transportation Issues
Trips, Slips & Falls
Underground Storage Tanks
Utilities Expertise
Vibration
Water Damage
Windstorm



Mission Statement


Our mission is to work as an extension of our clients to expeditiously achieve the most economically favorable resolution of claims on their behalf and on behalf of their insured. We have developed and will continue to create new solutions to the technical problems and issues which are facing the insurance industry and the insureds today.  

Metropolitan provides forensic engineering work (age-dating or fingerprinting), site remediation, auditing, cost control and litigation support services to insurance carriers, their insureds and to private or public companies.  In its risk management role, examines, manages and audits environmental claims to ensure that assessment and remediation services provided to both carriers and policy holders are reasonable and necessary, properly rendered and appropriately charged. 



In its litigation support role, Metropolitan assists carriers and their counsel to ensure that litigious disputes are resolved fairly and reimbursement benefits are provided when appropriate.  The corporations service area includes the entire United States, with our corporate office located in Northern New Jersey.  The Firm's professional staff also travels regularly throughout the United States on assignment.


Forensics at Metropolitan


There are many issues associated with disputes over responsibility for cleanup. Who, what, when, where, and how chemicals were released can be investigated. The tools of forensic investigation include mathematical models, statistical models, fate and transport calculations, chromatography, lead isotope analyses, time of travel assessments, library search site characterization, tracer additives, and recently developed software applications.



Effective forensic project management should include an evaluation of multiple forensic tools based on site specific circumstances. The process of evaluation and the ultimate selection of the forensic tool are critical to a successful outcome. When project budgets allow, combining forensic methods for corroborative evidence can substantially strengthen your client’s position in an effort to prevent or support litigation. The effective forensic consultant must be well acquainted with an ever expanding list of analytical methods, environmental regulations, assessment procedures and remedial technologies.



The forensic field is one that utilizes a wide range of scientific tools to identify and characterize complex adverse environmental events. Some of the scientific disciplines involved in forensics include engineering principles (biological, physical and chemical), hydrology, lithology, geology, site history, site practices, mathematics, and statistics. These areas may be combined with technologies such as respiratory analyses, chromatography/mass spectrometry and chemical fingerprinting methods to answer complex questions with the ultimate goal of establishing responsibility for a particular event. Accurate, defensible forensic analyses are an essential component of any strategy that attempts to resolve the extent of the insurer or insured client responsibilities in the cleanup of contaminants.


Contact us online or call 973-897-8162 to learn more about our forensic services.



Property Damage Services at Metropolitan

Metropolitan assists property owners, claims professionals, businesses, and attorneys in   the assessment of the cause & origin (C&O), extent of damage and required restoration after pipe bursts, settlements, manufacturing and construction failures, fire, flood, earthquake, or storm damage.  Our teams of engineers have extensive experience in the many systems that make up a building including structural, mechanical and electrical systems.   We also have the necessary background to evaluate property damage to items such as communications towers or solar panels. We can help determine alternative, appropriate, and cost effective solutions for repair or restoration of any damaged property, both commercial and residential. 

Providing Competent, Expert and Objective Investigative Engineering and Consulting Services.

Our experts are multi-skilled, competent, and objective professionals who apply their analytical and common sense skills to reconstruct, determine the root cause, and document the events that give rise to property, casualty, and liability claims.  Thorough investigations and detailed measurements/research help us distinguish between pre-existing conditions and sudden and accidental losses.


 















Our investigations are:

·         Comprehensive & Accurate

·         Legible & Easy to Understand

·         Timely Performed

·         Delivered Quickly

·         Cost Effective

·         Clear & Concise

·         Developed by Professionals

·         Dependable

·         Our own uniform reporting system saves time and money.


Our Fast Track Investigation and Uniform Format Reporting systems allow us to conduct and deliver a comprehensive response to the assigned claim.  In most cases, we will obtain findings based on a site visit, visual observations, photographs, interviews, and field measurements.  Further investigations and testing will be provided upon request and approval by the client.



Forensic Investigation of Property Damage Claims

Metropolitan Consulting, Engineering & Forensics understands your need to complete a claim investigation accurately and efficiently as possible.  Whether it is accident reconstruction, damage due to environmental forces such as wind, water, hail, snow, tornado, etc.; fire origin & cause investigation or any other claim, the engineers at Metropolitan understand both you and your client want to resolve the claim.  The analysis you receive from Metropolitan will be accurate and complete, giving you the information needed in the claim adjustment and analysis.

Our services have extended beyond the forensic analysis phase into the remediation and repair phase of many large loss claims.  Upon the completion of the cause and origin (C&O) investigation, Metropolitan can provide our clients with complete working drawings and specifications needed to repair or rebuilt damaged buildings or other structures.  Metropolitan Consulting & Engineering’ staff possesses many-many years of experience in rehabilitation design, construction management, and project oversight to ensure the loss is restored in a timely and cost-effective manner without sacrificing quality.  Building code knowledge allows us to identify possible code upgrades as needed.  Metropolitan understands constructability and realizes making an insured whole goes beyond forensic investigation and design. We pride ourselves in providing practical solutions contractors can understand and follow.

At the forefront of available technology, we provide professionals and staff capable of handling a variety of engineering evaluations.  Our reports are clear, concise, complete and efficiently produced.  Our engineering objectives are achieved in an ethical manner consistent with the traditions and character of engineering professionals.

Contact us online or call 973-897-8162 to learn more about our property damage services.


Extensive Experience helping Sureties

Metropolitan also has extensive experience helping sureties fulfill their bond obligations resolve disputes after a contractor has defaulted.  This work includes the evaluation of contractor bid pricing, evaluation of the contractor’s ability to perform work, risk assessment, evaluation of termination, construction completion services, claim and litigation support services, loss recovery services, evaluation of payment bond claims, negotiation and settlement of payment bond claims, and construction defects investigation services.  Metropolitan has provided these services for commercial, development, educational, and assisted living projects.

Construction is a business fraught with risk.  Disputes over even the smallest of issues can quickly escalate, with crippling consequences to the project and the parties.  Over the years, the construction industry has developed various methods of contractually allocating the risk of project delay and disruption.  Some of these methods include liquidated damages provisions, "no damages for delay" clauses, mutual waivers of consequential damages, provisions that limit liability, claims notice provisions, and provisions addressing responsibility for the adequacy of the construction plans and specifications.  Parties frequently litigate the sufficiency of these risk-shifting efforts in conjunction with the underlying merits of delay and disruption disputes.
Construction Claims & Disputes
The most frequently encountered claims include:
1.            Construction Delay Claims
2.            Disruption and Loss of Labor Productivity Claims
3.            Design and Construction Defect Claims
4.            Force Majeure Claims
5.            Acceleration or Compression of the Schedule Claims
6.            Suspension, Termination and Default Claims
7.            Differing Site Conditions Claims
8.            Change Order and Extra Work Claims
9.            Cost Overrun Claims
10.         Unacceptable Workmanship or Substituted Material Claims
11.         Non-payment Claims (stop notice (or Notice to Withhold) claims, mechanics’ lien (only for private construction projects) and payment bond claims)



Forensic Engineering Experience Case Studies


Metropolitan staff has developed and utilized scientific methods to assist clients in a variety of ways related to their claim issues. The following is a partial list of such projects:

  • Provided expert witness services for plaintiff seeking remediation of contaminated groundwater that caused indoor air inhalation problems;
  • Testified that engineering and scientific evidence was improperly collected and analyzed and was inadequate to show the age of the release;
  • Origin and cause of retaining wall failures.  
  • Lightning damage to structures or electrical systems and equipment
  • Roof failure or collapse as a result of accumulated load, additional weight and snow drift at hundreds of commercial and residential properties.
  • Demonstrated that solvents in groundwater at client's property originated from off-site dry-cleaner and that client's site actually provided remediation for the off-site release of dry cleaning solvent;
  • Expert witness for property owner impacted by industrial waste disposal from industrial manufacturer;
  • Demonstrated that environmental analysis by a previous consultant for a manufacturing site was inadequate; as a result, the lender's concerns were alleviated and financing proceeded;
  • Chemical "age-dating" and contaminant transport analyses of petroleum in groundwater at a gas station showed that contaminants originated from other parties;
  • Age-dated petroleum release at a former gas station to show that the previous owner of the gas station caused groundwater contamination;
  • Age-dated petroleum releases at an industrial facility to show that the on-site plume was the result of an off-site source;
  • Prepared age-dating reports for over one-hundred residential fuel oil spills;
  • Assisted insurance companies attorneys in defending subrogation claims; was able to demonstrate that the forensic data collected by the first party consultant were collected and analyzed using invalid methods;
  • Demonstrated that structural damage to a residence was from a source other than the alleged high lake level
  • Collected evidence (for the primary responsible party) that identified other responsible parties to share in the cost of a Superfund cleanup;
  • Review of the site data at a bulk petroleum facility indicated that the site releases were not the result of regular oil transfer operations and that they were caused by the negligent actions of the insured’s agents; the case was settled in favor of the insurance company;
  • Was able to demonstrate that the majority of the removal actions at petroleum release sites were neither reasonable nor necessary; as a result of our opinion, the insurance client settled the claim in favorable terms;
  • At several drycleaner sites we were able to demonstrate that the age of the release was much earlier than the parties originally believed; as a result, the insurance client settled the claim at a fraction of the alleged liability;
  • We performed numerous flood and wind damage assessments at commercial and residential properties.
Contact us online or call 973-897-8162 to learn more about our forensic engineering services.




Site Remediation Services


 Characterizing and remediating contaminated sites involve some of the most complex and difficult issues for environmental lawyers and their clients. Problem areas include responding to regulators; negotiating enforcement settlements; negotiating or litigating cost allocation and recovery claims; working with the insured or insurer client, lawyers and regulators to develop efficient, cost-effective remediation approaches; and selling, buying, or developing contaminated properties.



Metropolitan staff has developed and applied an innovative approach to the use of sodium persulfate for the sequential in-situ treatment of subsurface contaminants through chemical oxidation followed by enhanced biological degradation through sulfate reduction. This approach has broad applicability to a wide range of contaminants, and shows strong cost-saving benefits through reducing the initial volume of chemical oxidant necessary and enhancing the in-situ biological degradation of contaminants.



Through proper subsurface geochemical characterization and chemical dosing design, the approach focuses on utilizing the oxidant for immediate mass reduction at the source area, followed by degradation or polishing of the residual contamination using sulfate reducing bacteria.  Depending upon the oxidant activation method, this approach is applicable to petroleum hydrocarbons including both volatiles and PAHs, chlorinated volatile organic compounds (CVOCs) including chlorinated ethene, ethane and methane groups, as well as PCBs.


Contact us online or call 973-897-8162 to learn more about our Site Remediation Services.





Vapor Intrusion and Indoor-Air Studies


Vapor intrusion has received increased attention over the last few years near contaminated sites because some contaminants have the potential to migrate into nearby buildings and negatively affect indoor air quality. The accumulation of these volatile vapors in buildings can result in significant safety and health concerns.
To properly evaluate vapor intrusion a thorough evaluation of the building's ventilation system and subsurface conditions needs to be conducted by a knowledgeable professional in accordance with state and federal established procedures. 
The evaluation process typically includes a thorough building chemical inventory, the advancement of soil gas probes and the collection of soil gas samples. When indoor air quality problems are identified they can normally be resolved through the modification/installation of a properly designed ventilation system.
Metropolitan is well experienced with U.S. EPA and State vapor intrusion investigation techniques. We have completed numerous vapor intrusion and indoor air quality studies at commercial and residential properties. We have the experience to identify and resolve indoor vapor intrusion problems and the practical know-how to resolve indoor quality issues in an efficient and cost effective manner.
Contact us online or call 973-897-8162 to learn more about our Vapor Intrusion and Indoor Air Studies.




Metropolitan Engineering, Consulting, Forensics, and Environmental Remediation Services.


Construction, Investigation, Remediation and Forensic Expert  Engineers

P.O. Box 520

Tenafly, New Jersey 07670-0520

Ph.: (973) 897-8162

Fax: (973) 810-0440



Contact: Dr. Bill N. Stephan, PhD, PE, JD, CIH, MBA, CHMM





Insurance claim examiners, insureds, insurers, insurance adjusters and risk managers use Metropolitan for determining cause, evaluating the extent of damage, determining the age of the release, separating unrelated damage, analyzing loss scopes and managing restoration data, determining costs to repair, restore or replace, and preparing for insurance appraisals.



Attorneys call on Metropolitan for help when preparing for Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution such as arbitration and mediation


Coca-Cola distribution warehouse in Monmouth Junction, New Jersey, cited for repeat and serious safety and health workplace violations. OSHA fines Coca-Cola Refreshments USA Inc. more than $61K



Dec. 15, 2015

Coca-Cola distribution warehouse in Monmouth Junction, New Jersey, cited
for repeat and serious safety and health workplace violations. 


OSHA fines Coca-Cola Refreshments USA Inc. more than $61K

Employer name: Coca-Cola Refreshments USA Inc.'s distribution warehouse is located at 60 Deans Rhode Hall Road in Monmouth Junction, New Jersey.

Citations issued: On Dec. 11, 2015, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations for four repeat and two serious safety and health violations.

Investigation findings: OSHA inspectors cited repeat violations for hazards associated with obstructed exit routes, lack of illuminated emergency exit signs, unmarked exits, and improper storage of compressed gas cylinders.

The serious violations were related to unguarded floor holes and lack of refresher training related to forklifts.

Proposed penalties: $61,600

Quote: "Blocked exit routes and unmarked exits pose a serious danger to Coca-Cola's warehouse employees, as they prevent quick escape in case of an emergency," said Patricia Jones, director of OSHA's Avenel Office. "Employers have a legal obligation to ensure workers have a safe and healthy workplace, and will be held accountable when they fail to do so."

View the citations: http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/Coca-ColaRefreshmentsUSAInc_1070964.pdf*

Coca-Cola Refreshments USA Inc. manufactures and distributes Coca-Cola brand products such as, but not limited to, Coca-Cola, Fanta, Coke, Sprite, and Nestea at facilities throughout the United States.

To ask questions; obtain compliance assistance; file a complaint; or report amputations, eye loss, workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Avenel Area Office at 732-750-3270.

Illinois metal plating company exposes workers to noise, toxic metal, other hazards at Cicero plant. OSHA proposes fines of more than $157K for 18 violations found at Electronic Plating Co.



Dec. 15, 2015

Illinois metal plating company exposes workers
to noise, toxic metal, other hazards at Cicero plant.


OSHA proposes fines of more than $157K for 18 violations found at Electronic Plating Co.

CICERO, Ill. - While electroplating machine parts, workers were exposed to metal, machinery and live electrical hazards at a Cicero manufacturing facility because their employer failed to follow federal safety and health requirements. Exposure to metals - such as cadmium used in the plant - can harm the heart, nervous and digestive systems.

Following an inspection, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Electronic Plating Co. on Dec. 10 for one willful, eight repeated, eight serious and one other-than-serious safety and health violation. Proposed penalties total $157,080.

"OSHA inspectors found multiple preventable safety and health hazards in this facility, eight of which Electronic Plating violated in 2011," said Kathy Webb, OSHA's area director in Calumet City. "Employers cited for repeated violations are failing their employees and their obligation to provide a safe and healthy working environment."

OSHA opened an investigation at the facility after receiving a complaint alleging unsafe working conditions. The agency found numerous violations, including the following: 


Failure to implement a continuing, effective hearing conservation program.
Lack of personal protective equipment for metal and other hazardous chemical exposure.


Electrical safety hazards.


Inadequate worker training on hazardous chemicals used in the facility.
Lack of medical examinations to monitor employee exposure to chromic acid and cadmium.


Workers exposed to operating mechanical and electrical parts because equipment lacked guards.


Unsanitary conditions.


Powered industrial trucks were not inspected, and operators lacked required training.

View current citations here*.

Electronic Plating employs approximately 30 workers. The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report amputations, eye loss, workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Calumet City Area Office at 708-891-3800.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

182 passengers and crew struck by gastrointestinal illness norovirus onboard the "Explorer of the Seas"





On Dec 15, 2015, the "Explorer of the Seas" was docked in Sydney with more than 180 passengers suffering from gastro. 


Paramedics were on standby as the passengers disembarked the ship at Sydney’s Circular Quay. 

The gastro outbreak started on 5 December and peaked on Dec 11 and 12. More than 180 guests and crew have been struck with the gastrointestinal illness norovirus. 

The "Explorer of the Seas" arrived from New Zealand about 6 a.m. with 3,566 passengers and 1,139 crew on a 14-night trip. 

Royal Caribbean confirmed 182 cases of an increased level of gastrointestinal illness. Those affected by the short-lived illness have responded well to over-the-counter medication administered on-board the ship. 

The South Eastern Sydney local health district said the outbreak was under control. No patient had to be removed from the ship prematurely, or taken to hospital. With new passengers due to board before it left port on Dec 16 evening, the ship and terminal were sanitized to prevent any spread of the illness. 

All new guests received a letter at boarding asking them to advise if they had experienced any gastrointestinal symptoms within the past three days.

Tug Collision, Sinking On Mississippi River


The tug William Strait (file photo courtesy Western Rivers Boat Management)

By MarEx 2015-12-15 19:07:59

The U.S. Coast Guard continues work in response to the Monday collision of towing vessels Margaret Ann and William Strait in the Lower Mississippi River. The two vessels apparently misjudged distances after making passing arrangements, and the Strait sank in 20 feet of water after the collision.

The USCG and local media have reported no injuries from the accident.

Images and video from local news helicopter flyovers show the tug's wheelhouse out of the water and an apparent oil slick downstream.

The USCG has left the Mississippi open to one way traffic in the affected area as response crews work on the cleanup and salvage of the sunken wreck.

Crews have deployed 1,100 feet of containment boom and 600 feet of sorbent boom around the vessel to prevent any further spreading of pollution.

Aircraft surveys by the Coast Guard and local police authorities are under way to determine the extent of environmental damage, and a salvage plan is being developed to safely remove the sunken tug. Her tow of multiple aggregate barges has already been salvaged.

The National Transportation Safety Board and the USCG are investigating the incident.

The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's response center reported that petroleum products of concern in the incident included 90,000 gallons of diesel and 2,000 gallons of lube oil. The NOAA report suggests that the Strait collided with an asphalt barge in the Ann's tow.

The William Strait was operated by Western Rivers Boat Management. The company has been in the towing, barge shifting, and ship repair businesses on inland waterways since 1996.

With Historic Paris Climate Agreement Adopted, Ship Emissions Fall in International Maritime Organization's Court




File photo: Lou Vest
File photo: Lou Vest
With no explicit reference to shipping in the historic climate deal unanimously adopted by almost 200 nations in Paris this weekend, it is now up to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to cut greenhouse gas emissions from a sector which ranks among the world’s biggest contributors of carbon dioxide emissions.
The a final deal, known as the Paris Agreement, was agreed to on Saturday after two weeks of around-the-clock negotiations involving delegates from 195 countries at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) held in Paris. The aim of the agreement is to keep a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius and to drive efforts to limit the temperature increase to just 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
The final text of the Paris Agreement includes no explicit reference to international shipping, which according to the IMO accounts for 2.2% of earth’s man-made CO2 emissions.
The shipping industry has largely welcomed the Agreement, but stakeholders have also acknowledged that work must continue at the IMO to further reduce international shipping’s overall CO2 emissions as part of the global effort to mitigate the impact of climate change.
The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), representing the global shipping industry throughout the United Nations Climate Change Conference, says it “greatly welcomes” the Paris Agreement and reiterates that the shipping industry remains committed to ambitious CO2 emission reduction across the entire world merchant fleet, reducing CO2 per tonne-km by at least 50% before 2050 compared to 2007. ICS asserts that dramatic CO2 reductions from ships will only be guaranteed if further regulation continues to be led by IMO.
“I am sure IMO Member States will now proceed with new momentum to help the industry deliver ever greater CO2 reductions, as the world moves towards total decarbonization by the end of the Century” commented ICS Secretary General, Peter Hinchliffe.
ICS says it plans to engage in meaningfully in discussions at the IMO during the next meeting of the Marine Environment Protection Committee in April 2016, where ICS plans to discuss possibility of agreeing a CO2 reduction target for shipping.
Prior to the Paris negotiations, the ICS had hoped that any deal would include acknowledgment of the importance of IMO in continuing to develop further CO2 reduction measures.
“CO2 is a global problem and shipping is a global industry,” added Hinchliffe in a press release issued Monday. “IMO is the only forum which can take account of the UN principle of ‘differentiation’ while requiring all ships to apply the same CO2 reduction measures, regardless of their flag State. Unilateral or regional regulation would be disastrous for shipping and disastrous for global CO2 reduction, whereas IMO is already helping shipping to deliver substantial CO2 reductions on a global basis.”
A similar sentiment is held by European shipowners, represented by the European Community Shipowners’ Association, which also welcomed the Agreement and is now calling on solid action at the IMO, referencing the specialized United Nations’ agency as “the appropriate international body to address greenhouse gas emissions from ships engaged in international trade”.
Specifically, the ECSA (and ICS for that matter) would like to a see a global data collection system of CO2 emissions from ships.
“Following the adoption in 2011 of measures to increase the energy efficiency of the industry, the agreed next step is a global data collection system of CO2 emissions”, said Patrick Verhoeven, Secretary General of ECSA, in a statement released Monday in the wake of the Paris Agreement. “The governments in IMO will resume discussions on such a system in April next year, with the aim of ascertaining the real contribution of international shipping to global CO2 emissions. We strongly encourage all parties to ensure that these discussions lead to the establishment, as soon as possible, of a mandatory data collection system.”
Critics, on the other hand, have said that the absence of shipping (and aviation) from the Paris Agreement casts doubts over who is responsible for reining in emissions from the two transport sectors, which together account for an estimated 8% of global CO2 emissions, and undermine the prospects of keeping global warming below the 1.5°C target.
“The Agreement now leaves it unclear which actors have responsibility to reduce emissions from these sectors. If [International Civil Aviation Organization and IMO] wish to retain a role, they must urgently scale up their ambition. Otherwise states and regional actors will have a right to adopt measures to ensure these sectors contribute to the 1.5°C target,” commented Andrew Murphy, Aviation and Shipping Officer for Transport & Environment, a green NGO and one of the more vocal proponents of including the two sectors in the any climate deal.
So now it’s up to the IMO the decide on regulations concerning greenhouse gas emissions from ships, a role in which it has recognized wholeheartedly.
“The absence of any specific mention of shipping in the final text will in no way diminish the strong commitment of IMO as the regulator of the shipping industry to continue work to address GHG emissions from ships engaged in international trade,” commented IMO Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu in a press briefing released Monday titled “Full speed ahead with climate-change measures at IMO following Paris Agreement”.
In the briefing, the IMO recapitulated that it remains the only organization to have adopted energy-efficiency measures that are legally binding across an entire global industry and applicable to all countries.
“Mandatory energy efficiency standards for new ships, and mandatory operational measures to reduce emissions from existing ships, entered into force under an existing international convention (MARPOL Annex VI) in 2013. By 2025, all new ships will be 30% more energy efficient than those built last year. This is more than a target, it is a legal requirement, and demonstrates that IMO is the correct and only forum to identify solutions and an appropriate pathway for international shipping to de-carbonize with the rest of the globe,” the IMO said in the briefing.
The IMO’s briefing added:
Continuing efforts will include development of a global data collection system for ship’s fuel consumption to be discussed in detail at the next meeting of IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee in 2016, further consideration of a total-sector reduction target for GHG emissions from international shipping as proposed by the Marshall Islands in 2015, and continued investigation of additional mechanisms for ships to support the implementation of the Paris Agreement.
During COP21, IMO provided an update of its work to address GHG emissions from bunker fuels used for international shipping. Specifically, IMO reported on its work on further developing guidelines to support the uniform implementation of the regulations on energy-efficiency for ships; and on its efforts with regard to technical co-operation and capacity-building to ensure effective implementation and enforcement of the aforementioned new regulations worldwide and, importantly, activities to support promotion of technical co-operation and transfer of technology relating to the improvement of energy efficiency of ships.
At IMO, the Governments of the world come together to develop the regulatory framework for international shipping which forms the basis for investment decisions. There is a clear imperative now for IMO’s Member States to rise to the challenge set by the Paris Agreement. Secretary-General Sekimizu said, “I now encourage Governments to bring the spirit of the Paris Agreement to IMO and come forward with new, creative proposals and to approach them in a constructive and cooperative manner.”
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