epa regulations for foreign-flagged offshore equipment?

[ivymike]

Hello,

Does anyone know how/whether epa regs are applied to foriegn-flagged drilling vessels? Is there a different answer depending on whether it's a jack-up rig, modu, semi-submersible, or drillship, etc?

I have a guy telling me that if a foreign-flagged rig (nonspecific) is moved to drill within epa-controlled space that it must be upgraded to tier-2 emissions levels - he has something to sell me - to date I can't find anything to support that claim (but I can't seem to specifically rebutt it yet either). Anyone have any experience with that?

Any idea why someone would want to bump a non-regulated or tier-1 diesel up to tier-2 emissions levels outside of an overhaul (or even at overhaul, for that matter)?

 

[ivymike]

okay, so I've found that the answer is no, generally

EPA Marine Preamble: "Consistent with our current program, the marine engine standards we are finalizing will not apply to marine diesel engines installed on foreign vessels."

...but I'm told that if a rig stays in US territorial waters for more than 12 months, it must meet EPA regs? Is that because the engines onboard become "stationary" diesels at that point, subject to CI-NSPS?