Tag: Coast Guard

EPA Signs Final Vessel Incidental Discharge National Standards of Performance Rule

Jeanne M. Grasso and Holli B. Packer ●

On September 20, 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) signed a highly anticipated final rule establishing national standards for incidental discharges from vessels into waters of the United States, albeit nearly four years after its statutory deadline. However, existing requirements included in the 2013 Vessel General Permit (“VGP”) will remain in place until these new EPA and forthcoming U.S. Coast Guard regulations under Clean Water Act section 312(p) are final, effective, and enforceable. The U.S. Coast Guard has two years to issue its final rule implementing EPA’s standards.

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USCG Considers Organism Viability Testing Methods to Achieve Type Approval of Ballast Water Management Systems

Jeanne M. Grasso and Holli B. Packer  ●

On August 21, 2024, the U.S. Coast Guard (“USCG”) outlined its intent to prepare the “Viability Testing Method Consideration for Acceptance Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (“PEIS”)” in the Federal Register (89 Fed. Reg. 67646), which will be used to evaluate, and potentially adopt, organism viability testing methods to demonstrate that ballast water discharges meet required performance standards. Comments were due on or before October 7, 2024.

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USCG Requests Information on Ballast Water Management Procedures Under the Vessel General Permit and USCG Regulations

Jeanne M. Grasso, Dana S. Merkel, and Holli B. Packer ●


The U.S. Coast Guard (“USCG”) published a Request for Information (“Request”) on June 7 in the Federal Register (89 Fed. Reg. 48515) seeking information on the monitoring, recordkeeping, and reporting procedures under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”) Vessel General Permit (“VGP”) and the USCG’s ballast water management requirements. With the USCG’s inquiry focused on the resources devoted per vessel to compliance requirements, the USCG plans to use the information provided to “evaluate new and updated solutions that inform data-driven policymaking, reduce the reporting and record-keeping burden on industry, and confirm environmental compliance.” While not stated explicitly, the Request is clearly a precursor to the USCG’s development of a proposed rule pursuant to the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act (“VIDA”). Comments are due by July 22, 2024.

Interested parties are encouraged to review the Request carefully and provide their insights, either individually or through trade associations, prior to the July 22, 2024, deadline as this Request is a critical precursor to implementation of VIDA.

Background

2013 Vessel General Permit. The VGP was issued under the Clean Water Act’s (“CWA”) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System program and provides permit coverage nationwide for discharges incidental to the normal operation of commercial vessels more than 79 feet in length. EPA issued the first version of the VGP in 2008 and then another, more stringent, version in 2013. The VGP set effluent limits and mandated Best Management Practices to control certain types of incidental discharges. It also required vessels to conduct routine and annual inspections and imposed numerous recordkeeping obligations, as well as monitoring and reporting requirements.

USCG Ballast Water Management. The USCG published a final rule addressing ballast water management, which became effective in June 2012. These regulations, codified in 33 C.F.R. Part 151, mandate ballast water management requirements, including type-approved ballast water management systems. They further outline required Best Management Practices and monitoring, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements.

Vessel Incidental Discharge Act. In December 2018, VIDA was signed into law and intended to replace the VGP to bring uniformity, consistency, and certainty to the regulation of incidental discharges from U.S. and foreign-flag vessels. VIDA amended the CWA and will substantially alter how EPA and the USCG regulate vessel discharges. VIDA required EPA to finalize uniform performance standards for each type of incidental discharge by December 2020, a deadline that the EPA has missed by more than three years, and requires the USCG to implement EPA’s final standards within two years thereafter.

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Coast Guard Issues Policy on Keel Laying Date

Jonathan K. Waldron and Dana S. Merkel

UPDATE — OCTOBER 4, 2019:

The U.S. Coast Guard issued a revised version of Determinations for a Vessel’s Keel Laid Date or Similar Stage of Construction, CVC-WI 015(2), shortly after publication of this advisory. The revised version makes no changes to the standards outlined in the guidance. However, it clarifies that the Work Instruction applies to only U.S. flag vessels.

The U.S. Coast Guard has published new guidance setting forth its interpretation of when a vessel’s keel is considered laid and building progression standards to determine what may be accepted in establishing the build date for a vessel. Shipyards and prospective shipowners and operators should be cognizant of this new guidance and its significant implications on the regulatory requirements applicable to a vessel.

New Development

The U.S. Coast Guard has issued a Work Instruction providing guidance on when a vessel’s keel is considered to be laid or the vessel is at a similar stage of construction. This guidance is intended to address law and regulations that refer to when a vessel is “new” or “existing,” “built,” or “constructed.” The Work Instruction, “Determinations for a Vessel’s Keel Laid Date or Similar Stage of Construction,” CVC-WI 015(1), was published on August 27, 2019, and is available here.

Background

U.S. law and regulation often refers to new or existing vessels or when a vessel is built or constructed to determine the applicability of newer construction, safety, and environmental standards. The definitions of these terms invariably discuss the vessels’ keel laid date or similar stage of construction. However, there has historically been scant guidance addressing when a vessel’s keel is considered laid or when a vessel can be considered at a similar stage of construction and how these terms should be applied for different regulatory purposes.

The Coast Guard has identified issues in the past with undefined structural members being placed in a shipyard without vessel construction plans in place or even intent to build a specific vessel to act as a regulatory placeholder. This is particularly a problem in the period before a newer, more stringent standard will come into effect, and shipbuilders or other companies seek to claim a keel laid date before a new standard takes effect by taking some action to start the building of a vessel with no firm planned completion date.

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