THE US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will be instrumental in establishing standards for ballast water discharge, while the US Coast Guard (USCG) will monitor and enforce compliance of the proposed rule
THE US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will be instrumental in establishing standards for ballast water discharge, while the US Coast Guard (USCG) will monitor and enforce compliance of the proposed rule. This development comes now that legislation that sets standards for incidental water discharges from vessels passed the House of Representatives. The Frank LoBiondo Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2018, S. 140, which includes the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act (VIDA), now moves on to the President to be signed.
The EPA and USCG will team up to develop the regulations and policies to implement VIDA, reported AJOT.
American Association of Port Authorities (PA) has been collaborating with the American Waterways Operators to reform an overlapping patchwork of federal and state regulations in order to create a national uniform framework for the regulation of ballast water and other vessel discharges.
PA supports a strong ballast water management programme to cut the risk of invasive species entering waterways through. Both EPA and the US Coast Guard have existing regulations in place through two different statutes, yet they are not fully consistent regarding compliance. PA is calling for a uniform federal programme, including pre-emption of varying state laws.
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