EPA’s Draft Vessel General Permits Out for Public Comment

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is issuing two draft vessel general permits that would regulate discharges from commercial vessels, excluding military and recreational vessels. Construction companies involved in marine operations that own or operate vessels (e.g., tugs or barges) should take note of the ever-increasing requirements and provide comments to EPA by Feb. 21, 2012.  EPA has scheduled a webcast on Jan. 19 from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm (ET) to address questions and to provide information on the draft permits.  Register for the webcast on EPA’s website here. The draft Vessel General Permit (VGP), which covers vessels greater than 79 feet in length, would replace the current 2008 VGP when it expires December 2013.  The brand-new draft Small Vessel General Permit (sVGP) would cover vessels smaller than 79 feet in length and will be required for the first time starting December 2013 – which is when the legislative exemption currently in place for small vessels expires.

• Most notable, the 2013 draft VGP would require most vessels to meet numeric ballast water discharge limits. This would be much more stringent than the current VGP, which requires permit holders to adhere to a suite of “best management practices” (BMPs) for ballast water discharges.  EPA is proposing a staggered schedule for implementation of the ballast water numeric limitation, requiring compliance by the first dry docking after Jan. 1, 2014, or Jan. 1, 2016 (depending on vessel ballast capacity). Vessels constructed after Jan. 1, 2012, and subject to the numeric limitation will be required to meet the limits upon the effective date of the 2013 VGP.  The 2013 draft VGP would also impose more strict technology-based limits in the form of BMPs for discharges related to oil-to-sea interfaces. Like the 2008 VGP, the 2013 draft VGP would require routine inspections, monitoring, reporting, and recordkeeping.
• The sVGP would require operators to employ specific BMPs to minimize the discharge of pollutants into U.S. waters – for example, fuel management, engine and oil control, solid and liquid maintenance, graywater management, fish hold effluent management, and ballast water management.  It also includes provisions for recordkeeping and inspections.  The draft sVGP would be the first Clean Water Act (CWA) permit to regulate discharges incidental to the normal operation of commercial vessels less than 79 feet in length.

The comment period for both draft permits closes on February 21, 2012.  EPA intends to issue the final permits in November 2012, so owners and operators can prepare for the new requirements and consider state conditions that might be added to the VGPs pursuant to the state certification. The 2013 draft VGP and sVGP are available at http://www.epa.gov/npdes/vessels. SIGN UP for EPA’s Vessel General Permit Webcast EPA will present the proposed requirements of the 2013 draft VGP and sVGP and answer questions during a webcast on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012, at 1:00 pm Eastern Time. For more information on the webcast, including instructions on how to register, please visit: www.epa.gov/npdes/training. Background In 2006, after years of litigation, a federal court ordered EPA to discontinue the exemption of vessels from the CWA’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permitting program, which regulates discharges of pollutants into U.S. waters. As a result, EPA developed the VGP program, in effect since February 2009, which covers discharges incidental to the normal operations of a vessel.  Further litigation over the 2008 VGP ended in a settlement that requires EPA to: (i) include more stringent numeric effluent limits to control the release of non-indigenous invasive species in ballast water discharges; (ii) publish a draft VGP by Nov. 30, 2011, and issue the final VGP by Nov. 30, 2012, so that the industry has enough time to become familiar with the new VGP requirements; and (iii) allow states six months after the publication of the new VGP to accept, accept with conditions, or deny/waive state certification under Section 401 of the CWA.