Ballast Water and EPA s Vessel General Permit. Ryan Albert U.S. Environmental Protection Agency May 9, 2014 Presentation for Intertanko Workshop

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1 Ballast Water and EPA s Vessel General Permit Ryan Albert U.S. Environmental Protection Agency May 9, 2014 Presentation for Intertanko Workshop

2 Outline Brief Overview of Clean Water Act National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permitting The Vessel General Permit (VGP) Limits Monitoring and Reporting Implementation questions 2

3 The Clean Water Act (CWA) Established the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program Any point source discharge of a pollutant to waters of the U.S. Must obtain NPDES permit coverage (provides legal authority for those discharges of pollutants to waters of the U.S.) 3

4 Establishing NPDES Effluent Limits: Obligations under the CWA Effluent limits [CWA section 301(b)] Technology-based [CWA section 304(b)] (TBEL) Generally, Best Available Technology (BAT) established on a Best Professional Judgment (BPJ) basis Water quality-based [CWA section 301(b)(1)(c)] (WQBEL) Generally, limits as stringent as necessary to comply with applicable water quality standards 4

5 Science Advisory Board Ballast Water Study EPA s Science Advisory Board (SAB) Panel Charge: evaluate the status of existing and potential shipboard ballast water treatment technologies and their ability to meet different discharge standards (Report finalized July 12, 2011) SAB Report Key Conclusions: International Maritime Organization (IMO) standard is achievable from a technology and testing standpoint The state of technology does not support a TBEL limit more stringent than IMO for shipboard treatment systems Issue of Detection/Quantification below IMO 5

6 NPDES Permitting National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permits Individual permits and general permits Permit term not to exceed 5 years For EPA-issued permits, State water quality certification required 6

7 2013 Final Vessel General Permit Overview Effective December 19, VGP 5 year permit term expired Jurisdiction of the permit Inland waters, territorial sea up to 3 nautical miles (nm) Covers approximately 70,000 vessels while operating in U.S. Waters Discharge coverage 27 discharge types incidental to the normal operation of a non-recreational and non military vessels 79 feet or longer, except commercial fishing vessels, and all ballast water discharges, regardless of size Additional vessel class-specific conditions for 8 classes of vessels Certain vessel discharges not eligible for coverage(e.g., sewage) 7

8 VGP Ballast Water Approach Ballast water requirements primarily found in Part of the VGP Mandatory Management measures (Parts ) Numeric Limits ( ) Self Monitoring Interim Requirements ( ) Specific requirements for vessels entering the Great Lakes ( ) 8

9 Ballast Water Numeric Effluent Limits Section : Expressed as instantaneous maximum Large Organisms (> 50μm) Small Organisms (>10μ and 50 μm) Toxigenic Vibrio cholerae (O1 & O139) Eschericia coli Intestinal enterococci < 10 per m 3 < 10 per ml <1 cfu per 100 ml <250 cfu per 100 ml <100 cfu per 100 ml 9

10 Ballast Water Schedule Four possible options to meet limits: Use a treatment device (e.g. U.S. type approved system or an AMS) Use onshore treatment Use public water supply water (from US and Canada only) No discharge Implementation schedule: New vessels Existing vessels Vessel s Ballast Water Capacity Date Constructed After December 1, 2013 Less than Before December 1, 1500 m m 3 Before December 1, 2013 Greater than 5000 m 3 Before December 1, 2013 Vessel s Compliance Date On delivery First scheduled drydocking after January 1, 2016 First scheduled drydocking after January 1, 2014 First scheduled drydocking after January 1,

11 Ballast Water - Monitoring Monitoring requirements if using a treatment device Functional Goal is to test if the system functioning as designed (e.g., applying chlorine dose, filtering water) Biological E. coli, enterococci, and total heterotrophic bacteria Active substance and residuals (for systems that use them) Numeric limits for systems using chlorine, chlorine dioxide, ozone, and peracetic acid Other parameters set at Gold Book values (if such systems were to be developed) Other monitoring approaches viable to ensure systems are meeting treatment limits (supplementing/replacing functional and biological monitoring?) 11

12 Functional Monitoring 12

13 Reporting and Recordkeeping Notice of Intent Includes vessel specific ballast water information about the vessels seeking permit coverage Annual Report Ballast water data submitted via annual report Electronic system for data submittal and management EPA will make data submitted to the Agency in electronic form available to the public in electronic form e.g., see searchable feature of NOIs currently available for the 2013 VGP 13

14 State Water Quality Certifications Under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act, States have the right to add additional requirements to any U.S. Federal permit Two numeric ballast water limits potentially applicable in permit term California no detectable living organisms IMO D-2 equivalent (same as EPA and USCG) See Part 6 of the VGP for State conditions 14

15 EPA Enforcement Response Policy As EPA & USCG work to ensure that we are as consistent as possible under our respective statutory authorities, on December 27, 2013 EPA issued an Enforcement Response Policy (ERP). The ERP states that vessels that do not meet the VGP s numeric ballast water limits and have received an extension from the USCG and are otherwise in compliance with all other VGP requirements, including submission of a valid NOI, are considered a low enforcement priority. EPA and the USCG developed a joint package that is sent to vessel owners / operators that have received an extension from the USCG. This package includes the USCG extension, the ERP and a joint cover letter signed by both Agencies. We believe the ERP addresses the primary concerns of industry regarding non-alignment of requirements of the USCG and EPA. 15

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17 Questions? Ryan Albert (202) ; General VGP questions enoi questions Webinars EPA has held 4 webinars on the 2013 VGP The archived presentations are available at 17