Ballast Water Management- update October 2016
On 4th October 2016, the US Coast Guard issued a notice on its Coast Guard Maritime Commons Blog in which it provided a recap of a presentation delivered by Lt. Cmdr. Jason Kling, of the Coast Guard Marine Safety Center, at the 2016 BWMTech Conference in Miami 26th-28th September. Lt. Cmdr. Jason Kling described the differences between the U.S. and IMO ballast water standards, and the process for U.S. type-approval of a BWM system. He explained that the Coast Guard uses four separate offices to manage the different areas of responsibility for the US Ballast Water Management Program, these being:
1. The Office of Operating and Environmental Standards
2. The Office of Design and Engineering Standards
3. The Marine Safety Center
4. The Office of Commercial Vessel Compliance
This notice provides a good overview of the complex US Ballast Water Management regulatory program. If Members have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact your usual contact at the Club.
The California State Lands Commission has released a Notice inviting comments from the public between September 23 to November 7, 2016 on the Commission's proposal to amend the regulations of Article 4.5 of the Marine Invasive Species Control Fund Fee. We highlight this for the Member's information. http://www.slc.ca.gov/Laws-Regs/Proposed-MISP4-5.html
You may also be interested in:
US - EPA Reminder of VGP Requirements
15/03/2023
The Club would like to draw Members’ attention to Enforcement Alert #310F22002 issued by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in January 2023
On 24 February 2023, the one year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the US Department of State and the US Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on numerous additional individuals, entities and vessels that the US has determined are engaged in sanctions evasions.
On 23 December 2022, the US Coast Guard issued a Final Rule in the Federal Register to adjust the limits of liability for vessels, deep-water ports and onshore facilities under its Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90), as amended, to reflect the increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) since they were last adjusted in 2019.
In September 2020, the Club reported on the new "At-Berth" regulation approved by the California Air Resources Board ("CARB") that year to replace the 2007 regulation