the IHS Ballast Water Guide - RWO Marine Water Technology

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IHS Fairplay Solutions Guide to Ballast Water Treatment Systems Sponsored by Stricter rules in the USA The IMO’s Ballast Water Convention will eventually apply to most of the world, but some countries have indicated that they may set their own rules and a few have already done so in advance of the ratifi cation of the IMO convention. The convention is intended to apply globally, but separate though similar legislation is making its way through the US legal system. The USA adopted a unique set of rules governing both its own fl agged ships and foreign vessels in US ports and within the country’s territorial waters. These contained diff erences from the discharge standards in the IMO regulations. Under United States federal rules a two-phase system was proposed. In the fi rst phase, the quality standards were to be much the same as the IMO convention standards. The second phase, however, originally proposed for introduction in 2016, set far more stringent and highly controversial water standards. An example of the diff erence between the US Phase 2 and IMO convention rules was the standard for living organisms larger than 50μm. While the IMO (and US Phase 1) standards require fewer than 10 organisms per cubic metre of ballast, US Phase 2 rules set a maximum of one organism/100m 3 . In November 2011, after individual US states threatened to impose their own requirements, federal lawmakers approved a single nationwide ballast water discharge standard that conforms to performance standards set by the IMO. The Commercial Vessel Discharges Reform Act of 2011 was approved by the US House of Representatives on 13 October. It had to pass a vote in the Senate before it could be signed into law. The legislation amends the federal Clean Water Act by prohibiting the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from permitting individual states to impose requirements on top of federal standards. The act also requires the US Coast Guard (USCG) to set a schedule for vessel owners to install ballast water treatment technology that has been certifi ed to the new standard. All ships entering US waters must comply with the vessel general permit (VGP), which sets out best practices, training and documentation rules for 26 incidental vessel discharges, including ballasting, deck runoff , bilgewater and greywater. Its regulators include the US Coast Guard and the EPA. Alleging that the VGP violated the Clean Water Act by failing to regulate ballast Phase 1: Implementation schedule for Phase 1 ballast-water management programme Ballast-water capacity (m 3 ) Construction date Compliance date New vessels (all capacities) On or after 1 December 2013 On delivery Existing vessels < 1,500 Before 1 December 2013 First drydocking after 1 Jan 2016 Existing vessels 1,500–5,000 Before 1 December 2013 First drydocking after 1 Jan 2014 Existing vessels > 5,000 Before 1 December 2013 First drydocking after 1 Jan 2016 8 © IHS Global Limited 2012 006_009_BW1204.indd 8 21/03/2012 18:28:31
Sponsored by IHS Fairplay Solutions Guide to Ballast Water Treatment Systems Development in USA keeps in STEP The Shipboard Technology Evaluation Program (STEP) is a USCG initiative aimed at encouraging the development of treatment systems and shipboard testing. In the words of the USCG, STEP facilitates “…the development of effective ballast water treatment technologies, through experimental systems, thus creating more options for vessel owners seeking alternatives to ballast water exchange”. The STEP programme offers incentives to vessels for engaging in the development and use of experimental treatment technologies. A vessel accepted into STEP prior to USCG ballast water discharge standards being decided will be considered to have an equivalent ballast water management practice in compliance with federal regulations for the life of the treatment equipment or the life of the vessel, whichever is shorter. Vessels accepted to STEP after the establishment of discharge standards will be granted equivalency status to the ballast water discharge standards for 10 years. water suffi ciently, environmental groups concerned over invasive species sued the EPA. A settlement that was confi rmed on 8 March 2011 stipulated that the new VGP, which enters force in January 2014, “will include concentration-based effl uent limits for discharges of ballast water expressed as organisms per unit”. In February 2012, New York State dropped plans for a ballast treatment rule that was deemed unrealistic by shipowners and manufacturers alike and could have closed the St Lawrence Seaway and the Port of New York-New Jersey to most shipping. USCG Commissioner Joe Martens of the New York Department of Environmental Conservation said on 23 February the state will support a national ballast regulation standard being advanced by the EPA. The Canadian government welcomed New York’s announcement and agreed that uniform standards are the best way to protect the marine environment. Late in March the USCG published a new fi nal ruling on ballast water treatment that recognises that the construction dates in the initial Phase 1 rules have now passed and has amended the implementation requirement accordingly. However, the compliance date for ships remains eff ectively unaltered. This means that new vessels built after 1 December 2013 must have a functioning approved system on board and vessels built before that date with a ballast capacity between 1,500m 3 and 5,000m 3 will be required to fi t one at the fi rst drydocking after 1 January 2014. Other sizes of existing vessels have two years beyond that to comply. The new rule also postpones indefi nitely the controversial Phase 2 standards on the grounds that independent scientifi c advice has shown that they are currently unachievable. Higher standards have not been entirely abandoned, as the rule allows for the existing Phase 2 or other standards in excess of the Phase 1 (IMO equivalent) limits to be introduced at a future date. Whether that happens will depend on the performance standards that treatment systems are able to achieve. In order to decide, regular reviews of the commercial systems and developing technologies will take place. © IHS Global Limited 2012 9 006_009_BW1204.indd 9 21/03/2012 18:28:31
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