United States Department of Transportation
i
Impacts of EPA 2012 commercial pump-out regulations.
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2012-08-01
[PDF-707.18 KB]
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Edition:Final report.
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Abstract:The US EPA issued the Vessel General Permit (VGP) for managing vessel discharges, under the Clean Water
Act. As a result, commercial vessels operating in the New York/New Jersey Harbor and at Delaware River will
be required to comply, including additional conditions imposed by the state. This will affect maritime
commerce in terms of cost and operation to meet the VGP requirements. The objectives of this research are
to (1) determine how this rule would affect maritime commerce in New Jersey, (2) perform an analysis of the
US EPA standards and the VGP rules and determine their impacts on New Jersey maritime operations, and
(3) determine what New Jersey needs to do to be prepared. To carry out the project tasks, information on
vessels registered under the VGP Notice of Intent and vessels arrivals were solicited from the US EPA and US
Coast Guard, respectively, and analyzed. A stakeholder committee was formed where key and urgent issues
were discussed in several meetings. New Jersey ports and onshore storage and treatment facilities were
investigated. A cost analysis of alternative methods and facilities for pump-out of the discharge, storage,
transport to a treatment facility, and waste treatment was performed. A protocol was developed for the
maritime industry for filing VGP compliance and reporting. With the 2008 VGP expiration date approaching, US
EPA is proposing new, more stringent numeric technology-based effluent limitations for ballast water in the
2013 VGP. A draft sVGP for small vessels is also issued. Finally, the impact on New Jersey and
recommendations to the maritime industry are presented.
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