American Club Circular No. 34/13 1 NOVEMBER 25, 2013 CIRCULAR NO. 34/13 TO MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATION Dear Member: E-LEARNING TOOLS: E-LEARNING MODULES ON COMPLIANCE WITH THE US ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY’S VESSEL GENERAL PERMIT REQUIREMENTS: AN UPDATE Your Managers are pleased to report updates to the Club’s e-learning modules related to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Vessel General Permit (VGP) environmental discharge requirements for ships trading to the United States. Members should note that as of December 19, 2013 the following will apply:  2008 and 2013 Vessel General Permit (VGP). The 2008 VGP will expire and the 2013 VGP will take effect. Significant changes introduced by the new VGP relate to the definition of a new vessel, the definition and regulatory regime for bulk carriers confined to the Great Lakes, small inland and seagoing vessels not subject to numeric ballast water discharge limits, exhaust gas scrubber wash water discharge, more stringent bilge water management requirements not applied, annual bilge water management, municipal/potable water acceptable for ballast purposes, and allowances for certain vessels to operate without submitting a Notice of Intent (NoI).  2013 Small Vessel General Permit (sVGP) for commercial vessels of less than 79 feet in length. These new requirements for commercial vessels of 79 feet in length or less under the sVGP are due to take effect on December 19, 2013. The sVGP requirements focus primarily on fuel management, engine and oil control, solid and liquid waste management, deck wash down and run off, vessel hull maintenance, graywater, fish hold effluent, ballast water, and seawater cooling overboard discharge. In light of these amendments to the VGP and the new requirements under the sVGP, your Managers have updated the VGP module to account for the 2013 amendments. In addition, a new module has also been added on the sVGP for use by Members with vessels that will be subject to those new rules. Members wishing to access the new s-VGP module should take note of the following: A) Members who are not using the Plug & Play (PnP) hard drive systems, should go to the following link: https://secure2.idessonline.com/americanclub/facility/ Instructions 1. Select "Small Vessel General Permit" from the list of the programs. 2. Login to "Administration/Training Records" as Super Administrator. American Club Circular No. 34/13 2 3. Click the "CHANGE REQUEST" tab. 4. Search for the User that you wish to enroll in the corresponding module. 5. Click the "Enroll" link. 6. Tick "Small Vessel General Permit" from the list of modules. 7. Click the "UPDATE" button. B) Newly registered Members who wish to use the PnP hard drive systems for the s-VGP module, should go to the following link: https://secure2.idessonline.com/americanclub/elearning/ Instructions 1. Login as Super Administrator. 2. Search for the name of the User that you wish to enroll in the "Small Vessel General Permit" module. 3. Click the “ENROLLMENT” link. 4. Tick "Small Vessel General Permit" from the list of modules. 5. Click the "UPDATE ENROLLMENT" button. All Members with owner entries in the American Club have access to all of the Club’s e-learning training programs via the website https://secure.idessonline.com/americanclub/facility/, free of charge. Members who have not registered are encouraged to do so at the earliest opportunity to take advantage of all the e-learning tools available. Other modules currently