2 December 2008 TO ALL MEMBERS Dear Sirs US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Vessel General Permit (VGP) Requirements From 19 December 2008, all commercial vessels 79 feet (24.08 meters) in length or greater with discharges of pollutants incidental to their normal operation, including but not limited to ballast water discharges, into the US three mile territorial sea or inland waters must comply with the EPA final Vessel General Permit (VGP) requirements and will need permit coverage. Members whose vessels will be calling at US ports after this date are strongly recommended to begin development of a compliance programme based upon the requirements found in the EPA proposed VGP, while keeping in mind that changes to their compliance programme may need to be made after the final VGP is issued by the EPA. General information on the VGP requirements, including the proposed VGP, can be accessed at: http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/home.cfm?program_id=350 Background Since May 1973, EPA’s regulations have excluded certain discharges “incidental to the normal operation of vessels”, including ballast water, from the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) programme under the Clean Water Act (CWA). On July 23, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld a District Court decision which ruled that EPA exceeded its authority under the CWA in exempting certain marine discharges from the NPDES programme, and that EPA is now required to regulate discharges incidental to the normal operation of vessels under the CWA NPDES programme requirements. The date for application of the NPDES programme to commercial vessels calling at US ports is 19 December 2008. A list of discharge types eligible for coverage under the VGP is contained in the Annex to this circular. The proposed permit incorporates the US Coast Guard’s mandatory ballast water management and exchange standards (33 C.F.R. part 151) and supplemental ballast water requirements for vessels that carry ballast water. Furthermore, for all covered vessels, this proposed permit would also establish requirements for twenty-seven other discharge types including deck runoff, bilgewater discharge, and graywater discharge. For each discharge type, the permit establishes effluent limits pertaining to the constituents found in the effluent and Best Management Practices (BMPs) designed to decrease the amount of constituents entering the waste stream. In addition to these standard or common requirements, the permit outlines further requirements for eight specific classes of vessels, such as cruise ships, research vessels, oil and petroleum tankers, and large ferries. The proposed VGP also includes requirements for corrective actions, inspections, monitoring, recordkeeping and reporting requirements. - 2 For these NPDES VGPs, permittees must file Notices of Intent (NOIs) to obtain coverage. Initially, coverage will be national in scope i.e. one permit will cover all U.S. inland and territorial waters. To obtain authorisation, the owner or operator of a vessel that is either 300 or more gross registered tons or has the capacity to hold or discharge more than 8 cubic meters (2113 gallons) of ballast water is required to submit a NOI to receive permit coverage 1 , beginning six months after the permit’s issuance date, but no later than nine months after the permit’s issuance date. Given the substantial number of NOIs expected to be filed, all vessels will initially be covered by the VGP at t