California Ballast Water Management Program 2 February 2000 No.99-025 Effective 1 January 2000, the State of California implemented a mandatory ballast water management program for virtually all vessels arriving in its ports from outside the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (U.S. EEZ). The following is a quick guide concerning the new requirements. 1. Applicability The California Ballast Water Management Program (CBWMP) applies to almost all vessels equipped with ballast tanks. However, the following vessels are exempt from the CBWMP: (1) Vessels not equipped with ballast tanks. (2) Vessels that do not have onboard ballast waters from outside the U.S. Pacific West Coast EEZ. (3) Passenger vessels equipped with a functioning treatment system designed to kill nonindigenous species in the ballast water. (4) Vessels that discharge ballast water or sediments only at the location where the ballast water or sediments originated. (5) Vessels in innocent passage through California waters. (6) Vessels for which the master determines that the ballast water exchange would threaten the safety of the vessel, its crew, or its passengers because of adverse weather, vessel designed limitations, equipment failure, or other extraordinary conditions. 2. Requirements Vessels not exempt from the CBWMP must undertake the following actions: (1) Ballast Water Management The master must employ at least one of the following practices for ballast water carried into California waters from areas outside the U.S. EEZ: 1 Exchange ballast water while outside the EEZ, from an area not less than 200 nautical miles from any shore and in waters more than 2,000 meters deep before entering California waters. "Exchange" means to replace the water in a ballast tank using either of the following methods: a. "Flow through exchange"- flush out ballast water by pumping in mid-ocean water at the bottom of the tank and continuously overflowing the tank from the top until three full volumes of water have been changed