2. EPA Vessel General Permit
Overview of the Final 2013 VGP
October 22, 2013

3. Presentation Overview
Background
EPA and the Clean Water Act
VGP basics and key dates
2008 VGP Overview and Inspection Summary
Final 2013 VGP - Summary of Key Conditions
Ballast Water
Exhaust Gas Scrubber Effluent
Environmentally Preferable Products
Implementation/Efficiencies
State Water Quality Certifications

4. The Clean Water Act (CWA)
Established the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program
Must obtain NPDES permit coverage
(provides legal authority for those discharges of pollutants to waters of the U.S.)
Any “point” source”
“discharge of a pollutant”
to “waters of the U.S.”
Preliminary Position Under Consideration

5. NPDES Permitting
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permits
Individual permits and general permits
Permit term not to exceed 5 years
For EPA-issued permits, State water quality certification required

6. NPDES Permit Components
Cover Page
Effluent Limitations
• Effluent Guidelines
• Best Professional Judgment (BPJ)
Technology-Based
Water Quality-Based
Monitoring & Reporting
Requirements
Special Conditions
Compliance Schedules
Special Studies, Evaluations, and Other Requirements
• Best Management Practices (BMPs)
Standard Conditions
Preliminary Position Under Consideration

7. Vessel General Permit - Key Dates
September 18, 2006: a U.S District Court issued an order revoking regulation (40 CFR 122.3(a)) which meant that incidental discharges from vessels were required to have NPDES permits, consistent with the Clean Water Act
December 18, 2008: EPA finalizes first Vessel General Permit (2008 VGP)
: EPA develops technical information for next VGP and gathers information from the regulated community
November 30, 2011: EPA releases draft 2013 VGP
February 21, 2012: Close of public comment period
March 2012: USCG finalizes Ballast Water Discharge Standard Regulation
March 28, 2013: EPA issues 2013 VGP
December 19, 2013: Effective date of the 2013 VGP

8. Implementation and Enforcement
EPA – Implements and administers the VGP
USCG – Inspect vessels for compliance with the VGP
EPA – Conducts enforcement actions for the VGP

9. Permit Applicability Jurisdiction of the permit Discharge coverage
Inland waters, territorial sea up to 3 nautical miles (nm)
Discharge coverage
27 discharge types incidental to the normal operation of a non-recreational and non military vessels 79 feet or longer, except commercial fishing vessels, and all ballast water discharges, regardless of size
Has additional vessel class-specific conditions for 8 classes of vessels
Vessel discharges not eligible for coverage(e.g., sewage)

10. Coverage Under the Permit
Notice of Intent (NOI) for coverage
For the VGP, NOI is required only for certain vessels:
Greater than or equal to 300 gross tons; or
Have a ballast water capacity of at least 8 cubic meters.
Visit to access system
Notice of Termination (NOT) of coverage
Permittee must submit when permanently terminating coverage under the VGP
Permittees do not need to submit NOTs every time they leave waters subject to this permit (e.g. international voyages)

11. 2008 VGP - Overview VGP effective February 6, 2009
Estimated to cover approx. 61,000 US flagged commercial vessels and 8,000 foreign flagged
Vessels that are greater than or equal to 300 gross tons or with more than 8 cubic meters ballast water capacity had to submit a Notice of Intent (NOI) to EPA by September 19, 2009
New vessels or vessels newly entering US waters must submit an NOI to EPA 30 days prior to discharging into waters covered by the VGP
Currently, approximately 50,000 vessels have submitted NOIs
Reporting requirements – One Time Report and Annual Non-Compliance report

12. 2008 VGP – Inspection Summary
TOTAL
US Flag
% of US IOC
Foreign Flagged
% of FF IOC
Total Reported Inspection Result Items of Note (non-compliance TBD)
364
(25.8% of Total)
- -
(74.2% of Total)
No NOI
184 45
47.9%
139
51.5%
Routine Visual Inspections
145 41
43.6%
104
38.5%
Ballast Water Management Plans 9
0.0%
3.3% 5 1
1.1% 4
1.5%
Corrective Action Assessment 2
2.1% 3
Ballast Water and Additional Recordkeeping
Deck Washdown
0.7%
Annual Inspections
Material Storage
Drydock Inspection Reports
Bilgewater
Bilgewater Additional Recordkeeping
0.4%

13. 2008 VGP – Inspection Observations
NOI requirements (No. 1 deficiency)
Certifying NOIs within the eNOI system
Terminating vs. Updating NOIs
Routine inspections (No. 2 deficiency)
Routine inspections; conduct before crossing the 3 mile threshold
Compliance binders

14. 2013 Final VGP – Overview Effective December 19, 2013
Primarily applies to non-recreational, non-military vessels generally greater than 79 feet
Approximately 70,000 existing VGP vessels plus
~2,200 commercial fishing vessels greater than 79 feet (if needed)
New NOI and annual report system in development
Target release date – Early Fall 2013
For those vessels that must submit them, NOIs must be submitted by December 12, 2013 or 7 days before operating in U.S. waters

15. Ballast Water – Effluent Limits
Expressed as instantaneous maximum
Large Organisms
(> 50μm)
Small Organisms
(>10μ and ≤50 μm)
Toxigenic Vibrio cholerae (O1 & O139)
Eschericia coli
Intestinal enterococci
< 10 per m3
< 10 per ml
<1 cfu per 100 ml
<250 cfu per 100 ml
<100 cfu per 100 ml

16. Ballast Water – Implementation
Four possible options to meet limits:
Use a treatment device (e.g. U.S. type approved system or an AMS)
Use onshore treatment
Use public water supply water (from US and Canada only)
No discharge
Implementation schedule:
Vessel’s Ballast Water Capacity
Date Constructed
Vessel’s Compliance
Date
New
vessels
After December 1,
2013
On delivery
Existing
Less than
1500 m3
Before December 1,
First scheduled drydocking after January 1, 2016 m3
First scheduled drydocking after January 1, 2014
Greater than
5000 m3

17. Ballast Water - Monitoring
Monitoring requirements if using a treatment device
Functional
Goal is to test if the system functioning as designed (e.g., applying chlorine dose, filtering water)
Biological
E. coli, enterococci, and total heterotrophic bacteria
Active substance and residuals (for systems that use them)
Numeric limits for systems using chlorine, chlorine dioxide, ozone, and peracetic acid
Other parameters set at Gold Book values (if such systems were to be developed)
Reduced frequency monitoring schedule available if system is one for which US government has high quality efficacy/toxicity type approval data from flag administration or vendor

18. Ballast Water – Interim Requirements
Interim requirements must be met until numeric limits apply
Requirements fundamentally the same as the 2008 VGP
Interim requirements include:
Incorporating existing U.S. Coast Guard mandatory management and exchange requirements
Mandatory saltwater flushing for all vessels with residual ballast water and sediment (NOBOBs) coming from outside the USEEZ and 200 nm from shore
Mandatory exchange and flushing for vessels engaged in Pacific nearshore voyages
Conducting exchange as early as practicable

19. Exhaust Gas Scrubber Effluent
Exhaust gas scrubber effluent is wash water that has been used in cleaning vessel exhaust gases
Consistent with IMO voluntary guidelines
Guidelines include limits for pH, turbidity, nitrates, and one PAH compound
Require monitoring
Assure systems capable of meeting limits
Currently applicable to a handful of vessels
EPA trying to establish clear limits to provide certainty for system operators and assure that discharges are not left uncontrolled
Changes from the Proposed to Final VGP:
Based on comments received, EPA lowered pH limit from 6.5 to 6.0
Updated monitoring schedule and approach

20. Environmentally Preferable Products
Increasing mandate for use of “environmentally acceptable lubricants” (EALs) in US waters (vegetable oils, synthetic esters, and polyalkylene glycols)
Stern tubes alone have been estimated to leak between 4.6 to million liters of oil annually into ports worldwide
Oil to Sea interfaces include stern tubes, thrusters, hydraulic pitch propellers, wire rope lubrication, etc.
Must use unless technically infeasible
Minimally toxic cleaners and detergents
Phosphate free soaps and detergents

21. Reporting and Inspection Improvements
Annual Report
Eliminate One-Time Report and Annual Non-Compliance Report and consolidate into Annual Report
Report all analytical monitoring as part of Annual Report
All unmanned, unpowered barges and other vessels less than 300 gross tons may file a combined annual report if they meet certain conditions
Reduce duplicative reporting
Where immediate notification is reported to the National Response Center, no longer need to also report to EPA regions
Extended Unmanned Period Inspections
Allowed for vessels in lay-up or fleeted (at the vessel owner/operator’s discretion) in lieu of routine visual inspections

22. General Efficiency Improvements
Reduced NOI processing time from 30 to 7 days (for electronic filers only)
Developing electronic tools to submit all information/data
Requiring e-reporting unless specified exemptions apply
Making data submitted to the agency in electronic form available to the public

23. State Water Quality Certifications
Under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act, States have the right to add additional requirements to any U.S. Federal permit
Two “numeric” limits potentially applicable in permit term
California – “no detectable living organisms”
IMO D-2 equivalent (same as EPA and USCG)
Some state-specific monitoring requirements applicable for specific vessel types in certain states
See Part 6 of the VGP for State conditions

24. Small Vessel General Permit (sVGP)
Part 1 - Overview of Permit
Part 2 – Effluent Limitations and Related Requirements
Part 3 – Monitoring and Recordkeeping
Part 4 – Additional Requirements
Part 5 – State Specific Requirements
Part 6 – Definitions
Part 7 – sVGP contacts
Appendix A– Permit Authorization and Record of Inspection Form
Temporary moratorium for incidental discharges from commercial fishing vessels and vessels less than 79 feet in length
Moratorium originally until July 2010 (P.L ).
Subsequently extended to December 19, 2013 (P.L ) and later December 19, 2014 ( )
In the event moratorium is not extended, EPA proposed the sVGP in November 2011
EPA intends to finalize that permit later this year

25. Questions?
Contact information
Kathryn Kelley
General VGP questions