1. 2013 Assessment of the Efficacy, Availability, and Environmental Impacts of Ballast Water Treatment Systems for Use in California Waters Nicole Dobroski Marine Invasive Species Program Marine Facilities Division

2. Legislative Mandate Public Resources Code section 71205.3(b) “…the Commission, in consultation with the State Water Resources Control Board, the United States Coast Guard, and the advisory panel…shall prepare, or update, and submit to the Legislature a review of the efficacy, availability, and environmental impacts, including the effect on water quality, of currently available technologies for ballast water treatment systems. If technologies to meet the performance standards are determined in a review to be unavailable, the Commission shall include in that review an assessment of why the technologies are unavailable.”

3. Conclusions No shore-based ballast water treatment facilities exist in California to reduce organism concentrations in ballast water, therefore this option cannot be considered currently available for use by the regulated community to comply with California’s performance standards. No shipboard ballast water treatment systems are currently available to meet all of California’s performance standards for the discharge of ballast water.

4. Recommendation to the Legislature Amend Public Resources Code section 71205.3 to delay implementation of the standards until such time that technologies can be deemed available to meet the standards.