NPDES Vessel General Permit

The USEPA has implemented a 2008 Vessel General Permit (VGP) general NPDES permit for certain vessels with discharges to Waters of the US.  Key provisions of the Permit are as follows:

A permit is required for non-recreational vessels involved in transportation within Waters of the US which are equal to, or greater than 79’ in length.  Additionally, only vessels which weigh more than 300 gross tons or have the capacity to hold or discharge more than 8 cubic meters (2113 gallons) of ballast water must submit a Notice of Intent (NOI).  With respect to (1) commercial fishing vessels of any size as defined in 46 U.S.C. § 2101 and (2) those non-recreational vessels that are less than 79 feet in length, the coverage under this permit is limited to ballast water discharges.  The permit covers discharges such as deck washdown and runoff and above water line hull cleaning, bilgewater, ballast water, anti-fouling leachate from anti-fouling hull coatings, aqueous film forming foam (AFFF), boiler/economizer blowdown, cathodic protection, chain locker effluent, gray water and other similar discharges.

The general permit became effective December 19, 2008 and will be in effect for 5 years.  The general permit allows 60 days from the effective date to come into compliance with inspection, training, record keeping and reporting.  For those who are required to obtain a permit, a NOI must be completed within 9 months after December 19, 2008 (due to be submitted by Sept. 19, 2009).  EPA is planning on an electronic NOI (eNOI) system for permitting.

States with NPDES permitting authority can decline to administer this program.  For those states whose NPDES program is administered by EPA, EPA will administer the VGP program.  Vessels operating in some states may have additional requirements regarding effluent discharges.

Numerical discharge limits will not be used for the general permit.  Discharge limits will rely on Best Practical Technology (BPT), Best Control Technology (BCT) and Best Available Technology (BAT).  The permit will include also, water quality-based effluent limits (WQBELs) where technology-based effluent limits are not sufficient to meet water quality standards.  The permit holder cannot discharge pollutants which may be harmful or cause a sheen on the water.

Vessels must be inspected once per week or once per voyage, whichever is more stringent.  Each visual inspection must be noted in the official logbook or other record keeping documentation, be signed by the person conducting the inspection and include basic information regarding the inspection.  A comprehensive annual inspection must be performed, which includes an inspection of all pollution control equipment and a record regarding any corrective actions taken as a result of the inspection.  Inspection records must be kept on the vessel or accompanying tug.

All vessels meeting the NOI requirement, and that have ballast tanks, must meet reporting requirements of 33 CFR 151.2041 and recording keeping requirements of 33 CFR 151.2045. 

EPA also requires reports of spills and other unauthorized discharges. In addition, VGP 2008 clarifies that spills and other unauthorized discharges must be reported to EPA. In the case where discharges may affect drinking water supplies, recreational waters, elicit fish kills, or may otherwise endanger human health or the environment, the discharge must be reported orally to the appropriate EPA regional office within 24 hours from the time or discovery, followed by an electronic or written report within 5 days. The release of a reportable quantity of any hazardous substance or oil must be reported to the National Response Center at 800-424-8802.

Vessel owner/operators must report any instances of noncompliance with the permit at least once per year to the regional office responsible for the waters in which the noncompliance occurred.

The permit requires owner/operators to submit a one-time report that contains basic information about the vessel after the 30th month of permit coverage. EPA is requiring this report in lieu of an annual report. Specifically, the report must include the owner and operator name(s) and addresses, the name of the vessel, the flag of the vessel, the size of the vessel, whether or not the monitoring conditions of the permit have been met, and the date of submission of the report.

Additional requirements are specified for cruise ships, ferries, barges, oil and petroleum tankers, research vessels, emergency vessels and vessels employing experimental ballast water treatment.  For example the permit requires an additional inspection for barge operations every time water is pumped from any area below deck, the vessel operator must conduct a visual sheen test by conducting a visual inspection of the discharge and the water around the barge to check the water for a visual sheen. Under 40 CFR 110 or 40 CFR 302, if a visible sheen is detected, the discharge must be reported immediately to the National Response Center at 1-800-424-8802 or on the Center’s website at www.nrc.uscg.mil. Furthermore, appropriate corrective actions must be taken according to the corrective actions section in Part 3 of the permit and the event must be recorded according to Part 4.2 of the permit.

This article was authored by William Chambers, Acacia Environmental Group LLC. For more information on the author see here.