Coast Guard Proposes to Amend Ballast Water Management Reporting Requirements

On June 4, 2013 the Coast Guard filed a proposed notice of rulemaking to amend its existing ballast water management (BWM) reporting and recordkeeping requirements to require vessels equipped with ballast tanks and operating exclusively on voyages between ports or places within a single Captain of the Port Zone to submit an annual summary report of their BWM practices for a period of three years. The Coast Guard does not currently collect BWM information for this segment of the maritime population. This change enables the Coast Guard to obtain information on the BWM practices of vessels that were previously exempt from reporting. Additionally, the Coast Guard proposes to update the current ballast water report form to include only data that is essential to understanding and analyzing BWM practices. The proposed rule also allows vessels that are not bound for the Great Lakes or the Hudson River, north of the George Washington Bridge from outside of the Exclusive Economic Zone, to submit ballast water reports after arrival to the port or place of destination. These amendments are intended to simplify the reporting and recordkeeping process while also reducing the associated administrative burden on the regulated population. The notice of proposed rulemaking will be published in the Federal Register on June 5, 2013. 

This entry has been created for information and planning purposes. It is not intended to be, nor should it be substituted for, legal advice, which turns on specific facts.