Vessel
Discharges Require Permit (Dec 18, 2008)
Environmental Protection Agency.
A new general permit will reduce releases of
26 types of discharges from vessels operating
in U.S. waters. Beginning Dec 19, 2008 (later
changed to Feb 6, 2009) approximately 61,000
domestically flagged commercial vessels and
8,000 foreign flagged vessels will need to
comply with the Final
Vessel General Permit. As
a result of a court ruling, vessel owners and
operators who have previously been exempt from
Clean Water Act requirements for the last 35
years will now require a permit. The
permit covers non-recreational vessels 79 feet
in length or longer, such as cruise ships or
oil and cargo tankers, but excludes fishing
vessels of any length, unless they discharge
ballast water.
Great
Lakes Law Weblog: Aquatic Invasive Species
and Ballast Water Pollution
Great Lakes Environmental Law Center.
Great
Lakes Shipping, Trade, and Aquatic Invasive
Species (2008)
National Academy of Sciences. National Research
Council.
Transportation Research Board Special Report
291.
Maritime
Environmental Resource Center (MERC): A Maryland
Ballast Water Initiative / Cummings
Join Kick-Off of Maritime Environmental Resource
Center (Jul 22, 2008; PDF | 177
KB)
Maritime Environmental Resource Center.
The new Maritime Environmental Resource
Center at the University of Maryland Center for
Environmental Science will be based in Solomons
in Southern Maryland and receive about $5 million
over five years from the state and federal governments.
Scientists plan to test ultraviolet light, filters
and chemicals to see how effective they are at
destroying exotic larvae and other creatures
inadvertently transported in ship ballast tanks.
|
