Federal Ballast Rule: Making Progress
Posted at: 07/22/2010 7:04 PM
| Updated at: 07/22/2010 10:47 PM
By: Renee Passal
The United States Coast Guard is a year into working on their proposed rule for ballast water discharge.
Ballast is used to balance a ship when it's empty, and is released when it's not needed. The goal of the ballast regulations is to prevent the spread of invasive species.
The Coast Guard has received 3000 public comments on the proposed rule.
The next step is a lakers' feasability study, to focus on the challenges lakers face when it comes to ballast rules. However, the research and development group that will work on this has been busy for the past few months because of the Gulf oil spill.
The Chief of Environmental Standards for the USCG presented an update at the Duluth Seaway Port Authority meeting in Duluth on Thursday.
"It's frustrating, because we are trying to balance the shipping industry and the environmental needs. Ship builders tell us they are waiting until there is one federal standard," Commander Gary Croot said.
Right now, different states have different regulations.
For example, Minnesota's ballast water discharge permit follows the International Maritime Organization's standards, and requires compliance by 2016.
Wisconsin's permit is 100 times more stringent, but exempts lakers, and requires compliance by 2014.
Even when the federal rule is put into place, the states' permits could still overrule it. Unless the President and Congress change the law, and make it so the federal standard is the only one to follow.
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