Impacts of EPA 2012 Commercial Pump-Out Regulations

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) issued the Vessel General Permit (VGP) for managing vessel discharges, under the Clean Water Act. As a result, commercial vessels operating in the New York/New Jersey Harbor and at Delaware River will be required to comply, including additional conditions imposed by the state. This will affect maritime commerce in terms of cost and operation to meet the VGP requirements. The objectives of this research are to (1) determine how this rule would affect maritime commerce in New Jersey, (2) perform an analysis of the US EPA standards and the VGP rules and determine their impacts on New Jersey maritime operations, and (3) determine what New Jersey needs to do to be prepared. To carry out the project tasks, information on vessels registered under the VGP Notice of Intent and vessels arrivals were solicited from the US EPA and US Coast Guard, respectively, and analyzed. A stakeholder committee was formed where key and urgent issues were discussed in several meetings. New Jersey ports and onshore storage and treatment facilities were investigated. A cost analysis of alternative methods and facilities for pump-out of the discharge, storage, transport to a treatment facility, and waste treatment was performed. A protocol was developed for the maritime industry for filing VGP compliance and reporting. With the 2008 VGP expiration date approaching, US EPA is proposing new, more stringent numeric technology-based effluent limitations for ballast water in the 2013 VGP. A draft sVGP for small vessels is also issued. Finally, the impact on New Jersey and recommendations to the maritime industry are presented.

• Record URL:
  http://www.nj.gov/transportation/business/research/reports/FHWA-NJ-2012-006.pdf
• 
• Summary URL:
  http://www.nj.gov/transportation/business/research/reports/FHWA-NJ-2012-006-TB.pdf
• Record URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/25484
• Corporate Authors:

  New Jersey Institute of Technology

  Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
  University Heights
  Newark, NJ  United States  07102

  New Jersey Department of Transportation

  1035 Parkway Avenue
  Trenton, NJ  United States  08625

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Hsieh, Hsin-Neng
  • Marhaba, Taha
• Publication Date: 2012-8-31

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Figures; Maps; Tables;
• Pagination: 64p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Ballast (Ships); Environmental impacts; Ports; Sewage treatment; Ships; Wastewater
• Identifier Terms: Clean Water Act; Vessel General Permit
• Geographic Terms: New Jersey
• Subject Areas: Environment; Marine Transportation; I15: Environment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01475506
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: FHWA-NJ-2012-006
• Files: NTL, TRIS, ATRI, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Mar 14 2013 12:45PM