Canadian shipowners say US EPA regulations threaten domestic industry - MM&D

 Posted - BY Carolyn Gruske ON April 10, 2013 11:53am- MM&D

OTTAWA, Ontario—Calling it the “most ground-breaking regulatory change that has ever hit the marine industry, not just in the Great Lakes and St Lawrence where we primarily operate, but globally”, the Canadian Ship Owners Association (CSA) has issued a warning that environmental protection rules made in the US threaten the Canadian short sea industry.
The regulation in question was issued by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Known as the 2013 Vessel General Permit (VGP), the regulation, which is in effect for five years, sets forth rules for the treatment of discharges by commercial vessels in American-controlled waters of the Great Lakes and the St Lawrence Seaway. There are a variety of discharges covered in the rules—26 in total including everything from runoff created by washing the decks to graywater to bilgewater—but according to CSA president Robert Lewis-Manning, those regulations aren’t a concern since there are proven technological solutions available to ensure they are properly treated. The concern for Canadian shipowners comes with the rules regarding the treatment of ballast water.
Lewis-Manning says under the regulations, certain ships will be required to carry equipment designed to kill foreign organisms in the ballast water and prevent them from entering the Great Lakes ecosystem. He said newly constructed vessels, or vessels currently under construction will be required to have the solutions installed “as early as December 19, 2013″ with other classes of ships requiring the upgrades by 2014 or 2016.
He says where the problem occurs is the technology doesn’t exist yet.
“You have two different US agencies regulating the same thing through different statutory instruments. The US Coast Guard is the one that certifies the technologies for use in marine vessels in the United States, and the EPA relies on the US Coast Guard to do that. The interesting part is, especially in the [geographic] areas we operate, no technology has been developed or certified by the US Coast Guard, yet the EPA is demanding installation of the technology.”
Lewis-Manning says while there are proven solutions for ocean-going vessels, the freshwater of the Great Lakes and the St Lawrence presents technological hurdles that have yet to be overcome.
“Most of the current technology relies on salt to make its active substance in treating the water. Of course we are operating in some of the most unique freshwater ecosystems without that salt. That’s probably one of the major challenges in developing the technology—finding another solution that doesn’t rely on salt as an active agent,” he says.
“The Canadian domestic industry has already done some trials with advanced filtration and literally trying to filter out marine organisms as they are uptaking the ballast water. We know it’s not perfect, but the initial indications are there that it has a positive impact and the technology is likely available in very short order.
“We’re also aware of some companies that have been experimenting with biocides, as a means to clean the tanks. The challenge with some of the more active substances is they require time in order to have an impact and a lot of our trading routes are very, very short. They can be less than a day, when some of the active substances require upwards of three-to-five days to have an impact, and they work much better on longer trade routes such as crossing an ocean.”
Besides the technical challenges, Lewis-Manning says there is another catch that puts the Canadian industry at a particular disadvantage. US domestic vessels that never leave the Great Lakes aren’t required to carry the ballast-cleansing technology.

Post to be found at:
http://www.canadianmanufacturing.com/distribution-and-transportation/news/canadian-shipowners-say-us-epa-regulations-threaten-domestic-industry-100285