H S I N - N E N G H S I E H , P h . D . , P . E .

T A H A F . M A R H A B A , P h . D . , P . E .

G R A D U A T E S T U D E N T : P A U L R O D R I G U E Z

N E W J E R S E Y I N S T I T U T E O F T E C H N O L O G Y

O C T O B E R 2 7 , 2 0 1 1

Status of the Vessel General Permit

Introduction 2

EPA issued the Vessel General Permit (VGP) for Discharges Incidental to the Normal Operations of Vessels on December 19, 2008.

Commercial Vessels operating in the NY/NJ Harbor and at Delaware facilities will be required to comply with the VGP, including additional conditions imposed by the state.

In 2012, many vessels will need to “pump-out” to operational facilities that currently do not exist. This will affect maritime commerce in terms of cost and operation to meet requirements in certain ways.

Objectives of the Study 3

1) Study of EPA standards and VGP rules

2) Analysis of US EPA and US CG databases.

3) Investigation of impacts in New Jersey maritime operations.

(This is part of NJDOT funded study: Impacts of EPA 2012 Commercial Pump-Out Regulations, Project Number 2011-08).

Vessel General Permit 4

Discharge into US Waters and within 3 nautical miles of the shoreline, will need to have an NPDES permits for discharges, unless it is one of the following types of vessels

Recreational vessels, regardless of size

Vessels of the Armed Forces

Vessel less than 79 feet

Commercial fishing vessel of any size (unless discharging ballast water)

VGP – How Did It Happen? 5

The US Clean Water Act (CWA) of 1972 prohibits pollutant discharges into U.S. waters, unless authorized by an issued permit or exemption;

During rulemaking, EPA exempted vessel discharges from CWA enforcement by considering them “incidental to the normal operation of a vessel”.

A successful lawsuit by environmental groups forced US EPA to regulate these discharges.

What Does VGP Regulate? 6

The VGP effluent limits can be classified into 3 categories:

Five Technology-Based Effluent Limits: material storage, toxic and hazardous materials, fuel spills, discharges of oil and oily mixtures, compliance with other regulations applicable to incidental discharges;

Technology-Based Effluent Limits for 26 specific discharge types;

Water Quality-Based Effluent Limits: Additional conditions are given via the State 401 Water Quality certification process.

26 Specific Discharges 7

1. Deck Wash down and Runoff

2. Bilge water

3. Discharges of Ballast Water

4. Anti-Fouling Hull Coatings

5. Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF)

6. Boiler/Economizer Blow down

7. Cathodic Protection

8. Chain Locker Effluent

9. Controllable Pitch Propeller Hydraulic

Fluid

10. Distillation and Reverse Osmosis

Brine

11. Elevator Pit Effluent

12. Fire main Systems

13. Freshwater Lay-up

14. Gas Turbine Wash Water

15. Gray water

16. Motor Gasoline and Compensating

Discharge

17. Non-Oily Machinery Wastewater

18. Refrigeration and Air Condensate Discharge

19. Seawater Cooling Overboard Discharge

20. Seawater Piping Bio fouling Prevention

21. Small Boat Engine Wet Exhaust

22. Sonar Dome Discharge

23. Underwater Ship Husbandry Discharges

24. Well deck Discharges

25. Gray water Mixed with Sewage from Vessels

26. Exhaust Gas Scrubber Wash water

Discharge

What VGP Does NOT Regulate? 8

The VGP does not regulate discharges already regulated by other US Laws or IMO’s MARPOL (International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships):

Sewage

Used or spent oil

Garbage or trash

Medical waste

Noxious liquid substances (NLS)

Dry cleaning solvent (TCE)

VGP Requirements

Notice of Intent (approval takes 30 days),

At least one cycle of Routine Inspection (weekly),

At least one Quarterly Effluent Monitoring Inspection,

A current Comprehensive Annual Inspection,

Best Management Practices in place, and

Recordkeeping and Reporting

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VGP Enforcement

10

Who

US EPA

US Coast Guard

State agents or agencies

How

PSC (Port State Control) boarding began on March 13, 2011

State agencies (for example California Land Commissions agents)

General public reporting pollution incidents

But primarily, the VGP relies on self-monitoring, self-inspections, and self-reporting of violations.

Data Collection and Analysis

According to the VGP, new vessels or vessels newly entering US water must submit a Notice of Intent (NOI) to US EPA 30 days prior to discharging. NOI Database was solicited from US EPA and analyzed.

EPA NOI database was, however, not designed to give detailed information as to which ports a vessel may visit. Additional database was obtained from US Coast Guard (USCG) to investigate vessels arriving in New Jersey .

New Jersey ports information was collected from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Ports and Waterway Facilities.

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Vessels Information

Approximately 57,100 vessels have submitted NOIs in February 2011, when the database was received.

VGP vessels are classified into eight classes/types: Medium Cruise Ships,

Large Cruise Ships,

Large Ferries,

Oil or Gas Tankers,

Barges,

Research Vessels,

Emergency Vessels,

Commercial Fishing Vessel with Ballast Water, and

“Other”.

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Types of Vessels 13

Vessel Primary Type Number of Vessels Percentage of Total

Total 57,132 -

Barge 30,658 53.66%

Other 20,638 36.12%

Oil or Gas Tanker 5,010 8.77%

Commercial Fishing Vessel with Ballast Water

233 0.41%

Large Ferry (250+ passengers or more than 100 tons of cargo, e.g., cars, trucks, trains, or other land-based transportation.)

164 0.29%

Large Cruise Ship (500+ passengers) 189 0.33%

Medium Cruise Ship (100 to 499 passengers)

35 0.06%

Research Vessel 143 0.25%

Emergency Vessel 62 0.11%

26 Potential Pollutants

The second effluent limit discharge regulates the discharge of 26 potential pollutants.

Out of the 57,173 vessels that have filed an NOI, 46,570 vessels provide information regarding to applicable discharges in the VGP.

The most common discharge of all vessels: deck washdown and runoff

ballast water,

bilgewater,

graywater and cathodic protection

Ballast water is also regulated in the National Invasive Species Act (NISA) of 1996.

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Vessel Discharges

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Sonar Dome Discharge Motor Gasoline and Compensating Discharge

Elevator Pit Effluent Gas Turbine Wash Water

Exhaust Gas Scrubber Washwater Discharge Freshwater Layup

Seawater Piping Biofouling Prevention Welldeck Discharges

Aqueous Film Forming Foams (AFFF) Distillation or Reverse Osmosis Brine

Graywater Mixed with Sewage Controllable Pitch Propeller Hyd Fluid and other…

Small Boat Engine Wet Exhaust Non-Oily Machinery Wastewater

Boiler/Economizer Blowdown Chain Locker Effluent

Refrigeration and Air Condensate Discharge Underwater Ship Husbandry

Seawater Cooling Overboard Discharge Anti-fouling hull coatings

Firemain Systems Graywater

Cathodic Protection Bilgewater / Oily Water Separator Effluent

Ballast Water Deck Washdown and Runoff

Percentage of Vessels Generating Discharge

Ves

sel

Dis

cha

rge

Vessel Discharges: All Vessels (Ranked from Largest to Smallest Percentage)

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Vessel Registration

The VGP database provides several pieces of information regarding vessel registration, which include

Country (of the company),

Registry port,

Homeport, and

US visiting port.

These parts are optional, so some information is missing.

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Vessel Registration (cont’d)

17

United

States

62%

Foreign

38%

Vessels Owned by Domestic and

Foreign Organizations

United

States

50.80%

Foreign

Country

49.20%

Registry Ports

Vessel Traffic

The database was, however, not designed to give detailed information as to which ports a vessel may visit. An estimate was made.

The visiting ports can be classified into five regions:

East Coast,

West Coast,

Alaska,

Hawaii, and

the fifth region (Gulf Coast, Mississippi River System, Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, and Great Lakes).

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Vessel Traffic (cont’d)

19

21.85% 14.45%

1.06% 0.92%

61.73%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

East Coast West Coast Alaska Hawaii Gulf Coast,

Mississippi River

System, Gulf

Intracoastal

Waterway, & Great

Lakes

Per

cen

tag

e o

f V

esse

ls

Region

Vessel Traffic by Region

• Percentage of Vessels Covered by VGP Expecting to Visit each Region

Vessel Onboard Treatment Facilities

Out of 57,132 vessels registered, only 45,394 (79.5%) responded about onboard treatment facilities.

Out of 45,394 vessels, 16,950 (37.3%) stated that they have some sort of onboard treatment facility.

Waste streams treated onboard include wastewater, sewage/blackwater, graywater, graywater mixed with blackwater, oily water, and bilge water.

The treatment systems mentioned in the database include sewage treatment devices, oil-water separators, incinerators, holding tanks, and Marine Sanitation Device (MSD) – Type I, II, or III.

Out of 57,132 vessels registered, 9,236 (16.2%) have no ballast water management plan.

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Onboard Treatment Facilities 21

Vessel Primary Type Number of

Vessels

Onboard Treatment Facilities

YES NO No Info

Total 57,132 16,950 28,444 11,738

Barge 30,658 129 24,468 6,061

Other 20,638 12,653 3,437 4,548

Oil or Gas Tanker 5,010 3,730 222 1,058

Commercial Fishing Vessel with Ballast Water

233 104 108 21

Large Ferry (250+ passengers or more than 100 tons of cargo)

164 57 106 1

Large Cruise Ship (500+ passengers)

189 141 34 14

Medium Cruise Ship (100 to 499 passengers)

35 19 12 4

Research Vessel 143 90 23 30

Emergency Vessel 62 27 34 1

Ballast Water and Management Plan 22

Vessel Primary Type Number of

Vessels Vessels with Ballast Water Ballast Water Management Plan

Number Percentage Yes No No Input

Total 57,132 24,892 43.57% 28,923 9,236 18,973

Barge 30,658 5,756 18.77% 5,511 7,592 17,555

Other 20,638 14,705 71.25% 18,014 1,356 1,268

Oil or Gas Tanker 5,010 3,874 77.33% 4,862 58 90

Commercial Fishing Vessel with Ballast Water

233 187 80.26% 174 36 23

Large Ferry (250+ passengers or more than 100 tons of cargo, e.g., cars, trucks, trains, or other land-based transportation.)

164 53 32.32% 22 123 19

Large Cruise Ship (500+ passengers)

189 148 78.31% 156 30 3

Medium Cruise Ship (100 to 499 passengers)

35 23 65.71% 24 8 3

Research Vessel 143 105 73.43% 105 27 11

Emergency Vessel 62 41 66.13% 55 6 1

VGP 401 State Conditions 23

Under the federal Clean Water Act (CWA), states can “certify” the federal VGP and, in so doing, can add additional requirements to the federal permit.

A number of states have done so; some have added very minor conditions, but others have imposed substantial requirements.

The additional requirements are specific to certain discharge(s) such as ballast water and/or graywater.

State 401 Rule may pose challenges to the maritime industry in the near future.

States with Additional Requirements 24

California Illinois Minnesota Pennsylvania

Connecticut Indiana Missouri Rhode Island

Florida Iowa Nebraska Utah

Georgia Kansas Nevada Vermont

Guam Maine New Hampshire Wyoming

Hawaii Massachusetts New York

Idaho Michigan Ohio

State 401 Rules – New York 25

Graywater: beginning 1/1/2012, no vessel may discharge treated or untreated graywater in State waters. (extended to 1/1/2013)

Ballast water: use same procedures as Pacific Nearshore Voyages; maintain/demonstrate salinity levels of at least 30 PPT.

Ballast water Treatment Systems on all vessels by 1/1/2012; Vessels constructed 1/1/2013 or later meet more stringent standards then IMO. NY DEC extended Ballast Water Discharge Standards for existing vessels to August 1, 2013.

Bilge water: Beginning 1/1/2012, no vessel may discharge treated or untreated bilge water into State Waters.

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State Additional Graywater Requirements

Connecticut Prior to 1/1/2012 graywater discharge is prohibited unless vessel cannot hold graywater. After 1/1/2012, no graywater shall be discharged into state waters.

Georgia Vessels less than 20 gross registered tons must process graywater through a Marine Sanitation Device (MSD) that is in compliance with Federal Standards.

Maine Large Passenger vessels (LPV's), >250 passengers, are prohibited from discharging graywater, sewage or mixtures unless authorized by Maine DEP General Permit. LPV's prohibited from discharging graywater into No Discharge Areas. LPV's must report to the State discharges of blackwater/greywater not authorized through the Permit or discharges to No Discharge Areas.

Massachusetts Vessels that have the capacity to store graywater may not discharge into Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area, the Cape Cod National Seashore and the Essex National Heritage Area. The discharge of untreated graywater for vessels > 400 gross tons is prohibited within 3nm, regardless of speed. Graywater commingled with sewage is prohibited from discharge in No Discharge Areas. (¾ of State waters). Further regulations are set for large and medium cruise ships and large ferries (see VGP Section 6.15)

Michigan Discharge of blackwater and graywater are prohibited in Michigan waters.

New York After 1/1/2012 no vessel may discharge treated or untreated graywater in State waters

New Jersey Ports Information 27

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Ports and Waterway Facilities Data

Regions

Number of Facilities

Total (In

Operation) (Not in

Operation)

1) Ports On NY-NJ Harbor and Kill Van Kull 68 61 7

2) Ports On Arthur Kill & Raritan River 57 41 16

3) Ports On the Delaware River 61 49 12

4) Ports On the Hackensack/ Hudson/Passaic River 55 26 29

5) Ports On or Near Sandy Hook Bay 8 8 0

Total for All New Jersey 249 185 64

NJ Ports Information (cont’d)

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NY/NJ Port Authority operates the following ports: Port Jersey Marine Terminal in Bayonne and Jersey City. Brooklyn Port Authority Marine Terminal (a combined terminal of

Brooklyn Piers and Red Hook Container Terminal) in Red Hook, Brooklyn, NY.

Howland Hook Marine Terminal on Staten island. Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal in Elizabeth.

NJ Ports Information (cont’d)

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Delaware River Port Authority of PA & NJ (DRPA)

The RiverLink Ferry is a passenger ferry system that traverses a

crossing of the Delaware River, connecting the Camden, NJ with

Philadelphia, PA.

The Philadelphia Cruise Terminal – Cruise terminal operation was

closed on Dec. 31, 2010.

South Jersey Port Corporation

NJ Ports Information (cont’d)

30 Others ports in New Jersey:

Ports Along Arthur Kill

- Bayway

- Linden

- Carteret

- Port Reading

- Sewaren

- Perth Amboy

Other Ports

- Bridgeport

- Burlington

- Cape May

- Gloucester

- Paulsboro

- Salem

Vessel Arrivals in NJ 31

National Ballast Information Clearinghouse (NBIC) Data

Total 3,364 vessel arrivals (40% Overseas, 60% Coastwise)

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

Bulker

Combo

Container

General Cargo

Other

Passenger

Reefer

RoRo

Tanker

Arrivals in NJ by Ship and Transit Type

Overseas

Coastwise

Vessel Arrivals in NJ (cont’d)

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60.5%

18.6%

18.6%

2.3%

Port Visits by Region in 2010

(NBIC Data)

NJ-NY Bay and Kill Van

Kull (2035 vessels)

Arthur Kill & Raritan

River (625 vessels)

Delaware River

(625 vessels)

Other (79 Vessels)

CVA and Pump Outs Facilities 33

Under the Clean Vessel Act (CVA) of 1992, all recreational vessels must have access to pump out facilities for overboard sewage.

The CVA provides funds to states for the construction, renovation, operation, and maintenance of pump out stations for holding tanks and dump stations for portable toilets.

Locations of NJ Facilities 34

There are currently 170 operating pump out stations in New Jersey, 630 dump stations and 8 pump-out boats.

Each pump-out boat can carry up to 300 gallons of sewage.

Impact in New Jersey 35

Approximately, over 3,000 vessels arrive in New Jersey annually.

Many vessels do not have room for on-board treatment facility or holding tank for graywater or other types of discharge.

Challenges exist in installation of on-board treatment facility or building onshore treatment/storage facility.

New Jersey initially proposed to prohibit graywater and blackwater discharges through the 401 Certification, but decided to withdraw it. In the issuance of the next VGP, New Jersey and New York will be collaborating in their new 401 certifications. Vessel owners and operators may face more stringent regulations.

Impact in New Jersey (cont’d)

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Only 170 pump out facilities for recreation vessel sewage exist in New Jersey. The capacity would not be enough for other types of discharges such as graywater.

No federal funded program is available at the present time for VGP regulation. On-shore facilities could be expensive. In a planning study, the capital costs of the feasible on-shore collection and treatment alternatives for ballast water range from $1.3 million to $6.6 million.

US EPA reached settlement with several environmental groups and Michigan state and is required to issue a revised VGP by 11/30/2012. The current VGP expires on 12/19/2013. This settlement also requires US EPA to include numeric concentration-based effluent limits for ballast water discharges. Many vessels have no ballast management plan so far.

Summary

The Vessel General Permit regulates discharges from vessels in terms of three effluent limits: general effluent; 26 specific discharge streams; and State 401 water-quality based limits.

57,173 vessels filed NOI in 8 types of vessels. 16,950 Vessels have some sort of onboard treatment facility.

EPA VGP requirement generally expresses Best Management Practices (BMPs).

State 401 Regulations pose additional discharge requirement. New Jersey does not have such rule at the present time.

Limited pump out stations in New Jersey for non-commercial recreation vessels exist with inadequate capacity for other types of discharge.

New Jersey will collaborate with New York in their new 401 certifications in the near future.

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Acknowledgement

1. Project is funded by NJ DOT: Impacts of EPA 2012 Commercial Pump-Out Regulations (Project Number 2011-08). Project Manager is Priscilla Ukpah and the Customer is Genevieve Boehm Clifton.

2. US EPA provided the VGP NOI Database.

3. US CG provided vessels arrival information.

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