EPA's Vessel General Permit and Small Vessel General

and only 3% of emergency vessels are less than 5 years old. Additionally, these vessels do not
tend to engage on longer voyages where they can serve as a vector for invasive species
(exceptions on voyage movements include large research vessels such as those operated by
NOAA and the maritime services industry). Furthermore, the areas of operation for these vessels
are not centrally located in any one home port or region. For these reasons, EPA considered
discharges from these vessels to be discountable for purposes of the Endangered Species Act and
does not consider that these vessel types warrant extensive analysis in the BE.
Table 3. Distribution of vessel service classes, equipment, and metrics among VGP covered
vessels submitting NOIs and reporting vessel tonnage/ballast water capacity(USEPA
2012b).
Vessel
Service
Class
Estimated
Number of
Vessels
Median
Gross
Tonnage
Median
Ballast
Capacity
(m 3 )
Median
Maximum
Persons
Aboard
% Vessels
w/On-board
Treatment
% Vessels
Using Antifouling
Hull
Coatings
% Vessels
0-5 Years of
Age
Barges 20,444 a 705 206 4 1 4 21
Oil and Gas
Tankers
3,363 b 24,908 23,893 22 78 80 47
Large
Commercial
Fishing
2,326 c 1,997 1,388 29 41 85 13
Large
Cruise
Ships
127 53,526 3,136 3,455 79 84 20
Large
Ferries
118 1,451 404 559 45 86 12
Medium
Cruise
Ships
22 4,584 364 315 50 82 14
Bulk Cargo
and Other
Carriers
2,044 d 15,939 10,198 25 61 65 56
Research
Vessels
82 1,780 425 41 78 95 16
Emergency
Vessels
56 563 332 16 43 96 3
a
“Other” was selected for 34 NOIs and some variety of barge was designated.
b
“Other” was selected for 83 NOIs and some variety of oil/chemical tanker was designated.
c
Fishing vessels greater than 79 feet long, data from (USCG 2009)
d
“Other” was selected for all 2,044 bulk cargo and other carriers with some variety of carrier specified. These were
were dominated by: general cargo/not otherwise specified (91percent); car/truck carrier (3.6 percent); refrigerated
cargo (2.3 percent); log/lumber/woodchip carrier (1.2 percent); and roll-on roll-off cargo, cement, grain/ore and
ore/oil (cumulatively less than one percent) (USEPA 2012c).
sVGP Vessels
EPA estimates that between 115,000 and 138,000 vessels may be covered by the sVGP. The
primary source of information used to characterize these vessels and their discharges is EPA’s
218