EPA's Vessel General Permit and Small Vessel General

Geographical Distribution and Overlap of Discharges Authorized by the VGP and
sVGP with Threatened and Endangered Species
In order to determine whether listed resources will be exposed to these discharges, it is necessary
to characterize the overlap of vessel operation with species Critical Habitat and Range. Since
some vessel discharges are essentially continuous during operation, and vessels covered by the
VGPs travel widely both coast-wise and across the ocean, we expect most NMFS listed species
to be exposed to vessel discharges to some degree. In its BE, EPA modeled exposures for
several Representative Action Areas (RAAs) selected after consultation with the Services to
evaluate the potential effects of the permit actions on listed aquatic and aquatic-dependent
species, as well as their designated critical habitats.
The Services provided EPA with a list of over 1,900 federally-listed species, 612 of which were
identified by EPA as aquatic and aquatic-dependent animal and plant species with more than
limited exposure to “waters of the United States” and may be affected by ANS of pollutants from
vessel discharges covered under the proposed actions. This list includes 44 mammals, 4 birds,
24 reptiles, 27 amphibians, 135 fish, 27 crustaceans, 34 snails, 93 bivalve mollusks (clams and
abalone), 25 insects, 2 corals, 157 sea grasses and aquatic and wetland plants and 217 designated
critical habitats that may be affected by the permits. The ranges for 454 of these aquatic and
aquatic-dependent animal and plant species are concurrent with waters generally navigable by
vessels covered under the VGP and sVGP. The list of 454 aquatic and aquatic-dependent animal
and plant species identified in EPA’s analysis constitute the full range of species and their
designated critical habitats that may be affected by both ANS and traditional pollutants from the
permit actions. The list of species addressed by EPA’s RAA analysis includes 23 of the 87
NMFS listed threatened and endangered species (Table 28).
Table 28. NMFS listed Species in RAAs exposed to VGP discharges
Status a Species (Scientific Name)
Biscayne Bay
Galveston Bay
Puget Sound
San Francisco
Bay Estuary
Upper and
Lower New
York Bay
E Shortnose Sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) x x
T North American Green Sturgeon (Acipenser
medirostris)
x
T Gulf Sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi) x
T Staghorn Coral (Acropora cervicornis) x
T Elkhorn Coral (Acropora palmata) x
E Finback Whale (Balaenoptera physalus) x x x
274