EPA's Vessel General Permit and Small Vessel General

unacceptable risks.
With the technical assistance of the Services, EPA will identify metrics for assessing vesselrelated
selenium loadings to waters inhabited by ESA-listed species (i.e., using the number of
ships reporting exhaust gas scrubbers in eNOIs for particular areas combined with expected
and/or reported volume and concentration values as proxies). If the metric has been exceeded,
EPA will, as appropriate, identify and implement additional actions to reduce any unacceptable
risk.
Aquatic nuisance species, copper, and selenium, are the stressors most likely to reduce individual
fitness and population viability for listed species. In addition, ANS are likely to adversely affect
the primary constituent elements of designated critical habitat. For vessel discharges associated
with these stressors, EPA has committed to monitoring metrics, which if exceeded, will trigger
additional protective measures. In addition, EPA will monitor, and implement when practicable,
new technologies designed to minimize ANS invasions. Finally, if new information becomes
available that would have justified different permit requirements, EPA will modify their permits
and/or request reinitiation of Section 7 consultation. We conclude that EPA has adequate
mechanisms to prevent or minimize listed resources’ exposure to stressors in discharges.
Cumulative Effects
Cumulative effects include the effects of future state, Tribal, local or private actions that are
reasonably certain to occur in the action area considered in this Biological Opinion. Future
Federal actions that are unrelated to the proposed action are not considered in this section
because they require separate consultation pursuant to Section 7 of the ESA.
The biological evaluation that EPA submitted to support its request for formal consultation and
which is required to discuss cumulative effects (as they are defined for the purposes of section 7
of the ESA) did not identify future State, Tribal, local, or private actions that were reasonably
certain to occur in the action area and that would not require Federal authorization, Federal
funding, or the actions of a Federal agency. During this consultation, NMFS searched for
information on future State, Tribal, local or private actions that were reasonably certain to occur
in the action area. NMFS conducted electronic searches of business journals, trade journals and
newspapers using First Search, Google and other electronic search engines. Those searches
produced no evidence of future private action in the action area that would not require Federal
authorization or funding and is reasonably certain to occur. As a result, NMFS is not aware of
any actions of this kind that are likely to occur in the action area during the near future.
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