EPA's Vessel General Permit and Small Vessel General

� Appropriate reprimand procedures must be developed for crew whose actions lead to
violations of any effluent limit set forth in this permit or procedures established by the
cruise ship operator to minimize the discharge of pollutants.
The EPA also requires large cruise ships to educate passengers on their potential environmental
impacts. The goals of these education efforts must include preventing trash from entering any
waste stream, eliminating the addition of unused soaps, detergents, and pharmaceuticals to the
graywater or blackwater systems, and minimizing production of graywater. This can be
accomplished in a variety of ways including, but not limited to, posting signage and
informational material in guestrooms and common areas, incorporating environmental
information passenger orientation presentations or packages at the start of cruises, incorporating
this information into additional lectures and seminars, or broadcasting information via
loudspeakers.
Large Ferries
Ferries are vessels for hire that are designed to carry passengers and/or vehicles between two
ports, usually in inland, coastal, or near-shore waters. “Large Ferry” means a “ferry” that: a) has
a capacity greater than or equal to 100 tons of cargo (e.g., for cars, trucks, trains, or other landbased
transportation); or b) is authorized by the U.S. Coast Guard to carry 250 or more people.
All large ferries authorized to carry 100 or more tons of cars, trucks, trains, or other land-based
transportation must meet the deck water and education/training requirements. Large ferries
authorized by the Coast Guard to carry 250 or more people must meet the graywater and
education/training requirements.
The EPA prohibits large ferries from discharging untreated below deck water from parking areas
or other storage areas for motor vehicles or other motorized equipment into waters of the U.S.
without first treating the effluent with an oily water separator or other appropriate wastewater
treatment system. The EPA requires large ferry operators to use oil absorbent cloths or other
appropriate spill response resources to clean oily spills or substances from deck surfaces. Any
effluent created by washing the decks may not be discharged into federally protected waters
listed in Appendix G of the VGP.
The EPA requires pierside ferries to discharge graywater using appropriate onshore reception
facilities, if available and their use is economically achievable, unless the vessel treats graywater
to the limits found in the VGP. If such facilities are not available, they require the
owners/operators to hold the graywater if the vessel has the holding capacity and discharge the
effluent while the vessel is underway. Appropriate reception facilities are those authorized for
use by the port authority or municipality and that treat the discharge in accordance with its
NPDES permit. The EPA requires large ferries operating within 3 nm from shore to discharge
graywater only while sailing at a speed of at least 6 knots if feasible. If not feasible, EPA
requires documentation.
The EPA requires ferry operators to do the following:
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