EPA's Vessel General Permit and Small Vessel General

Second, EPA will monitor pollutants and ANS. To monitor pollutants in VGP discharges, EPA
requires and reviews the annual analytical test results for treated ballast water, exhaust gas
scrubber effluent, bilgewater (new builds), and graywater (cruise ships). For copper and
selenium, EPA will develop and implement a monitoring and reporting plan within one year of
the finalization of the VGPs. They will identify metrics for copper and selenium and compile
data through NOIs and annual reports. They will review the data twice during the term of the
permit to determine whether the metrics have been exceeded. For ANS invasions, they will
annually track new vessel-mediated invasions using nationwide ANS databases; they will also
review invasion rates as estimated by systematic surveys of ANS in San Francisco, Tampa, and
Chesapeake Bays. To identify improvements in technology designed to minimize the transport
of biofouling ANS, EPA will compile information on new developments in AFCs (to minimize
exposure to hull-fouling ANS and copper loading) and debris containment systems (to minimize
the release of ANS and biocides during underwater husbandry). They will identify whether there
are more efficacious BMPs or technologies for underwater husbandry and for anti-fouling
coatings with fewer secondary environmental impacts that could be required of vessels.
Third, EPA will, if necessary, identify and implement additional actions to reduce any
unacceptable risks associated with vessel mediated ANS or pollutants. For example, EPA will
require additional requirements to minimize the transport of ANS (e.g., anti-fouling coatings,
debris containment systems, or more stringent ballast water standards) as soon as practicable.
These additional actions would be designed to further reduce exposure of listed resources to
ANS and pollutants.
Fourth, if appropriate, EPA will reopen and modify their permits if they receive new information
(including that discussed above) that was not available at the time of permit issuance and would
have justified the application of different permit conditions at the time of permit issuance. This
new information may include data on ANS invasion rates, available technologies to minimize
ANS invasions, discharge concentrations or volumes, pollutant risks, compliance or lack thereof,
and adverse affects to listed resources. This information would also allow EPA to determine
whether to request reinititation of formal ESA Section 7 consultation as provided in 50 CFR
402.16 and described in the Fact Sheets. Either of these actions (reopening the permit or
requesting reinitiation of Section 7 consultation) under the fourth step provides a mechanism for
EPA to revise the permit requirements, thus restarting the feedback loop at step one to prevent
exposure of listed resources to ANS and pollutants.
To assess and encourage compliance, EPA authorizes and/or conducts vessel inspections. In this
endeavor, EPA has created a Memmorandum of Understanding 15 (MoU) with the U.S. Coast
Guard, which potentially inspects all vessels covered under the VGP on an annual basis. Prior to
its effective date (December 2013), EPA will create and implement a plan to inspect (or
authorize inspection of) a subset of vessels covered under the sVGP. The EPA will review
annual reports and inspection data to insure that vessel owners/operators are complying with the
requirements of the permits. Lower than anticipated compliance levels would constitute new
15 See: http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/agreements/cwa/mou-coastguard-vesselpermitrequirements.pdf
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