EPA's Vessel General Permit and Small Vessel General

submitted or required to be maintained under the sVGP shall, upon conviction, be punished by a
fine of not more than $10,000 per violation, or by imprisonment for not more than 6 months per
violation, or by both. In addition, false statements or representations, as well as alterations or
false entries in documents, may be punishable by more severe criminal penalties pursuant to 18
USC §1001 or 18 USC §1519.
To monitor and insure compliance with its sVGP, EPA will:
� Develop and implement a monitoring and compliance plan within 1 year of finalization
of the permit to assess the performance of the permit in protecting listed resources.
� Organize a meeting with their Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance for the
Services to discuss and provide input to OECA’s inspection and enforcement plans for
the sVGP.
� Work with USCG, with the input of the Services, to update the inspection and
enforcement document inspection checklist (i.e., Job Aide) to reflect sVGP requirements
� Conduct outreach to the states to raise awareness about small vessel requirements; EPA
will encourage States to check records of quarterly self-inspection records and visible
portions of the hull while inspecting vessels when implementing their own programs.
� Develop trainings covering the small vessel requirements and share these with the Coast
Guard and States
The EPA will provide the Services with a yearly summary of the number of inspections (by
EPA, the Coast Guard, States or other sources) and results (including number of inspections by
type of vessel, location when available, and number and type of deficiencies). During a Senior
Manager’s Meeting (October 19, 2012), EPA assured the Services that a subset of small vessels
would be inspected.
Reinitiation Clause
Additional Actions Taken by EPA to Protect Listed Resources
The VGPs include permit reopener clauses which state that the permits are subject to
modification based on the receipt of new information 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 indicating greater than anticipated ANS
invasion rates, new technologies to minimize ANS invasions that were not available at the time
of permit issuance, discharge concentrations or volumes, pollutant risks, compliance or lack
thereof, and adverse affects to listed resources that were not considered in the BE. This
information would also allow EPA to determine whether reinititation of formal ESA Section 7
consultation would be required as provided in 50 CFR 402.16, as described in the Fact Sheets.
VGP Requirements
The EPA will include the following language in the VGP Fact Sheet to minimize exposure
and/or adverse affects to listed resources. The EPA requires vessel owners/operators to:
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