An Ocean Blueprint for the 21st Century - California Ocean ...

developing new regulatory and non-regulatory measures to control vessel pollution.Useful research directions include investigations of:• Processes that govern the transport of pollutants in the marine environment.• Small passenger vessel practices, including the impacts of stationary discharges.• Disposal options for concentrated sludge resulting from advanced sewage treatmenton large passenger vessels.• Cumulative impacts of commercial and recreational vessel pollution on particularlysensitive areas, such as coastal areas with low tidal exchange and coral reef systems.• Impacts of vessel air emissions, particularly in ports and inland waterways where thesurrounding area is already having difficulty meeting air quality standards.These examples represent only a small fraction of the research that is needed toincrease the understanding of, and the ability to respond to, potential threats to themarine environment from vessel pollution.Recommendation 16–13The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,U.S. Coast Guard, and other appropriate entities should support a vigorous, coordinatedresearch program on the fates and impacts of vessel pollution. Research results should beused to guide management priorities, develop new control technologies, determine bestmanagement practices, and create more effective regulatory regimes as needed.Improving Awareness of Ocean ActivitiesVessel safety and environmental protection depend not only on appropriate operationof each vessel, but on the safe movement and management of all vessel traffic. Effectivevessel traffic management takes place within the larger context of other coastal and oceanuses and requires accommodation between those uses and navigation.The rapidly increasing variety and number of offshore uses, and the potential forconflicts between competing interests operating in the same area, will increase the needfor information concerning the nature and extent of offshore activities. In today’s highlyinterdependent world, efforts to ensure national security, maintain environmental quality,and manage the use of marine resources will require unprecedented awareness of activities,trends, conditions, and anomalies in the maritime domain, including those that mayrequire some intervention.The Coast Guard, which has a leading role in developing increased maritime domainawareness, defines it as “the effective understanding of anything in the marine environmentthat could adversely affect America’s security, safety, economy, or environment.” 44For the Coast Guard, maritime domain awareness applies to a broad range of maritimeactivities, including security, search and rescue efforts, fisheries enforcement, drug interdiction,illegal human migration, marine safety, and environmental protection.While much of the recent effort to increase maritime domain awareness has grownout of concerns for national security, heightened by the September 11, 2001 terroristattacks, the information gained will benefit a variety of other national interests. Forinstance, the expanded use of the Automated Identification System not only tracks andidentifies vessels for security purposes, but provides information to assist safe navigationand help reduce the risk of accidents that could adversely impact the marine environment.The information can also help identify areas of vessel congestion or potential conflictswith other uses, thus serving as a valuable management tool.The development of greater maritime domain awareness coincides with efforts todevelop more comprehensive, ecosystem-based management approaches for ocean andC HAPTER 16: LIMITING V ESSEL P OLLUTION AND I MPROVING V ESSEL S AFETY249