Vessel Discharges
Policy and Guidance Documents

• EPA's Draft Ballast Water Report: Aquatic Nuisance Species in Ballast Water Discharges

On January 13, 1999, EPA received a petition which requested that ships' ballast water be regulated under the NPDES program--which requires permits for the discharge of pollutants into the Nation's waters. Environmental degradation from the introduction of invasive species through ballast water is well documented. In response to the petition, EPA's Office of Water investigated what mechanisms are available under the Clean Water Act and other relevant statutes and programs to control aquatic nuisance species (ANS) in ballast water discharges.
Date Published: 09/10/2001
• Draft Ballast Water Report (PDF) (450KB)


• Appendices (PDF) (159KB)



• Senate Bill Amending Clean Boating Act of 2008 (PDF) (55KB)

Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, which addresses certain discharges incidental to the normal operation of a recreational vessel.
Date Published: 01/03/2008



• Senate Bill on Vessel Clarification (PDF) (3 pp, 62KB)

Clarifies the circumstances during which the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and applicable States may require permits for discharges from certain vessels, and when to require the Administrator to conduct a study of discharges incidental to the normal operation of vessels.
Date Published: 01/03/2008



• Senate Bill S. 3372 (P.L. 111-209) (PDF) (152KB)

This Senate Bill extends the S. 3298 two year moratorium until December 18, 2013.
Date Published: 07/30/2010



• Vessels eNOI Batch Upload

This template and instructions documents contain the specifications of the template designed for the batch upload of electronic Notices of Intent (eNOIs) for coverage under the Vessels General Permit (VGP). These documents also provides users instructions on how to enter vessel data in the batch upload template and to generate the PIPE (as know as Vertical Bar) delimited CSV (Comma separated values) file for vessel batch upload.
Date Published: 06/01/2009
• Batch Upload Instructions (PDF) (31 pp, 1.59MB)


• Batch Upload Template (EXCEL) (92KB)



• Vessels eNOI Guidance Documents

These guidance documents give information and instructions on how to register facilities and certify officials for Vessels eNOI.
Date Published: 08/14/2009
• How to register with Vessels eNOI (PDF) (3 pp, 647K)


• How to certify officials with Vessels eNOI (PDF) (2 pp, 108KB)

Office of Water | Office of Wastewater Management | Disclaimer | Search EPA

EPA Home | Privacy and Security Notice | Contact Us

Last updated on July 05, 2012 12:23 PM
URL:http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/docs.cfm