Regulating Ballast Water Discharges: Legislative Issues in the 110th Congress (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised Jan. 15, 2009 |
| Report Number |
RL34640 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Claudia Copeland, Specialist in Resources and Environmental Policy |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
Today there is wide agreement on the need for stronger measures to control ballast water discharges from vessels which are a major pathway for introduction of invasive species into U.S. waters, but there are differing views on how best to do that. Current federal authority to manage ballast water, in the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990, as amended (NANPCA), has been criticized as inadequate. Several states (notably Michigan, California, Minnesota, Oregon, and Washington) have passed or are considering their own ballast water laws, creating concern that separate state programs could create a patchwork of inconsistent regulatory requirements.
This concern was part of the rationale for Title V of H.R. 2830, the Coast Guard Reauthorization Act of 2007, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on April 24, 2008. It would have established a strengthened national ballast water management program administered by the Coast Guard. This legislative approach was supported by many in the maritime industry and by a number of environmental advocacy groups, such as the National Wildlife Foundation. They argued, in essence, that a nationally uniform program providing certainty to the regulated community, requiring standards more stringent than existing Coast Guard or international rules, and specifying compliance deadlines is the best legislative approach.
However, H.R. 2830 was opposed by other advocacy groups, such as the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and several of the states that have moved forward with their own ballast water programs. They contended that the legislation would largely have preempted state efforts and provide a slower and less effective approach to controlling ballast water discharges than that of the Clean Water Act.
Evaluating these differing views was complicated by an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposal to control ballast water and other discharges incidental to the normal operation of vessels through the mechanism of a Clean Water Act permit. EPA finalized this permit in December 2008.
At issue was whether the standard-setting, permit, and enforcement authorities of the Clean Water Act (CWA) are better tools for managing ballast water discharges than the approach that was proposed in H.R. 2830. That legislation contained statutory performance standards to be implemented by the Coast Guard which would preempt state regulatory programs that are inconsistent or in conflict with federal law. These issues and the views of proponents and opponents, which could again receive attention in the 111th Congress, are reviewed in this report.
