The US Coast Guard and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have developed an initiative for domestic ballast water management that would both legislatively overrule the 2006 federal court decision on ballast water discharges and be as consistent as possible with the IMO-sponsored International Convention for the Control and Management of Ship’s Ballast Water and Sediments, 2004. Among other things, the proposal, if enacted, would largely preempt state governments from regulating ballast water issues concerning ships covered by the proposal.
Source: HK Law