Marine Link
Thursday, March 28, 2024
SUBSCRIBE

Northwest Environmental Advocates News

12 Apr 2018

Ballast Water Regs: Difficult and More Difficult

As the U.S. Coast Guard tightens its BWTS compliance rules and more systems are approved, there are still many unanswered questions for operators finally looking to comply.It’s no secret among marine stakeholders that ballast water regulations remain a top concern at the start of 2018, and a confusing one, to say the least. Hence, if someone offers to sell you a clear, concise and complete ballast water instruction manual, move that email over to your spam filter right away. However…

05 Oct 2015

US Orders EPA to Rewrite Ship Ballast Water Dumping Rules

A federal appeals court in New York ordered the government to rewrite its rules regulating the discharge of ballast water by ships, in a victory for environmental groups that said the rules were too lenient and threatened the nation's waterways. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday said the Environmental Protection Agency acted "arbitrarily and capriciously" when it decided in 2013 to follow an international standard governing the discharge of harmful organisms, though technology was available to adopt a higher standard. Writing for a 3-0 appeals court panel, Circuit Judge Denny Chin also said the EPA, using its authority under the Clean Water Act…

04 Apr 2005

EPA without authority to exempt ballast water discharges

A federal judge in San Francisco ruled that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lacks authority to exempt ballast water discharges from requirements of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA). With limited exemptions, the FWPCA prohibits discharges of any pollutant from a point source (such as a ship) into navigable waters of the United States, except in accordance with the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). Since 1973, the EPA has exempted ballast water discharges from the NPDES requirements. In 1999, various environmental advocacy groups petitioned the EPA to revoke the exemption. The EPA declined and this litigation ensued. It is too early to determine how this matter will be resolved, but ship owners and operators should pay close attention.

01 Jul 2005

INTERTANKO to Intervene in Ballast Water Decision

A U.S. Federal judge in the Northern California District has granted INTERTANKO's Motion to Intervene on the court's decision that the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) exemption of ballast water discharges from the permit requirements of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) was improper under the Clean Water Act. INTERTANKO filed this motion along with industry coalition partners the American Waterways Operators (AWO), the Chamber of Shipping of America (CSA), the Lake Carriers' Association (LCA), the World Shipping Council (WSC) and the International Council of Cruise Lines (ICCL), referred to as the Shipping Industry Ballast Water Coalition, which is now a party in this case.

20 Sep 2006

Ship’s Ballast Water Target of Ruling

A federal judge called invasive species possibly stored aboard the ballast water of ships an "irreparable" degradation to the nation's coastal environment, and ordered federal regulators to take a much tougher stand, according to a report on www.columbian.com. In a ruling on a lawsuit brought by Portland-based Northwest Environmental Advocates and other environmental groups, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to begin regulating ballast water just as if it were sewage pouring out of a factory. In doing so, the judge threw out an exemption that had been in effect for three decades. "The EPA regulation is plainly contrary to the congressional intent embodied in the (Clean Water Act)…

28 Aug 2006

Court Upholds Columbia River Dredging Project

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that the 2003 Final Supplemental Integrated Feasibility Report and Environmental Impact Statement prepared by the US Army Corps of Engineers in connection with a project to deepen the Columbia River navigation channel complies with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The project calls for deepening the channel from its current depth of 40 feet to a new depth of 43 ft. from Mile 3 to Mile 106.5. The project also includes various ecosystem restoration actions. Northwest Environmental Advocates v. National Marine Fisheries Service, No. 05-35806 (9th Cir., August 23, 2006). Source: HK Law

01 Nov 2005

Shipping Industry Ballast Water Coalition Files Remedy Brief

Intertanko has filed a remedy brief in the North California District Court case of Northwest Environmental Advocates against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as part of a Shipping Industry Ballast Water Coalition, which consists of INTERTANKO, the American Waterways Operators, Chamber of Shipping of America, International Council of Cruise Lines, Lake Carriers’ Association, and the World Shipping Council. This brief, whose four main arguments are detailed below, sets out the ‘remedy’ that should be imposed as a result of the Court ruling that the EPA’s long-standing exclusion from Clean Water Act (CWA) requirements of operational discharges from ships is not authorised by the CWA and is therefore invalid. Background. In 1973, shortly after the U.S.