EPA Has Been a Lax Regulator of Ballast Water Discharges
Despite the sky-is-falling concerns of the shipping industry, EPA has not used the Clean Water Act to control ballast water discharges of invasive species. Its first Vessel General Permit (VGP) was issued in 2008 and did little more than require ships to follow the treatment standards set out in the as-then-unratified International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) treaty. These IMO requirements are weak, do not reflect the best treatment technology that currently exists, and are not adequate to protect US waters from invasive species. NWEA challenged the VGP in 2009 and in a settlement EPA agreed to seek the advice of two expert panels of scientists. EPA issued a second VGP in 2013, which NWEA again challenged. In 2015, NWEA won a precedent-setting decision in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals that EPA had violated numerous aspects of the CWA in issuing its lax permit.
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- Court Rules Ship Discharge Permit Illegal
- Ballast Water Appeal Goes to NY
- NWEA Continues Fight on Invasive Species
- Challenge to EPA Ballast Water Permit Filed
- EPA Again Fails to Control Invasive Species from Ship Discharges
- Shipping Industry Loses Legal Challenge to Ballast Water Discharge Permit
- NWEA Files Brief Supporting EPA Ballast Water Permit
- NWEA Settles Ballast Water Lawsuit with EPA
Related Documents
| Invasive Species Settlement: New Ballast Water Permit Should Help Protect American Coasts Lakes and Rivers | March 8, 2011 | press release ... | Download |
| NWEA v. EPA (Ballast Water III) Settlement | March 8, 2011 | settlement ... | Download |
| NWEA Intervention Brief Lake Carriers | March 1, 2011 | Appeals Court Brief ... | Download |
| State of New York Comments to EPA on Ballast Water | February 7, 2011 | Letter ... | Download |
| NWEA v. EPA (Ballast Water II) Order Extending deadline | December 18, 2008 | order ... | Download |
| General NPDES Recreation Permit Comments | July 31, 2008 | Ballast Water General Permit Recreation ... | Download |
| General Commercial Permit Group Comment | July 31, 2008 | Ballast Water General Permit Comments ... | Download |
| NWEA Comments to EPA Re: Draft Vessel General Permit (Discharges from Commercial Ships) | July 31, 2008 | Comments ... | Download |
| Ninth Circuit Upholds Case Requiring U.S. EPA to Regulate Invasive Species Pollution | July 23, 2008 | press release ... | Download |
| NWEA v. EPA (Ballast Water II) Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals | July 23, 2008 | appeal ... | Download |