Document Author: Danielle Verna
Analysis Of Federal And State Ballast Water Management Policy As It Concerns Crude Oil Tankers Engaged In Coastwise Trade To Alaska
For example, crude oil tankers engaged in coastwise trade were exempted from ballast water management activities by the National Invasive Species Act of 1996, and therefore all subsequent USCG regulations. However, the EPA began to regulate these vessels under the Clean Water Act in 2008. On the west coast, California does not provide such an exemption and in general has more stringent standards than federal entities. Washington also enforces state-specific regulations though they differ from California. This paper reviews the current, and when available proposed, federal and state ballast water regulations on the west coast of the United States as they pertain to the behavior of vessels discharging to Prince William Sound, Alaska; namely, tankers engaged in the transfer of crude oil from the terminus of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System at the Alyeska Terminal in Port Valdez.
Updated: Analysis of Crude Oil Tanker Ballast Water Data for Valdez & Prince William Sound, Alaska – February 2016
The analysis includes the following: Annual number of vessels that discharged ballast water, Annual volumes of ballast water discharge, Annual volumes of dirty ballast water discharge, Ballast water source locations (2010 ? 2015), Ballast water management locations, Ballast water management rates, Ballast water management methods.
Between 2005 and 2015, 23 crude oil tankers reported discharging 87,855,788 metric tons of ballast water to Valdez and Prince William Sound. The majority of ballast water was sourced from locations on the west coast of the United States such as Puget Sound, WA, and San Francisco Bay, CA, resulting in 96% coastwise ballast water discharge. The remainder (4%) was sourced from distant locations such as Hawaii and Singapore. Of the 34% of ballast water that was reported to be managed, flow-through ballast water exchange was the preferred method (67%), followed by empty-refill exchange (29%), and alternate methods (4%).
Trends in data should be considered in the context of changes in policy during the time period. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2008 Vessel General Permit (VGP) significantly influenced the management and recordkeeping requirements for crude oil tankers engaged in coastwise trade. The 2008 VGP went into effect in Alaska on February 6, 2009.