WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), John Thune (R-S.D.), and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), who all serve as leaders on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation have together reintroduced, the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act (S.373), to set uniform standards for regulating ballast water and other incidental discharges from vessels, and clarify requirements for fishermen and other small boat users.

“Workers in our fishing and shipping industries are the people hurt most by the excessive and often complicated web of federal and state regulations affecting vessel discharges,” said Oceans Subcommittee Chairman Rubio. “We need a uniform set of environmentally sound standards that eliminates duplicative, redundant and sometimes entirely unnecessary regulation. This legislation would simplify the regulatory requirements on these businesses, which will allow them to spend less time worrying about unreasonable and complex regulations and more time focused on running successful businesses that employ thousands of Americans.”

“This bill addresses yet another example where an ill-conceived regulatory framework creates massive headaches for Americans trying to follow the rules,” said Commerce Committee Chairman Thune. “This legislation would replace a muddled mess of regulations with a clearer and simpler framework that is better for the environment because it’s easier for well-meaning people to understand and follow.”

“If you asked the average person whether the best way to protect our waters is to have 27 different regulators enforcing 27 different sets of vessel operating requirements, the answer would almost certainly be ‘no,’” said Commerce Committee Ranking Member Nelson.

Vessel discharge is most often rainwater and other runoff that accumulates on the deck of a vessel. The U.S. Coast Guard, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and some states currently regulate ballast water under separate, sometimes inconsistent statutes and implementing regulations. This complicated, inefficient, and confusing patchwork of federal and state requirements is a burden on shippers and other vessel owners that visit multiple ports. The Vessel Incidental Discharge Act would establish one environmentally sound standard.

The Vessel Incidental Discharge Act would establish ballast water treatment requirements set by the U.S. Coast Guard in 2012 as the uniform national standard governing ballast water discharges by vessels. By 2022, the U.S. Coast Guard and EPA would be required to issue a revised rule that, if viable, is 100 times more stringent than the initial ballast water treatment standard. And if a more stringent state ballast water treatment standard is determined to be feasibly achievable, detectable, and commercially available, the more stringent standard would be adopted as the uniform national standard.

The legislation would also permanently exempt incidental discharges by commercial vessels less than 79 feet, fishing vessels including seafood processors, and recreational vessels, as well as discharges that occur for research, safety, or similar purposes. Not considered an environmental problem, these vessels have previously been exempted on a short term basis which currently expires in 2017.

Yesterday, Rubio chaired a hearing of the Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmospheres, Fisheries, and Coast Guard to take expert testimony on the effects of existing regulations on workers and job creators in dealing with the complicated patchwork of state and federal regulations that currently govern the management of vessel discharges. Information from yesterday’s hearing can be found here.

Click here to view the text of S. 373, the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act.

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