EPA and U.S. Coast Guard Step Up Efforts to Protect U.S. Waters / Memorandum of understanding outlines enhanced coordination of enforcement and compliance activities (HQ, CA, ...
WASHINGTON—
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
and U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) today signed a memorandum of
understanding (MOU) to work together to protect people’s
health and the environment. The MOU outlines steps the agencies
will take to better coordinate efforts to prevent and enforce
against illegal discharges of pollutants from vessels, such as
cruise ships and oil tankers.
"Protecting America’s waters is one of EPA’s top
priorities, and our compliance and enforcement work is critical to
meeting this challenge,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant
administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance
Assurance. “By building on our partnership with the Coast
Guard, we are working to improve the health of our nation’s
treasured rivers, bays, harbors and estuaries.”
Under the MOU, USCG has agreed to incorporate components of
EPA’s vessel general permit program into its existing
inspection protocols and procedures to help the United States
address vessel pollution in U.S. waters. The MOU creates a
framework for improving EPA and USCG cooperation on data tracking,
training, monitoring, enforcement and industry outreach. The
agencies have also agreed to improve existing data requirements so
that information on potential violations observed during
inspections can be sent to EPA for evaluation and follow-up.
The vessel permit program applies to more than 61,000 commercial
ships based in the U.S. and more than 8,000 foreign ships operating
in U.S. waters. The vessel permit covers 26 types of discharges
such as deck run-off from rain, ballast water used to stabilize
ships, and wastewater from showers, sinks and laundry machines.
These discharges may result in negative impacts on the environment,
including the spread of invasive species from ballast water that
can harm sensitive ecosystems. The vessel permit program also
specifies corrective actions, self inspections and self monitoring,
record keeping and reporting requirements.
Read a copy of the MOU:
http://epa.gov/compliance/monitoring/programs/cwa/npdes.html
More information on EPA’s vessel permit program: http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/home.cfm?program_id=350
More information on USCG activities: http://www.uscg.mil/HQ/cg5