
Steamship Mutual
Published: May 24, 2010
The State of New York Vessel General Permit requirements for discharge into state waters are more stringent than the federal standards. Vessels operating in New York state waters must meet additional ballast water requirements in addition to the national standard. These are much greater than the IMO standards. The New York standards become effective on 1 January 2012, although the State does offer the possibility to request an extension of the compliance dates. However, such a request must be received no later than 30 June 2010.
The World Shipping Council (WSC) has developed a generic extension request for New York State that all shipping companies can use. It has been developed with WSC members in mind but WSC have agreed that the International Group Clubs may also use it as they see fit. It is available for download below with WSC permission. (Please note that Exhibits 2 and 3, referred to on page 6 of the letter, have not been made available and therefore the draft should be amended accordingly.) It appears that Intertanko are currently considering the draft to determine if there should be any additions that are tanker specific.
Specific state by state requirements can be found in the EPA/NPDES document at: http://www.epa.gov/npdes/pubs/vessel_vgp_permit.pdf
With thanks to the International Group secretariat for supplying this information.
