NY State Extension Letter Template
BIMCO members might recall that last year, when the US EPA Vessel General Permit (VGP) programme was finalised, individual US states were permitted to add on additional requirements relative to all the discharges covered under the VGP. The BIMCO Marine Department has previously informed members on this issue and more information can be found here.
The BIMCO Secretariat has just received further information from the US Chamber of Shipping (CSA), which is as follows:
- CSA and World Shipping Council have drafted their respective templates for requesting an extension for implementation of the Condition 2 requirements included in the New York State Certification to the current VGP. It should be noted that there are sections of both documents where members will need to add company specific information. It should also be noted that the letter can be submitted to the e-mail address at the top of the letter, but in so doing, members are strongly recommend to request a delivery receipt which should be kept for file records.
- CSA has received a number of questions concerning which vessels should be included in owners request for extension for the New York State Certification requirements. It should be noted that there are three areas of concern: (1) vessels that call in New York but do not discharge ballast water; (2) vessels transiting New York waters en route to a port/berth in another state e.g. Great Lakes, New Jersey, Long Island Sound; and (3) existing vessels which are currently not under the control of a submitter of the extension letter but, due to future events e.g. purchase, charter will come under an entitys control at some time in the future within the period requested for the extension.
CSAs recommendations for vessels that should be included are as follows:
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Any vessel that currently calls in New York ports regardless of whether they discharge ballast water in New York state waters;
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Any vessel in your fleet that may in the future call in a New York port (note the extension request opportunity expires on 30 June 2010, and if you have not included a vessel currently under your control by that time, you would arguably be prevented from doing so after that date, although this is uncertain);
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Any vessel that transits New York waters en route to a port in another state; and
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In the future, should you purchase, charter or otherwise control a vessel constructed before 1 January 2013 such that you would need to file an ENOI (Notice of Intent) under the EPA VGP program, you should file an extension request for that vessel when it comes under your control.
Source: CSA