Tag: EPA VGP

The VGP is a USA Clean Water Act, NPDES permit that authorizes discharges incidental to the normal operation of vessels greater than 79 feet in length. The 2013 Vessel General Permit incorporated a new requirement for a submission of an electronically annual report by February 28th covering activities conducted from January 1st, till December 31st, of previous year.

The 2013 Vessel General Permit has incorporated a new requirements for a submission of an electronically annual report by February 28th, 2017 covering activities conducted from January 1st, till December 31, of 2016.

CCS has developed the survey EAL guidelines as required by US EPA. The guidelines will be released in the second half of 2016 for implementation and will take effect on September 1, 2016.

Thordon Bearings has signed a landmark contract to supply COMPAC seawater-lubricated propeller shaft bearing solutions to two Jones Act containerships under construction at the Aker Philadelphia Shipyard Inc. (APSI) for Matson Navigation Co. Inc.

The 2013 Vessel General Permit that replaced the 2008 Vessel General Permit, has incorporated a new requirements for a submission of an electronically annual report by February 28th covering activities conducted from January 1st, till December 31, of previous year.

 Mobil SHC Aware H 46 and Mobil SHC Aware H 68, part of ExxonMobil Marine Fuels and Lubricants’ range of Environmentally Acceptable Lubricants (EAL), have received approval from Fincantieri Marine System Division, the marine equipment manufacturer of the Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri.An industry standard ASTM test showed that Mobil SHC Aware H 46 and Mobil SHC Aware H 68 qualify as low maintenance oils, providing up to three times the operational life of a normal maintenance oil.Iain White, ExxonMobil’s Global Marketing Manager for Marine Fuels and Lubricants, said: “This latest OEM approval underlines how our Mobil SHC Aware H Series can protect machinery against wear and reduce maintenance while complying with environmental regulations.”Mobil SHC Aware H Series of synthetic hydraulic fluids, part of the Mobil SHC Aware product line, have been formulated to meet the requirements for environmentally acceptable lubricants outlined in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 2013 Vessel General Permit (VGP).Designed for hydraulic systems operating under high loads and high pressures, the Mobil SHC Aware H Series offers the potential to extend equipment life and reduce maintenance downtime when compared with other Hydraulic Environmental Ester Synthetic (HEES) alternatives.The hydraulic oils are suitable for a range of applications including marine controllable pitch ...

 The 2013 VGP took effect on 19 December 2013, and regulates discharges incidental to the normal operation of vessels covered under the scope of the VGP (non-recreational vessels greater than 79 feet in length, which are not vessels of the armed forces, operating in a capacity as a means of transportation). Exhaust Gas Scrubber Washwater Discharge is addressed under section 2.2.26 of the Final 2013 VGP In accordance with Regulation 4 of MARPOL Annex VI, EGCS units may be used as an alternative means of compliance with the more stringent fuel oil sulphur limits established under Regulation 14 of MARPOL Annex VI, subject to approval by the Administration. Owners/operators are reminded that regulations pertaining to the VGP are applicable to discharges into US waters extending to the outer reach of the 3 mile territorial sea as defined in section 502(8) of the US Clean Water Act. Under VGP regulations, the pH limit for the washwater effluent shall not be less than 6.0, measured at the overboard discharge only.This is not consistent with the methods for determining the pH limit under the IMO EGCS Guidelines (resolution MEPC.259(68)), where the pH limit for the washwater effluent is to be no less than 6.5 ...

 The Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) acted arbitrarily and capriciously in issuing the ballast water provisions included in the 2013 Vessel General Permit (“VGP”), and remanded the issue to the EPA to redraft the ballast water sections of the VGP. The differences between the VGP ballast water provisions, International Maritime Organization (“IMO”) Ballast Water Management Convention, and U.S. Coast Guard’s ballast water regulations have posed a number of compliance challenges thus far, which may be further exacerbated by possible new VGP requirements. While substantive changes to the VGP ballast provisions, if any, are likely years away, ship owners and operators should be aware, closely monitor, and be prepared to comment on a new draft VGP in the future.New DevelopmentOn October 5, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit unanimously ruled that the EPA acted arbitrarily and capriciously in drafting the ballast water discharge provisions of its 2013 VGP.  Most notably, the court stated that the EPA failed to adequately explain why stricter technology-based effluent standards should not be applied, failed to give fair and thorough consideration to onshore treatment options, and failed to adequately explain why pre-2009 Lakers were exempted.  ...

 CHALOS & Co law firm informs that a federal appeals court in New York ordered US EPA to rewrite its rules regarding the discharge of ballast water from ships, following reaction by environmental groups that said the rules threatened the nation’s waterways.Four environmental agencies petitioned the Second Circuit Court of Appeals for review of the Vessel General Permit (“VGP”) issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) in 2013 under Section 509(b)(1) of the Clean Water Act (“CWA”), which regulates the discharge of ballast water from ships (and is the primary cause of the spread of invasive species to different bodies of water). On October 5, 2015, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion in Natural Resources Defense Counsel, et al. v. United States Environmental Protection Agency, holding that the EPA acted arbitrarily and capriciously in issuing the permit and remanded back to the EPA for further proceedings.   The sixty-five (65) page decision goes into great detail regarding the historic context for why such a VGP is necessary, the purposes of the CWA, and the technical components of the statute for preventing pollutants and measuring compliance with the act, specifically water quality standards.  The EPA issued the 2013 VGP allowing vessels to discharge ballast water ...

 Classification societies are changing their monitoring rules for seawater-lubricated propeller shafts in line with the rules governing the inspection and withdrawal of oil-lubricated stern tube systems.China Classification Society (CCS) announced in July that if certain condition monitoring criteria are met, shaft withdrawal for inspection may be extended to 15 years.The rule change follows recent revisions by Lloyd’s Register and Bureau Veritas which published amended SCM and MON-SHAFT rules in January 2013 and January 2014, respectively. DNV GL, the world’s largest classification society, with a registered fleet of 266.9mgt, is expected to publish new rules in 2016.“Changes to classification society rules represent a significant breakthrough for manufacturers of water-lubricated shaft bearing systems,” said Andy Edwards, Commercial Director of market leader Thordon Bearings.“A major stumbling block to the wider take-up of the more environmentally efficient seawater-lubricated system has been the requirement to withdraw the shaft for inspection every five years. So the changes are very welcome as they are more representative of the advancements made in polymer bearing technologies and corrosion-resistant shaft coating systems.“We expect the revision will be highly welcomed by those shipowners looking to comply with the stringent U.S. Environmental Protection Agency vessel general permit (VGP) regulations, which are now ...