oEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
United States Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water, Office of Wastewater Management
Water Permits Division
November 2011 • EPA-800-F-11-002
Draft 2013 Vessel General Permit and Small Vessel
General Permit
On November 30, 2011, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) signed the Draft 2013
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Vessel General Permit (VGP) and Small
Vessel General Permit (sVGP).
Background
On March 30, 2005, the U.S. District Court for
the Northern District of California (in
Northwest Environmental Advocates et al. v.
EPA) ruled that the EPA regulation excluding
discharges incidental to the normal operation
of a vessel from NPDES permitting exceeded
the Agency's authority under the Clean
Water Act (CWA). EPA appealed the District
Court's decision, and on July 23, 2008, the
Ninth Circuit upheld the decision. In
response, EPA developed the Vessel General
Permit to regulate discharges from vessels.
EPA signed the VGP on December 18, 2008,
with an effective date of February 6, 2009.
The draft VGP currently being proposed
would replace the current 2008 VGP when it
expires on December 19, 2013.
The draft Small Vessel General Permit (sVGP),
if finalized, would authorize discharges
incidental to the normal operation of non-
military and non-recreational vessels less
than 79 feet in length. Currently, a
Congressional moratorium (initiated by
Public Law 110-299 and subsequently
extended by Public Law 111-215) exempts all
incidental discharges, with the exception of
ballast water, from commercial fishing
vessels and non-recreational, non-military
vessels less than 79 feet in length from
having to obtain a Clean Water Act permit
until December 18, 2013. The Small Vessel
General Permit would provide permit
coverage for these entities after that date.
Summary of the Proposed 2013 Draft VGP
The 2013 draft VGP would continue to
regulate 26 specific discharge categories that
were contained in the 2008 VGP, and for the
first time, would authorize the discharge of
fish hold effluent (which was previously
exempt by Public Law 111-215).
For the first time, the draft VGP contains
numeric ballast water discharge limits for
most vessels. The draft VGP also contains
more stringent effluent limits for oil to sea
interfaces and exhaust gas scrubber
washwater, which would improve
environmental protection of U.S. waters. EPA
has also improved the efficiency of several of
the VGP's administrative requirements,
including allowing electronic recordkeeping,
requiring an annual report in lieu of the one-
time report and annual noncompliance
report, and requiring small vessel owners
and/or operators to obtain coverage under
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the VGP by completing and agreeing to the
terms of a Permit Authorization and Record
of Inspection form.
Summary of the Proposed 2013 Draft sVGP
The sVGP is organized by discharge
management categories. All covered
discharges are located in these categories.
The discharge management categories in the
draft sVGP include fuel management, engine
and oil control, solid and liquid maintenance,
graywater management, fish hold effluent
management, and ballast water
management.
All vessels eligible for coverage under the
sVGP will receive coverage at the time and
date of the expiration of the moratorium,
December 18, 2013. As a requirement of this
permit, vessel owner/operators must
complete the sVGP Permit Authorization and
Record of Inspection (PARI) form. The PARI
form must be signed and maintained
onboard the vessel for the entire permit
term. Additionally, the permittee must
conduct an annual self-inspection and certify
that he or she has done so by signing the
form each year.
How to Comment
EPA will accept comment on the proposed
permits for 75 days after publication in the
Federal Register. Comments for the draft VGP
should go to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-
2011-0141 and comments for the draft sVGP
should go to EPA-HQ-OW-2011-150.
Comments may be submitted by one of the
following methods:
1. Online at
http://www.regulations.gov; Follow
the online instructions for submitting
comments.
3. Mail to: Water Docket, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency,
Mail Code: 2822T, 1200 Pennsylvania
Avenue NW Washington DC 20460
Attention Docket ID No: EPA-HQ-OW-
2011-{place appropriate number
here}.
Such deliveries are only accepted
during the docket's normal hours of
operation, and special arrangements
should be made for deliveries of
boxed information.
Public Meetings and Webcast
EPA will hold two public meetings and one
webcast to give an overview of the proposed
permits and to take comment. The meetings
are scheduled as follows:
• January 11, 2012, 9:00 am -5:00 pm
(EST) or until all comments have been
heard at EPA East 1153,1201
Constitution Ave NW, Washington DC
20460.
• January 23, 2012, 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
(CST) or until all comments have been
heard at Ralph H. Metcalfe Federal
Building, Room 331, 77 West Jackson
Blvd, Chicago IL 60604.
• Webcast TBD. For more information
on the upcoming webcast, visit
http://www.epa.gov/npdes/vessels.
For More Information
Visit http://www.epa.gov/npdes/vessels.
For questions about the VGP, email
VGP@epa.gov.
For questions about the sVGP, email
sVGP@epa.gov.
2. Email ow-docket@epa.gov.
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