&EPA UNIFORM NATIONAL DISCHARGE STANDARDS
(UNDS) FOR VESSELS OF THE ARMED FORCES
Section 312(n) of the Clean Water Act (CWA) was added in 1996 to establish the Uniform
National Discharge Standards (UNDS).
WHAT IS UNDS?
UNDS will set national standards for the required use of
marine pollution control devices (MPCD) to control
discharges incidental to the normal operation of a vessel of
the Armed Forces. Section 312(n) of the Clean Water Act
requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and
the Department of Defense (DoD) to identify and evaluate
discharges of Armed Forces vessels to determine which
discharges require control for protection of the environment
and to set standards for those discharges. EPA and DoD
anticipate that the standards will enhance environmental
protection of U.S. waters by creating nationally protective
standards for discharges incidental to the normal operation
of a vessel of the Armed Forces. UNDS is being
implemented in three phases through a partnership between
EPA and DoD.
Phase I (Completed May 1999) identified and characterized
39 discharges; 25 were determined to require control using
an MPCD. A MPCD is any equipment, material substitution,
or management practice designed to treat, retain, or control
discharges from a vessel of the Armed Forces.
Phase II is currently underway and will establish
performance standards to control the 25 discharges in two
separate rulemakings. EPA and DoD, in consultation with
the U.S. Coast Guard, are working together to develop
MPCD performance standards for the discharges. The first
rulemaking will include the following 11 discharges:
aqueous film forming foam, chain locker effluent, distillation
and reverse osmosis brine, elevator pit effluent, gas turbine
water wash, non-oily machinery wastewater, photographic
laboratory drains, seawater cooling overboard discharge,
seawater piping biofouling prevention, small boat engine wet
exhaust, and welldeck discharges.
During Phase III, DoD will establish regulations governing
the design, construction, installation, and use of MPCDs to
meet the performance standards established in Phase II.
WHAT VESSELS ARE REGULATED?
• UNDS applies to discharges incidental to the normal
operation of a vessel of the Armed Forces (i.e., Army,
Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Military Sealift
Command, and U.S. Coast Guard vessels).
• UNDS applies to discharges in waters of the United
Sates and extend seaward out to 12 nautical miles
from the coastline.
• UNDS does not apply to discharges from Army Corps
of Engineers vessels, Maritime Administration vessels,
memorial and museum vessels, time- and voyage-
chartered vessels, vessels under construction, vessels
in dry dock, vessels owned and operated by state or
tribal entities, commercial vessels, private vessels and
amphibious vehicles.
HOW WILL UNDS AFFECT STATES?
• Clean Water Act Section 312(n) preempts states from
regulating all of the discharges identified during Phase I,
both the 14 discharges that do not require control and the
remaining 25 discharges for which UNDS are being
developed. EPA and DoD continue to communicate with
state regulatory and coastal program representatives, and
Native American tribes.
• The statute allows states to petition EPA and DoD to review
the determinations made under Phase I and the MPCD
performance standards established under Phase II.
• The statute also enables a state to petition EPA to establish
No-Discharge Zones for a category of discharge incidental
to the normal operation of a vessel of the Armed Forces.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT UNDS
• Visit our UNDS website at
http://water.epa.qov/lawsreqs/lawsquidance/cwa/vessel/u
nds/index.cfm
• Contact Katherine Weiler in the Oceans and Coastal
Protection Division at 202-566-1280.
Office of Water
Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. (Mail Code 4504T), Washington, D.C. 20460
EPA-842-F-05-001C
2013
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