&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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