Wednesday, February 15, 2012

California’s three-mile ballast water ruling approved by EPA

Last week the Environmental Protection Agency approved the ruling to ban ships from dumping their ballast within three miles of the coast of California.

The regulation, which goes into effect in March, will reportedly be enforced along the 1,624-mile-long coastline of California and is projected to prevent 22.5 million gallons of ship sewage being dumped within the three-mile zone per year.

"What we are really doing is creating a coastal zone that recognizes the importance of our beaches, surfing, swimming and the reason people come to our iconic coastline," said Jared Blumenfeld, regional administrator for the EPA.

Enforcement of the new ballast water ruling that impacts vessels over 300 tons will be in the hands of the U.S. Coast Guard, with the EPA able to impose fines.

The state of California reportedly needed the EPA’s approval of the three-mile rule via that federal regulatory body’s enforcement of the Clean Water Act.

For the full San Francisco Chronicle story: www.sfgate.com

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