Friday, November 9, 2012

National Wildlife Federation sues New York over ballast regulations

The National Wildlife Federation filed suit against New York on Thursday accusing officials of failing to adequately protect state waters from invasive species carried in cargo ship ballast water.

New York's Department of Environmental Conservation backed off requirements that would mandate cargo vessels to cleanse ballast water at a level 100 times stricter than Environmental Protection Agency standards. The DEC has said that EPA standards are not stringent enough to shield against invasive species that could get into state waterways when ballast water is discharged before loading cargo.

In a statement released Thursday, the DEC said they have measures that go beyond EPA standards, such as mandating that vessels from foreign countries have both onboard ballast water treatment and ballast water exchange in the open ocean, "a practice that experts estimate will likely increase treatment effectiveness by a factor of 10."

Shipping companies have said the previous, tougher New York rules would have shut down international shipping in the Great Lakes since all international cargo ships must pass through New York waters to reach the lakes. Container traffic at the Port of New York and New Jersey also would be impacted.

The shipping industry said the technology doesn't exist to comply with the stringent law, although environmentalists counter that carmakers made the same argument about fuel efficiency, but came up with the technology when needed.

New York's strong rules, created to supplement the EPA's minimum standards, were scheduled to take effect August 2013, but then were postponed to December 2013. They are tied to a federal permit that expires at that time, and the new state rules will essentially expire along with them.

The standards limit the acceptable number of live organisms in ballast water. Invasive species, including the zebra and quagga mussel, spiny water flea and round goby, have been carried into Great Lakes waters in ship ballast.

For more of the Wall Street Journal story: online.wsj.com

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