As of October 1, 2018, the US Coast Guard is eliminating the requirement for certain vessels that operate on voyages exclusively within a single Captain of the Port Zone to submit an Annual Ballast Water Summary Report for calendar year 2018.
Federal Register Link: https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2018-20374
Please see the Coast Guard Maritime Commons Blog entry for more information on this Final Rule.
When the Coast Guard published the revised regulations for ballast water reporting and record keeping (November 24, 2015), it allowed vessel owner/operators operating exclusively between ports or places within a single Captain of the Port Zone (COTPZ) to use an Annual Ballast Water Summary Report (Summary Report) (33 CFR 151.2060(e)) to report the vessel's ballasting practices. The Summary Report applies to vessels that operate for at least an entire calendar year in a single COTPZ; however, the Coast Guard recognizes that unanticipated operational and business needs may result in vessels operating exclusively in one COTPZ for shorter periods (i.e., less than a calendar year), or that some vessels seasonally rotate between COTPZs during a calendar year. Therefore, the Coast Guard will accept annual Summary Reports for exclusive operation periods of less than a full calendar year, and/or multiple Summary Reports for vessels operating exclusively in more than one COTPZ during a calendar year.
"Exclusive operation" prohibits ballast water taken up in one COTPZ from being mixed with ballast water taken up in another COTPZ (no mixing of ballast water between COTPZs).Unless exempt from the BWM requirements (see 33 CFR 151.2015), vessel owner/operators who plan to use the Summary Report must ensure the vessel's tanks, spaces or voids used to hold ballast water are cleaned (including removing all residual sediments) prior to conducting ballasting operations in a new COTPZ.
NOTE: Vessels transitioning between COTPZs are required to submit a ballast water report in accordance with 33 CFR 151.2060(b) for the voyage between COTPZs.
Annual Ballast Water Summary Reports for calendar year 2017 are due to the NBIC not later than 31 March 2018.
Annual Ballast Water Summary Report
Paperwork Reduction Act Notice
An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number.
The Coast Guard estimates that the average burden per response is 40 minutes for a Ballast Water Management Report. You may submit any comments concerning the accuracy of this burden estimate or any suggestions for reducing the burden to: Commandant (CG-OES), U.S. Coast Guard Stop 7509, 2703 Martin Luther King Jr Ave SE, Washington, DC 20593-7509 or Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (1625-0069), Washington, DC 20503.
Privacy Act Statement
Authority: 33 U.S.C. §1251.
Purpose: The Coast Guard will use the information provided on ballast water reporting form to evaluate vessel ballast water management practices.
Routine Uses: Authorized Coast Guard personnel will use this data in efforts to reduce discharge of aquatic nuisance species into U.S. waters from vessels and to prevent future damage caused by such discharges. For more information on how USCG uses this information, please see DHS/USCG/PIA-008 Marine Information for Safety and Law Enforcement (MISLE), available at https://www.dhs.gov/privacy.
Disclosure: Furnishing this information is mandatory; failure to furnish the requested information is a violation and may incur civil penalties.