Equivalent Reporting Program

Overview

The U.S. Coast Guard's Equivalent Reporting Program offers an alternative for an Owner, Operator, Master, Agent, Person-in-Charge or Charterer to submit required Ballast Water Management Reports on a monthly basis, instead of on an individual arrival basis as required under 33 CFR 151.2060(b).

Eligibility Criteria to Participate in BWM Equivalent Reporting Program

To participate in the BWM Equivalent Reporting Program the following criteria must be met:

1. The applicant vessel must operate exclusively within the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) or Canadian equivalent;
2. An applicant vessel must not have ever been listed on a Coast Guard Lookout List for failing to submit a ballast water report or for submitting incomplete or inaccurate reports;
3. Applicant must own a copy of Adobe Acrobat (version 9 or later) to view and complete the ERP Application.

And either:

• The applicant vessel makes 10 or more ballast water reports per calendar month; OR
• The fleet of applicant vessels, owned by the same company, makes 50 or more ballast water reports per calendar month.

Application Process

To be accepted into this program the following steps must be completed:

• Application: Complete the BWM Equivalent Reporting Program Application and e-mail it as an attachment to the Coast Guard's Environmental Standards Division at: environmental_standards@uscg.mil.
• Acceptance: The Coast Guard will e-mail the applicant indicating whether or not they have been accepted into the Equivalent Reporting Program.

Due Dates

Any individual vessel or fleet of vessels must submit all of the month's BW management activities with NBIC by: 5 PM Eastern time on the 10th of each month.

Each submission must include each vessel's ballast water management information for arrivals that occurred in the previous month, up to and not including the first and last day of that month. For example, an ERP submission for January should contain information regarding arrivals that occurred from January 1st through January 31st and be received by NBIC by 5 PM on February 10th.

Reporting Compliance Elements

Participation in the Equivalent BWM Reporting Program begins the month after activation of the vessel's on-line account by NBIC. Until then, all vessel ballast water management reports must be submitted under the requirements of 33 CFR 151.2060(b).

Once entered into the BWM Equivalent Reporting Program:

• Each report must be filed with NBIC via the Web App version of the BWMR form by the 10th of each month in order to remain in compliance with the Coast Guard's BWM reporting requirements.
• Failure to meet the report due date for two or more months will result in cancellation of eligibility for the Equivalent Reporting Program.
• Failure to meet the above Eligibility Criteria for an individual vessel or fleet of vessels for two or more months will result in cancellation of eligibility from the Equivalent Reporting Program.
• Compliance deficiencies identified during vessel inspections or audits may result in cancellation of eligibility for the Equivalent Reporting Program.
• If any of the information submitted in a BWM Equivalent Reporting Program Application changes, a new application must be filed.

Technical Requirements

The Web App version of the ERP BWM Reporting Forms must be used. NBIC will not accept BWM Equivalent Reporting Forms submitted any other way. Thus, Internet connectivity and a web browser must be available to all participants in the ERP.

Technical questions about the BWM Equivalent Reporting Program Application or the BWM Equivalent Reporting Form should be e-mailed to: nbic@ballastreport.org

Regulatory questions about the BWM Equivalent Reporting Program should be directed to: environmental_standards@uscg.mil

Download the BWM Equivalent Reporting Program Application

To begin the acceptance process, download an application, fill it out and submit it to the U.S. Coast Guard's Environmental Standards Division via the following e-mail address: environmental_standards@uscg.mil

This application is in PDF format. You will need Adobe Acrobat to view and complete it. Click button to download the BWM Equivalent Reporting Application.

BWM Equivalent Reporting Application

How to Fill Out and Submit the BWM Equivalent Reporting Program Application

1. Open the copy of the application that you saved on your computer.
2. Enter all the required information into the appropriate blanks on Page 1.
3. Enter Vessel-specific Information for the first vessel you would like to have considered for the program into the appropriate blanks on Page 2.
4. Complete the Point of Contact Information on Page 2.
5. For each additional vessel you would like to have considered for the program:
   • Click the "Add Another Vessel" button. A new Vessel-specific information box will appear (use the Page Down button to view it).
   • Enter the vessel's information into the appropriate blanks in this box.
6. Save your changes by selecting "Save" from the File menu.
7. Attach your completed application to an e-mail message and send the message to environmental_standards@uscg.mil

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.