§4714 Ballast water management demonstration program

Summary

The Secretaries of the Interior and Commerce, with the agreement and help of the Secretary, must run an 18-month demonstration program once funds from section 4741(e) are available. The program will test technologies and practices to keep nonnative aquatic species out of U.S. waters by treating ballast water in the Great Lakes and elsewhere. The work to install and build the tested systems must happen in the United States. “Technologies and practices” means things that meet eight basic points, such as being retrofit-able or built into new designs, practical to use, safe for crews, good for the environment, cost-effective, monitorable by the ship operator, and able to stop many kinds of invasive species. Only approved vessels with suitable ballast systems that are in active trade can be used. Priority for choosing vessels goes first to those documented under chapter 121 of title 46, then to vessels majority-owned by U.S. citizens, then to other ships that regularly call U.S. ports. The program should try different vessel types, including ones that call the Great Lakes and work along major coasts and inland waterways like San Francisco Bay and Chesapeake Bay. Technology choices should give priority to methods the National Research Council Marine Board called promising in its July 1996 report. A report with findings and recommendations must be sent to Congress not later than 3 years after October 26, 1996. The Secretary of the Interior may make cooperative agreements, accept federal help or donations, and must consult with the International Maritime Organization and the Task Force.