§4714 Ballast Water Management Demonstration Program

Summary

The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce must run an 18‑month demonstration program, once money from the appropriation under section 4741(e) is available, to test ways to stop nonnative aquatic species from being moved in ships’ ballast water in the Great Lakes and other U.S. waters. The technologies and practices tested must be able to be added to existing ships or land facilities or built into new ones, be practical to use, safe for crew and ship, good for the environment, cost‑effective, able to be monitored by a ship operator, and work against many kinds of invasive aquatic species. All installation and construction for the tests must be done in the United States. Only approved ships in active trade can be used, whether public or private, and they must have ballast systems suitable for testing methods that would apply to many merchant vessels. Ship selection must first favor vessels documented under chapter 121 of title 46, then majority U.S.‑owned vessels, then other vessels that call regularly at U.S. ports. The program should use different ship types, including those serving the Great Lakes, major coasts, and inland waterways like San Francisco Bay and Chesapeake Bay. The Secretaries must give priority to technologies the National Research Council’s Marine Board named as promising in its July 1996 report, send a report to Congress within 3 years after October 26, 1996, and may make agreements, accept help or donations, and work with the International Maritime Organization and the Task Force.