St. Lawrence Seaway toughens ballast regulations

The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC, part of the Dept. of Transportation) has announced stricter ballast water management practices for the 2008 season. Beginning with the 2008 navigation season, all ocean vessels, including those with "no ballast on board," will be subjected to an inspection, covering 100 percent of ballast water tanks. This inspection process will ensure that the vessel--while still a minimum of 200 km offshore--flushed all of its tanks with salt water.

Since 2006, all ocean vessels bound for a Canadian port have been subjected to ballast water inspections, to ensure that water within the ballast tanks adheres to a minimum level of salinity of 30 parts per thousand. With the harmonization of U.S. and Canadian standards, all vessels entering the Seaway, irrespective of destination, will be subjected to the same inspection process.

For the full story, click here. For the official proposed rules, click here.

Hawaii Adopts Ballast Water Regulations

The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) has adopted administrative rules to manage ballast water discharge from vessels operating in Hawai'i waters, the DLNR said.

The new administrative rules require qualifying vessels to: 1) have a ballast water management plan specifically for that vessel, 2) conduct a mid-ocean ballast water exchange or retain all ballast water on board, and 3) file a ballast water reporting form with the DLNR no later than 24 hours prior to arrival. The data obtained from the ballast water reporting forms submitted by the qualifying vessels will enable the State to make better assessments of the potential risk that an incoming vessel might contain alien species in its ballast water holds. DLNR will be monitoring ballast water reports for submission and compliance.

For more information about the new ballast water rules go to www.hawaii.gov/dlnr/dar or contact Jason Leonard at the Division of Aquatic Resources at 587-0113 or via e-mail at Jason.C.Leonard@hawaii.gov.

National Park Services Bans Ballast Water Discharges in Isle Royale NP

Boaters and commercial shippers will be prohibited from emptying ballast tanks within Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior unless the ballast water is treated to kill invasive species, officials in Michigan said Monday, September 17. Aside from recreational boaters, the new rule will mostly affect Canadian and other foreign freighters calling at the port of Thunder Bay, Ontario.

The emergency regulation is designed to protect the park's fish populations from a deadly virus spreading rapidly across the other Great Lakes, Phyllis Green, superintendent of Isle Royale. Viral hemorrhagic septicemia, or VHS, is among many exotic species that scientists believe have been scooped into ships' ballast tanks in foreign ports, then discharged into the Great Lakes. VHS has not shown up in Lake Superior, but has caused large die-offs of popular game species such as walleye, northern pike and yellow perch in the other lakes and some inland waterways.

The rule will affect Canadian and other commercial ships because the shipping lane between Thunder Bay and the Soo Locks, gateway to Lake Superior, runs through Isle Royale waters, Green said. Nearly all those ships are Canadian or based in other foreign countries, said Glen Nekvasil, spokesman for the Lake Carriers Association, which represents U.S.-flagged freighters that remain inside the Great Lakes system.

Green said lake trout around Isle Royale were especially vulnerable, especially this time of year, when they are congregating to spawn and can spread disease quickly between them. Her order, which takes effect Tuesday, September 18, covers a 684-square-mile (1,772-square- kilometer) area, including 475 square miles (1,230-square-kilometers) of waters within park jurisdiction. Isle Royale is in northwestern Lake Superior.

Fore more info, visit The International Herald Tribune or The Mining Gazette.

Ohio introduces ballast bill similar to Michigan's

Ohio would be empowered to regulate the discharge of ballast water from oceangoing ships into portions of Lake Erie under state control under a bill to be introduced August 15 in the Ohio House. Ohio's bill, to be introduced by Rep. Mike Skindell (D., Lakewood) would require Ohio to act on its own while simultaneously working with other Great Lakes states and Canadian provinces to develop a uniform standard for the entire lake.The move follows the lead of Michigan, which enacted similar legislation that took effect Jan. 1. For the full story, visit http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070815/NEWS24/708150401