On 6 October 2020, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published its notice of proposed rulemaking to set national standards of performance for incidental discharges from commercial vessels as required under the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act (VIDA). The proposed rule details specific discharge standards that would apply to 20 different types of vessel equipment and systems, as well as general discharge standards that would apply more broadly to all types of incidental vessel discharges. Once finalized, “this new rule will streamline the current patchwork of federal, state, and local requirements that apply to the commercial vessel community and better protect our nation’s marine waters” says the EPA. In accordance with VIDA, the new standards are being developed to replace the 2013 Vessel General Permit (VGP) scheme and like the VGP, the proposed rule primarily targets non-military and non-recreational vessels 79 feet in length and above. However, where the scope of the VGP applies to discharges into the ‘waters of the United States’, which refers to the three-mile limit, the proposed rule would equally apply to discharges into the waters of the contiguous zone. Read more: Gard
