US Ballast Water Management Regulations

Published: March 2024

The US is not party to the global Ballast Water Management Convention and developed its own ballast water management regulations for vessels, which have been in full effect since January 2016. This guide sets out the current state and federal regulations in force, including up-to-date USCG and EPA requirements. US legislation requires that a BWMS that will operate in US waters must be type approved by the USCG. As of January 2024, 54 BWMS models have received such USCG type approval and this guide summarises the features of these BWMS in a useful data sheet format.

The guide looks in detail at future requirements under the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act (VIDA) 2018 and provides helpful operational methods, considerations and checklists for ballast water exchange.

The Appendices contain an updated list of Code of Federal Regulations (CFRs) relating to US ballast water management and systems, alongside VIDA.

Table of Contents

Introduction

PART ONE

CHAPTER ONE - Requirements in the United States

1.1 Summary of Current Requirements

1.2 Development of Current US Legislation

1.3 US Coast Guard (USCG)

1.4 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

1.5 State Requirements

1.6 Future Requirements Resulting from VIDA

PART TWO

CHAPTER TWO - Ballast Water Exchange (BWE)

2.1 The Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System (Great Lakes Seaway System)

2.2 BWE Methods

2.3 BWE Operational Considerations

2.4 BWE Operations Checklists

PART THREE

CHAPTER THREE - BWMS with No Active Substances

3.1 Aquarius UV BWMS

3.2 ARA Plus+ BWMS

3.3 BAWAT BWMS Mk2

3.4 BIO-SEA BWMS

3.5 Blue Ocean Shield (BOS) BWMS

3.6 BSKY BWMS

3.7 CompactClean BWMS

3.8 Cyeco BWMS

3.9 EcoBallast BWMS

3.10 Evac Evolution BWMS

3.11 GloEn-Patrol and GloEn-Patrol 2.0 BWMS

3.12 Hyde GUARDIAN-US BWMS

3.13 KBAL BWMS

3.14 LanghBW BWMS

3.15 LUV U1 BWMS

3.16 Miura HK BWMS

3.17 NGT BWMS

3.18 NiBallast BWMS

3.19 Optimarin Ballast System (OBS) BWMS

3.20 PureBallast BWMS

3.21 Purestream BWMS

3.22 Seascape BWMS

3.23 SKF BlueSonic BWMS

CHAPTER FOUR - BWMS using Active Substances

4.1 Aquarius EC/ECX BWMS

4.2 AQUASTAR BWMS

4.3 ATPS-BLUEsys BWMS

4.4 BalClor BWMS

4.5 BALPURE BWMS

4.6 CleanBallast-Ocean Barrier System (CB-OBS) BWMS

4.7 Ecochlor BWMS

4.8 EcoGuardian BWMS

4.9 ECS-HYCHLOR BWMS

4.10 Electro-Cleen System (ECS) BWMS

4.11 ERMA FIRST BWTS FIT

4.12 HiBallast BWMS

4.13 inTank BWTS

4.14 JFE BallastAce BWMS

4.15 MICROFADE II BWMS

4.16 NK-O3 BlueBallast BWMS

4.17 OceanGuard BWMS

4.18 Oceansaver BWMS

4.19 oneTank BWMS

4.20 Purimar BWMS

4.21 SeaCURE BWMS

4.22 Senza BWMS

ANNEXES

Annex 1 - Code of Federal Regulations (CFR): Title 33 Subpart C - Ballast Water Management for Control of Nonindigenous Species in the Great Lakes and Hudson River

Annex 2 - Code of Federal Regulations (CFR): Title 33 Subpart D - Ballast Water Management for Control of Nonindigenous Species in Waters of the United States

Annex 3 - Code of Federal Regulations (CFR): Title 46 Subpart 162.060 - Ballast Water Management Systems

Annex 4 - Frank LoBiondo Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2018, Title IX-Vessel Incidental Discharge Act