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20october2014FOGHORNLEGisLaTivEREPoRTtherealreadyisforlarerones.Sixyearsaotoallowlarercommer-cialvesselstocontinuedischarinEPAissuedaVesselgeneralPermitVgPtothemaritimeindustryasawhole.TheVgPcoversallcom-mercialpassenervesselsof79feetormore.Thealternativewouldhavebeentorequireeachvesseloperatortoapplyforanindividualpermit.Acoveredvesselmustcomplywithavarietyofbestmanaementpracticesascheduleofself-inspectionsandvariousrecordkeepinandreportinmandates.EPAcannotassumethatConresswillextendthestatutorymoratorium.ConsequentlyonSeptember10ofthisyearitannouncedintheFederalRegisterthatithasdevelopedaSmallVesselgeneralPermitsVgPtoointoeffectonDecember19intheeventofConressionalinaction.Similartothecurrently-in-effectVgPtheSmallVesselgeneralPermitwillcoverallsmallercommercialvesselsontheconditionthatthattheyadheretothetermssetoutinthesVgP.ThereisnofeeandthereisnoneedforanindividualoperatortoapplytoEPAforthepermitorivetheaencynoticethatitisoperatinunderthesVgP.WhentheVgPcameintoeffectsixyearsaoPVAstaffdevelopedauidancedocumentandmadeitavailabletocoveredmemberstoenablethemtounderstandwhattheyareexpectedtodotocomply.ThestaffisalreadyatworkproducinasimilaruidancedocumentforPVAmemberswithvesselsoflessthan79feetinlenth.Theavailabilityofthedocumentwillbeannouncedsoon.EPAbelievesthatnearly21000smallerpassenervesselswillbesubjecttothesVgP.TheaencysaysThesVgPisdesinedtobeaneasilyimplementedpermitwithcommonsensebestmanaementpracticesthatwillreduceenvironmentalpollution.LetslookatsomekeyfeaturesofthesVgPtheyarefoundonpaes7-15ofthepermit.ThesVgPspurposeistopermitincidentaldischaresofmultipletypesofwastewaterproducedinci-dentaltothenormaloperationsofavesselincludinraywaterbilewa-terdeckrunoffnon-contacteninecoolinwaterunderwaterhullhusbandryanti-foulanthullcoatinleachateandballastwater.Keepinmindthatthedischareofuntreatedsewaeblackwaterisstrictlyprohib-itedbylawandthatthedischareoftreatedsewaeprocessedthrouhaCoastguard-approvedmarinesanita-tiondeviceisovernedbyaseparateprovisionofthefederalCleanWaterAct.Discharesofoilandoverboarddisposaloftrashandarbaeremainprohibited.ByDecember19acoveredvesseloperatormustfillouta