Industrial and Commercial Facilities
Recent Additions

June 16, 2010

• NPDES Permitting of Wastewater Discharges from Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) and Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) Impoundments at Steam Electric Power Plants: The purpose of this memorandum is to provide users with interim guidance to assist NPDES permitting authorities to establish appropriate permit requirements for wastewater discharges from Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) systems and coal combustion residual (CCR) impoundments at Steam Electric Power Plants.

March 01, 2010

• Draft Vessels Report to Congress: Study of Discharges Incidental to Normal Operation of Commercial Fishing Vessels and Other Non-Recreational Vessels Less than 79 Feet - This study was conducted to meet the obligations of EPA under Public Law (P.L.) 110-299 (July 31, 2008). The law provided for a two-year moratorium on National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting of discharges from commercial fishing vessels, regardless of size, and other non-recreational vessels less than 79-feet long that were subject to the 40 CFR 122.3(a) exclusion. This draft report summarizes the primary pollutant concentrations in the discharges sampled and evaluates the potential environmental impact of these discharges on large water bodies.

December 18, 2008

• Final 2008 Vessel General Permit - On December 18, EPA issued a final Vessel General Permit (VGP) to reduce releases of 26 types of discharges from vessels operating in U.S. waters. Beginning December 19, approximately 61,000 domestically flagged commercial vessels and 8,000 foreign flagged vessels will need to comply with the permit. The permit covers non-recreational vessels 79 feet in length or longer, such as cruise ships or oil and cargo tankers, but excludes fishing vessels of any length, unless they discharge ballast water. The new permit incorporates the Coast Guard’s mandatory ballast water management and exchange standards, and provides technology-based and water-quality-based effluent limits for other types of discharges, including deck runoff from rain or cleaning, ballast water used to stabilize ships and “gray water” from showers, sinks and laundry machines. It also establishes specific corrective actions, inspections and monitoring, recordkeeping and reporting requirements.

September 03, 2003

• EPA Denies Petition Related to Ballast Water - EPA has denied a petition submitted by a number of environmental groups and other interested parties that sought to repeal provisions of EPA's regulations that cover certain discharges from vessels, including the discharge of ballast water. EPA has denied the petition for a variety of reasons, particularly because of the wide variety of regulatory and non-regulatory actions currently being taken by other federal agencies to address the potential introduction of invasive species from discharges of ballast water. For more information, please see EPA's decision and supporting documents.

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Last updated on January 24, 2006 11:00 AM
URL:http://cfpub1.epa.gov/npdes/whatsnew.cfm