Company: CMDB
Filing Date: 2025-04-07
Form Type: 20FR12B/A
Source: 0001140361-25-012461
Chunk: 142

Company: Costamare Bulkers Holdings Ltd
Filing Date: 2025-04-07
Form: 20FR12B/A
Chunk 142
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 operations.

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#### TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title VII of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2004 (the “CGMTA”) amended OPA 90 to require the owner or operator of any non-tank vessel of 400 gross tons or more that carries oil of any kind as a fuel for main propulsion, including bunker fuel, to prepare and submit a response plan for each vessel. These vessel response plans include detailed information on actions to be taken by vessel personnel to prevent or mitigate any discharge or substantial threat of such a discharge of oil from the vessel due to operational activities or casualties. Where required, each of our vessels has an approved response plan.

The CWA prohibits the discharge of oil or hazardous substances in navigable waters and imposes liability in the form of penalties for any unauthorized discharges. It also imposes substantial liability for the costs of removal, remediation and damages and complements the remedies available under the more recently enacted OPA 90 and CERCLA, discussed above. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (the “EPA”) regulates the discharge of ballast water and other substances under the CWA. EPA regulations require vessels 79 feet in length or longer (other than commercial fishing vessels) to obtain coverage under a Vessel General Permit (“VGP”) authorizing discharges of ballast waters and other wastewaters incidental to the operation of vessels when operating within the three-mile territorial waters or inland waters of the United States. The VGP requires vessel owners and operators to comply with a range of best management practices and reporting and other requirements for a number of incidental discharge types. The most recent VGP, which became effective in December 2013, expired in December 2018. It contained stringent requirements, including numeric ballast water discharge limits (that generally align with the most recent U.S. Coast Guard standards issued in 2012), to ensure that the ballast water treatment systems are functioning correctly and more stringent effluent limits for oil to sea interfaces and exhaust gas scrubber wastewater. The Vessel Incidental Discharge Act (“VIDA”) enacted December 4, 2018, required the EPA and Coast Guard to develop new performance standards and enforcement regulations and extends the 2013 VGP provisions until new regulations are final and enforceable. On October 9, 2024, the EPA issued Vessel Incidental Discharge National Standards of Performance, new final regulations pursuant to VIDA which set discharge standards that are as least as stringent as the VGP. These new standards are