I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3464 

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act with respect to discharges 

incidental to the normal operation of certain vessels. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 13, 2013 

Mr. LOBIONDO (for himself and Mr. LARSEN of Washington) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation 

and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act with 

respect to discharges incidental to the normal operation 

of certain vessels. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Commercial Vessel 

5 Discharges Reform Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DISCHARGES INCIDENTAL TO THE NORMAL OPER7 ATION OF A COVERED VESSEL. 

8 (a) DISCHARGES INCIDENTAL TO THE NORMAL OP9 ERATION OF A COVERED VESSEL.— 

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1 (1) NO PERMIT REQUIRED.—Section 402 of the 

2 Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 

3 1342) is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(s) DISCHARGES INCIDENTAL TO THE NORMAL OP6 ERATION OF A COVERED VESSEL.—No permit shall be re7 quired under this Act by the Administrator (or a State, 

8 in the case of a permit program approved under subsection 

9 (b)) for a discharge incidental to the normal operation of 

10 a covered vessel (as defined in section 312(p)).’’. 

11 (2) BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES FOR COV12 ERED VESSELS.—Section 312 of the Federal Water 

13 Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1342) is amended 

14 by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(p) BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES FOR COVERED

16 VESSELS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the fol18 lowing definitions apply: 

19 ‘‘(A) COVERED VESSEL.—The term ‘cov20 ered vessel’ means every description of 

21 watercraft, or other artificial contrivance used 

22 or capable of being used as a means of trans23 portation on water, that is engaged in commer24 cial service (as defined under section 2101 of 

25 title 46, United States Code), and— 

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1 ‘‘(i) is less than 79 feet in length; or 

2 ‘‘(ii) is a fishing vessel (as defined in 

3 section 2101 of title 46, United States 

4 Code), regardless of length of the vessel. 

5 ‘‘(B) DISCHARGE INCIDENTAL TO THE

6 NORMAL OPERATION OF A COVERED VESSEL.— 

7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘dis8 charge incidental to the normal operation 

9 of a covered vessel’ means— 

10 ‘‘(I) a discharge into navigable 

11 waters from a covered vessel of— 

12 ‘‘(aa)(AA) graywater (except 

13 graywater referred to in section 

14 312(a)(6)), bilge water, cooling 

15 water, oil water separator efflu16 ent, anti-fouling hull coating 

17 leachate, boiler or economizer 

18 blowdown, byproducts from ca19 thodic protection, controllable 

20 pitch propeller and thruster hy21 draulic fluid, distillation and re22 verse osmosis brine, elevator pit 

23 effluent, firemain system efflu24 ent, freshwater layup effluent, 

25 gas turbine wash water, motor 

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1 gasoline and compensating efflu2 ent, refrigeration and air conden3 sate effluent, seawater pumping 

4 biofouling prevention substances, 

5 boat engine wet exhaust, sonar 

6 dome effluent, exhaust gas scrub7 ber washwater, or stern tube 

8 packing gland effluent; or 

9 ‘‘(BB) any other pollutant 

10 associated with the operation of a 

11 marine propulsion system, ship12 board maneuvering system, hab13 itability system, or installed 

14 major equipment, or from a pro15 tective, preservative, or absorp16 tive application to the hull of a 

17 covered vessel; 

18 ‘‘(bb) weather deck runoff, 

19 deck wash, aqueous film forming 

20 foam effluent, chain locker efflu21 ent, non-oily machinery waste22 water, underwater ship hus23 bandry effluent, welldeck efflu24 ent, or fish hold and fish hold 

25 cleaning effluent; or 

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1 ‘‘(cc) any effluent from a 

2 properly functioning marine en3 gine; or 

4 ‘‘(II) a discharge of a pollutant 

5 into navigable waters in connection 

6 with the testing, maintenance, and re7 pair of a system, equipment, or an en8 gine described in item (aa)(BB) or 

9 (cc) of subclause (I) whenever the cov10 ered vessel is waterborne. 

11 ‘‘(ii) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘dis12 charge incidental to the normal operation 

13 of a covered vessel’ does not include— 

14 ‘‘(I) a discharge into navigable 

15 waters from a covered vessel of— 

16 ‘‘(aa) ballast water; 

17 ‘‘(bb) rubbish, trash, gar18 bage, incinerator ash, or other 

19 such material discharged over20 board; 

21 ‘‘(cc) oil or a hazardous sub22 stance within the meaning of sec23 tion 311; or 

24 ‘‘(dd) sewage within the 

25 meaning of section 312; 

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1 ‘‘(II) an emission of an air pol2 lutant resulting from the operation 

3 onboard a covered vessel of a vessel 

4 propulsion system, motor driven 

5 equipment, or incinerator; or 

6 ‘‘(III) a discharge into navigable 

7 waters from a covered vessel when the 

8 covered vessel is operating in a capac9 ity other than as a means of transpor10 tation on water. 

11 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION OF DISCHARGES SUB12 JECT TO BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES.— 

13 ‘‘(A) DETERMINATION.— 

14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Adminis15 trator, in consultation with the Secretary 

16 of the department in which the Coast 

17 Guard is operating, shall determine the 

18 discharges incidental to the normal oper19 ation of a covered vessel for which it is 

20 reasonable and practicable to develop best 

21 management practices to mitigate the ad22 verse impacts of such discharges on the 

23 waters of the United States. 

24 ‘‘(ii) PROMULGATION.—The Adminis25 trator shall promulgate the determinations 

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1 under clause (i) in accordance with section 

2 553 of title 5, United States Code. 

3 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In making a de4 termination under subparagraph (A), the Ad5 ministrator shall consider— 

6 ‘‘(i) the nature of the discharge; 

7 ‘‘(ii) the environmental effects of the 

8 discharge, including characteristics of the 

9 receiving waters; 

10 ‘‘(iii) the effectiveness of the best 

11 management practice in reducing adverse 

12 impacts of the discharge on water quality; 

13 ‘‘(iv) the practicability of developing 

14 and using a best management practice; 

15 ‘‘(v) the effect that the use of a best 

16 management practice would have on the 

17 operation, operational capability, or safety 

18 of the vessel; 

19 ‘‘(vi) applicable Federal and State 

20 law; 

21 ‘‘(vii) applicable international stand22 ards; and 

23 ‘‘(viii) the economic costs of the use of 

24 the best management practice. 

25 ‘‘(C) TIMING.—The Administrator shall— 

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1 ‘‘(i) make initial determinations under 

2 subparagraph (A) not later than 1 year 

3 after the date of enactment of this sub4 section; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) every 5 years thereafter— 

6 ‘‘(I) review the determinations; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(II) if necessary, revise the de9 terminations based on any new infor10 mation available to the Administrator. 

11 ‘‘(3) REGULATIONS FOR THE USE OF BEST

12 MANAGEMENT PRACTICES.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the 

14 department in which the Coast Guard is oper15 ating, in consultation with the Administrator, 

16 shall promulgate regulations on the use of best 

17 management practices for discharges incidental 

18 to the normal operation of a covered vessel that 

19 the Administrator determines are reasonable 

20 and practicable to develop under paragraph (2). 

21 ‘‘(B) REGULATIONS.— 

22 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

23 shall promulgate the regulations under this 

24 paragraph as soon as practicable after the 

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1 Administrator makes determinations pur2 suant to paragraph (2). 

3 ‘‘(ii) CONSIDERATIONS.—In promul4 gating regulations under this paragraph, 

5 the Secretary may— 

6 ‘‘(I) distinguish among classes, 

7 types, and sizes of vessels; 

8 ‘‘(II) distinguish between new 

9 and existing vessels; and 

10 ‘‘(III) provide for a waiver of the 

11 applicability of the standards as nec12 essary or appropriate to a particular 

13 class, type, age, or size of vessel. 

14 ‘‘(4) EFFECT OF OTHER LAWS.—This sub15 section shall not affect the application of section 311 

16 to a covered vessel. 

17 ‘‘(5) PROHIBITION RELATING TO COVERED VES18 SELS.—After the effective date of the regulations 

19 promulgated by the Secretary of the department in 

20 which the Coast Guard is operating under paragraph 

21 (3), the owner or operator of a covered vessel shall 

22 neither operate in, nor discharge any discharge inci23 dental to the normal operation of the vessel into, 

24 navigable waters, if the owner or operator of the ves25 sel is not using any applicable best management 

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1 practice meeting standards established under this 

2 subsection.’’. 

Æ 

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