Fw: VGP - Vessel General Permit Ronna Beckmarin to: Cynthia Gaines Cc: Denise Gawlinski 2011 N01117 PM I: 14 11/16/2011 02:25 PM

Ronna Beckmann Office of the Regional Administrator U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5 312-886-0689
Forwarded by Ronna Beckmann/R5/USEPAJUS on 11/16/2011 09:35 AM

From: "Lamers, Holly J - DNR <Holly.Lamers©Wisconsin.gov > To: Denise Gawlinski/R5/USEPA/US@EPA, Ronna Beckmann/R5/USEPAIUS@EPA Cc: Kluesner, Elizabeth M - DNR' <Elizabeth.Kluesner©wisconsin.gov > Date: 11/16/2011 08:12 AM Subject: VGP - Vessel General Permit

Good morning, Dawn and Ronna, Will you please route this letter to Administrator Jackson? I will be sending the hard copy via postal mail today as well. Thank you kindly, Holly Lamers Assistant to Secretary Cathy Stepp and Deputy Secretary Matt Noroney Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (*) phone: 608-267-7556 (*) e-mail: Holly. Lamers@wisconsin.gov Notice: This e-mail and any attachments may contain confidential information. Use and further disclosure of any of this information by the recipient must be consistent with applicable Wisconsin and federal laws, regulations and agreements. If you received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender; delete the e-mail; and do not use, disclose, or store the information it contains.

20111116075058671.pdfState of Wisconsin

DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES 101 S. Webster Street Box 7921 Madison WI 53707-7921 Scott Walker, Governor Cathy Stepp, Secretary Telephone 608•266-2621 Toll Free 1-888-936-7463 TTY Access via relay - 711 Y1SCOHSIN DEPT. OF 4TURAL RESOURCES 

# DArLY RE ADIN FILE

November 15, 2011

Honorable Lisa Jackson i\dmi ni strator U.S. Environmental Protect ion Agency 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, DC 20460

Dear Administrator Jackson: It is my understanding that later this month EPA will be re-issuing its \'essel General Permit (VGP), in which ballast water management on the Great Lakes will be addressed. 1 am writing to share Wisconsin's input on this i iiportant issue. For years, Wisconsin has been a leader on ballast water management on the Great Lakes. We have worked hard to develop conditions in our Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (WPDES) Ballast Water Discharge General Permit that are l)rotecti\'e of the Gieat Lakes resources while also practical for the shipping industry, and we'd like our success to continue. It is critical that the proposed EPA \'GP not preempt any of the important work and permit conditions that Wisconsin has already established, so I kind))' ask that you please consider the following recommendations and points. First, the mid-ocean Ballast Water Exchange (B WE) Best Management Practice (Bi'IP,I slw,ld be sustained in the VGP wit/i added treatment requirements, as a dual treatment approach would better protect the Great Lakes from the threat of aquatic noi:-tndigenous species. Currently, the most effective way to remove nonindigenous species from ballast water is the liMP of BWE, or saltwater flushing. This practice reduces the number of coastal organisms (potent al invasive threats to our waters), and continues to be effective. Research of Dr. Sarah Bailey, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (publication pending, Development of Guidelines and Other Documenis for Uniform Implementation of the 2004 BWM Convention), indicates that combining BWE with a ballast water treatment system is an even better way to protect the Great Lakes from the harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens ballast water can introduce. Second, BMP requirements for all Great Lakes vessels (Lakc,$) should be established in the 

### VGP. Our WPDES Ballast Water Discharge General Permit has established BMP requirements for Lakers, a target group we know to be a primary vector in spreading aquatic non-indigenous species throughout the Great Lakes. These requirements have proven effective for our state and would be beneficial across the board. Finally, numeric standards equal to the Internah anal Maritime Organization (Ji'IiO) standard should be included in the VGP and imiade effecili'e immediately. lii 2010, Wisconsin reviewed documentation and expert opinions on ballast water treatment technologies to determine whether the WPDES Ballast Water Discharge General Permit treatment standards were achievable. Wisconsin requested the Gieat Lakes Ballast Water Collaborative to act as a technical advisory committee to make recommendations based on the combined effort of 

# I

PPA1TD

c,v yu.tO PAPER dnr.wi.gov wsconsin,gov Naturally 

# WISCONSINexperts in the field of ballast water treatment technology. The recommendation that came from this committee

was to set treatment standards at the IMO level because higher standards for treatment were not yet achievable. Previously, EPA tasked its Science Advisory Board (SAB) to address the question of whether ballast water treatment technology already existed, or would exist in the foreseeable future, to meet a standard greater than the 1MO standard. In the SA_B's recently issued final report, it emphatically stated that no such technology currently exists. States should not be permitted to have standards more stringent than the IMO standard, as higher standards are technologically impossible to meet, and would possibly force closures and threaten thousands of maritimere1ated jobs in the Great Lakes states. Thank you for your consideration of these points. I look forward to working with you on this important issue.

C:aıhy Sıepp Sccrelil^Y

cc. Governor Scott Walker Members, Wisconsi ii Congressional Delegation