Maritime Compliance Report
EPA Vessel General Permit (VGP) Recordkeeping
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a Vessel General Permit (VGP) which went into effect in the U.S. in February of 2009. The purpose of the VGP is to regulate discharges into the water which are incidental to normal operations. In general, the VGP applies to all commercial vessels which are greater than 79 feet, U.S. or foreign flag, operating in U.S. waters. This includes otherwise unregulated deck and hopper barges as well. There hasn't been much enforcement of the EPA VGP to date, but, according to the EPA, they are developing a Memorandum of Agreement with the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) regarding how the USCG will enforce this on behalf of the EPA. So, you may not see any enforcement for quite a while, but when they show up they will want to see documentation going back as far as February 2009 as evidence that the VGP has been followed.In developing a compliance management system for the VGP, we studied the permit and determined there were nine different logs and records that an inspector might ask for. A good compliance management system must be thorough as it also serves as a training tool and job aid for the vessel personnel who must understand the program and who will be expected to demonstrate their knowledge of the program to inspectors. In those nine different logs and records were 154 items (either explicitly required or implied) that an inspector might ask for as evidence that the requirements of the permit are being fulfilled. Don't be lulled into a false sense of security; this is a significant regulation which should not be taken lightly. I heard some interesting comments at a conference a few weeks ago regarding the VGP which are worth repeating. There was a panel on the VGP which included the EPA representative, an attorney and a pollution insurance representative. The panel was in agreement that a vessel company is far more likely to get a fine under this program for improper record keeping than for discharging. The insurance representative added that his pollution insurance policy will not cover any fines for improper record keeping or failure to establish an adequate self-monitoring program. Of course, my favorite quote of the day, and one which shocked the audience, came from the same pollution insurance panelist who said, "You are much better off spending your money on compliance than on my insurance policy." I tend to agree.
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