[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 44 (Wednesday, March 8, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E196]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    INTRODUCTION OF A BILL TO AMEND THE FRANK LoBIONDO COAST GUARD 
 AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2018 TO DIRECT THE COMMANDANT OF THE COAST GUARD 
    TO PROVIDE CERTAIN DATA RELATED TO WATER QUALITY, AND FOR OTHER 
                                PURPOSES

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN GARAMENDI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, March 8, 2023

  Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, today I introduce legislation to direct 
the Commandant of the Coast Guard to make available to state regulators 
information pertaining to ballast water management systems with a 
``Type Approval Certificate'' issued by the U.S. Coast Guard. I would 
like to thank the California State Lands Commission for their 
meaningful contributions and collaboration on this shared priority.
  Routine access to this information is critical to California's Marine 
Invasive Species Program, administered by the California State Lands 
Commission. It would also enable California and other states to assess 
the performance of U.S. Coast Guard-approved ballast water management 
systems. The nonproprietary information yielded from this assessment 
will inform policy recommendations to reduce the risk of the 
introduction or proliferation of invasive or nuisance species in state 
waters.
  Federal law requires vessels to use a U.S. Coast Guard-approved 
ballast water management system to meet ballast water discharge 
standards. The U.S. Coast Guard collects important data on the efficacy 
of ballast water management systems to meet federal discharge standards 
as part of their type approval process. These data represent the most 
current and thorough data on the performance of these ballast water 
management technologies.
  In 2018, Congress passed the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act (VIDA), 
requiring the U.S. EPA to create uniform national performance standards 
for discharges incidental to the normal operation of a vessel, 
including ballast water. Once implemented, VIDA regulations preempt 
States' authority to enact more stringent standards for ballast water 
and other vessel discharges. However, states are authorized under that 
same 2018 federal law to inspect vessels and enforce the federal 
ballast water management requirements. States were also given explicit 
authority to petition the U.S. EPA and U.S. Coast Guard to adopt 
stricter standards if available data supports doing so. VIDA also 
authorizes states to sample ballast water from arriving vessels to 
obtain information relevant to any future petition.
  However, the California State Lands Commission and similar state 
regulators cannot perform this work--carrying out their legal 
responsibilities for state waterways--without ready access from the 
U.S. Coast Guard to information and datasets on the water quality 
characteristics and biological organism concentrations from post-
treatment water discharged from ballasts water management systems. To 
date, the State of California has been denied access to this critical 
public information from the U.S. Coast Guard despite filing a formal 
request and subsequent appeal under the federal Freedom of Information 
Act.
  This legislation would fix this problem and require the U.S. Coast 
Guard to provide ballast water management system data, including 
information about the biological efficacy of approved systems, to 
states upon request. Mr. Speaker, I urge all members of the House to 
join me in cosponsoring this legislation.

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