Chapter 67, Subchapter II, Section 4712, Subsection (f) · 16 U.S.C. Chapter 67 — AQUATIC NUISANCE PREVENTION AND CONTROL

Contents

(f)

(1)The Secretary shall develop and maintain, in consultation and cooperation with the Task Force and the Smithsonian Institution (acting through the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center), a clearinghouse of national data concerning—

(A)ballasting practices;

(B)compliance with the guidelines issued pursuant to section 4711(c) of this title (as in effect on the day before December 4, 2018); and

(C)any other information obtained by the Task Force under subsection (b).

(2)

(A)The owner or operator of a vessel subject to this chapter shall submit to the National Ballast Information Clearinghouse, by not later than 6 hours after the arrival of the vessel at a United States port or place of destination, the ballast water management report form approved by the Office of Management and Budget numbered OMB 1625–0069 (or a successor form), unless the vessel is operating exclusively on a voyage between ports or places within contiguous portions of a single Captain of the Port Zone.

(B)The owner or operator of a vessel subject to this chapter may submit a single report under subparagraph (A) for multiple ballast water discharges within a single port or place of destination during the same voyage.

(C)A State may require the owner or operator of a vessel subject to this chapter to submit directly to the State, or to an appropriate regional forum, a ballast water management report form—

(i)not later than 24 hours prior to arrival at a United States port or place of destination in the State, if the voyage of the vessel is anticipated to exceed 24 hours; or

(ii)before departing the port or place of departure, if the voyage of the vessel to the United States port or place of destination is not anticipated to exceed 24 hours.

(3)

(A)On receipt of a ballast water management report under paragraph (2), the National Ballast Information Clearinghouse shall—

(i)in the case of a form submitted electronically, immediately disseminate the report to interested States; or

(ii)in the case of a form submitted by means other than electronically, disseminate the report to interested States as soon as practicable.

(B)Not later than 30 days after the date of receipt of a ballast water management report under paragraph (2), the National Ballast Information Clearinghouse shall make the data in the report fully and readily available to the public in a searchable and fully retrievable electronic format.

(4)

(A)Not later than July 1, 2019, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall prepare and submit a report in accordance with this paragraph.

(B)Each report under this paragraph shall synthesize and analyze the data described in paragraph (1) for the preceding 2-year period to evaluate nationwide status and trends relating to—

(i)ballast water delivery and management; and

(ii)invasions of aquatic nuisance species resulting from ballast water.

(C)The Secretary shall prepare each report under this paragraph in consultation and cooperation with—

(i)the Task Force; and

(ii)the Smithsonian Institution (acting through the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center).

(D)The Secretary shall—

(i)submit each report under this paragraph to—

(I)the Task Force;

(II)the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate; and

(III)the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives; and

(ii)make each report available to the public.

(5)Not later than 1 year after December 4, 2018, the Secretary shall establish a working group, including members from the National Ballast Information Clearinghouse and States with ballast water management programs, to establish a process for compiling and readily sharing Federal and State commercial vessel reporting and enforcement data regarding compliance with this chapter.

United States Government work; public domain under 17 U.S.C. § 105.

Defined terms · 26

Show every defined term

Administrator
means the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
aquatic nuisance species
means a nonindigenous species that threatens the diversity or abundance of native species or the ecological stability of infested waters, or commercial, agricultural, aquacultural or recreational activities dependent on such waters;
Assistant Secretary
means the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works);
ballast water
means any water and associated sediments used to manipulate the trim and stability of a vessel;
coastal zone
has the meaning given the term in section 1453 of this title.
Director
means the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service;
eligible entity
means—
exclusive economic zone
means the Exclusive Economic Zone of the United States established by Proclamation Number 5030, dated March 10, 1983, and the equivalent zone of Canada;
Foundation
means the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation established by section 3701(a) of this title.
Fund
means the Coastal Aquatic Invasive Species Mitigation Fund established by paragraph (3)(A).
Great Lakes
means Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, Lake Huron (including Lake St.
Great Lakes and Lake Champlain Systems
includes—
Great Lakes region
means the 8 States that border on the Great Lakes;
Indian tribe
means any Indian tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or community, including any Alaska Native village or regional corporation (as defined in or established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.)) that is recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians;
interstate organization
means an entity—
nonindigenous species
means any species or other viable biological material that enters an ecosystem beyond its historic range, including any such organism transferred from one country into another;
Program
means the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain Invasive Species Program established under paragraph (2)(A).
recreational vessel
has the meaning given that term in section 1362 of title 33;
Secretary
means the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating;
State
means each of the several States, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands of the United States;
Task Force
means the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force established under section 4721 of this title;
technologies and practices
means those technologies and practices that—
territorial sea
means the belt of the sea measured from the baseline of the United States determined in accordance with international law, as set forth in Presidential Proclamation Number 5928, dated December 27, 1988;
Under Secretary
means the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere;
unintentional introduction
means an introduction of nonindigenous species that occurs as the result of activities other than the purposeful or intentional introduction of the species involved, such as the transport of nonindigenous species in ballast or in water used to transport fish, mollusks or crustaceans for aquaculture or other purposes.
waters of the United States
means the navigable waters and the territorial sea of the United States;