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Rule to restrict plastics
Volume20/Number 4/April 1989
Few TBT Paints on Market The US EPA has announced that only two tributyltin hull paints, both manufactured by the same company, will be allowed to be sold in 1989. The 1988 Organotin Anti-Fouling Paint Control Act established that only paints releasing less than 4 ~tg cm -2 day -1 could be certiffed for sale and use in the US (see Mar. Pollut. Bull. 18, 519). The Act established this release rate as an interim measure until further study determined a more scientifically-based standard. The Act also prohibited use of TBT paints on all vessels less than 25 m in length that have non-aluminum hulls. EPA issued regulations pursuant to that Act that gave manfuacturers 30 days to provide previously-requested data regarding release rates on paints already certified. Those products not meeting release rate requirements would have their certifications cancelled, could not be sold after midDecember 1988, and could not be used after mid-June 1989. Several paint manufacturers want more time to provide the release rate data and have requested administrative hearings to protest the cancellations of their paint certifications.
Nitrogen Inputs to Chesapeake The US EPA and the State of Maryland are funding a project to develop wastewater treatment methods to reduce nitrogen concentrations in wastewaters before discharge. The EPA will fund approximately one-third of the almost $30 million needed for a nitrogen reduction project that will be performed by a Maryland wastewater treatment plant. This plant discharges into a river that empties into the Chesapeake Bay, which suffers from excess nutrient levels and consequent oxygen depletion. The project will attempt to reduce nitrogen concentrations in discharged wastewaters from 18 to 3 mg 1-I. The pilot study resulted from a Chesapeake Bay agreement signed in 1987 by EPA, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia (see Mar. Pollut. Bull. 19, 249). That agreement called for a 40% reduction in nitrogen and phosphorus discharges into the Bay by the year 2000.
Rule to Restrict Plastics The US Coast Guard has proposed regulations to prohibit the dumping of plastics and other debris from all commercial, recreational, and fishing ships and vessels of all sizes and types, including oil rigs and platforms, The regulations would also apply to US military ships and foreign ships while within 371 km (200 nautical miles) of the US coastline. Facilities for handling waste removed from ships would be required at US ports and terminals, commercial fishing facilities, mining and oil industry shorebases, and recreational marinas. The regulations were developed in response to the 1987 Marine Plastics Pollution Research and Control Act (see Mar. Pollut. Bull. 18, 622), which implemented
Annex V of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships. The regulations will reduce plastics pollution, including pollution by synthetic fishing nets, which Coast Guard officials state results in the deaths, through ingestion or entanglement, of a million birds and over 100 000 marine mammals and sea turtles every year. The regulations set a maximum jail sentence of 5 years for violations, with maximum criminal penalties of $50 000 per day per violation and maximum civil penalties of $25 000 per day per violation.
End of Ocean Dumping Before leaving office, President Reagan signed a bill to stop ocean dumping of sewage sludge and industrial wastes after 1991. The bill (S 2030) amends the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act (MPRSA), known as the 'Ocean Dumping Act.' It will require all sewage sludge and industrial waste dumpers to obtain EPA-approved dumping permits and to work with EPA to reach a compliance agreement that outlines a schedule for ending their ocean dumping. Only nine municipalities in New York and New Jersey dump sewage sludge in the ocean at a site 196 km (106 nautical miles) offshore of New Jersey. Only one company ocean dumps industrial wastes at the Acid Waste Site, which is located approximately 28 km (15 nautical miles) offshore of New Jersey. The bill will require any dumpers who are unable to meet the mandated deadlines to pay an escalating schedule of fees and fines. The bill follows a long battle over ocean dumping, which includes previous Congressional and EPA bans on the practice, judicial suits and consent decrees, and state actions. Recently, a 'sludge war' had developed between members of Congress, with legislators from New Jersey, Maryland, Rhode Island, and other coastal states arguing the dumping should be stopped. Although these members acknowledged that scientific data did not prove a link between the dumping and beach pollution or degradation of marine biota, they thought the practice contributed to ocean pollution problems. New York legislators argued against the ban, claiming that New York City had no alternatives for disposal of its sludge, the deadlines were impracticable, and the fines were unrealistic. New York City dumped almost half of the approximately 8.13 million t of sewage sludge disposed at the ocean site last year. The New Jersey State Legislature passed a bill in the summer of 1988 that was similar to the new federal statute (see Mar. Pollut. Bull. 19, 502-503). New York did not pass such a state law, but the two states did reach a compromise agreement that would stop dumping by the end of 1991. The agreement included fee provisions for municipalities failing to meet deadlines, but any such revenues would be placed in a trust fund to finance ocean disposal alternatives. This trust fund provision was adopted by the federal legislators and was included in the new federal law. 157
Few TBT Paints on Market The US EPA has announced that only two tributyltin hull paints, both manufactured by the same company, will be allowed to be sold in 1989. The 1988 Organotin Anti-Fouling Paint Control Act established that only paints releasing less than 4 ~tg cm -2 day -1 could be certiffed for sale and use in the US (see Mar. Pollut. Bull. 18, 519). The Act established this release rate as an interim measure until further study determined a more scientifically-based standard. The Act also prohibited use of TBT paints on all vessels less than 25 m in length that have non-aluminum hulls. EPA issued regulations pursuant to that Act that gave manfuacturers 30 days to provide previously-requested data regarding release rates on paints already certified. Those products not meeting release rate requirements would have their certifications cancelled, could not be sold after midDecember 1988, and could not be used after mid-June 1989. Several paint manufacturers want more time to provide the release rate data and have requested administrative hearings to protest the cancellations of their paint certifications.
Nitrogen Inputs to Chesapeake The US EPA and the State of Maryland are funding a project to develop wastewater treatment methods to reduce nitrogen concentrations in wastewaters before discharge. The EPA will fund approximately one-third of the almost $30 million needed for a nitrogen reduction project that will be performed by a Maryland wastewater treatment plant. This plant discharges into a river that empties into the Chesapeake Bay, which suffers from excess nutrient levels and consequent oxygen depletion. The project will attempt to reduce nitrogen concentrations in discharged wastewaters from 18 to 3 mg 1-I. The pilot study resulted from a Chesapeake Bay agreement signed in 1987 by EPA, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia (see Mar. Pollut. Bull. 19, 249). That agreement called for a 40% reduction in nitrogen and phosphorus discharges into the Bay by the year 2000.
Rule to Restrict Plastics The US Coast Guard has proposed regulations to prohibit the dumping of plastics and other debris from all commercial, recreational, and fishing ships and vessels of all sizes and types, including oil rigs and platforms, The regulations would also apply to US military ships and foreign ships while within 371 km (200 nautical miles) of the US coastline. Facilities for handling waste removed from ships would be required at US ports and terminals, commercial fishing facilities, mining and oil industry shorebases, and recreational marinas. The regulations were developed in response to the 1987 Marine Plastics Pollution Research and Control Act (see Mar. Pollut. Bull. 18, 622), which implemented
Annex V of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships. The regulations will reduce plastics pollution, including pollution by synthetic fishing nets, which Coast Guard officials state results in the deaths, through ingestion or entanglement, of a million birds and over 100 000 marine mammals and sea turtles every year. The regulations set a maximum jail sentence of 5 years for violations, with maximum criminal penalties of $50 000 per day per violation and maximum civil penalties of $25 000 per day per violation.
End of Ocean Dumping Before leaving office, President Reagan signed a bill to stop ocean dumping of sewage sludge and industrial wastes after 1991. The bill (S 2030) amends the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act (MPRSA), known as the 'Ocean Dumping Act.' It will require all sewage sludge and industrial waste dumpers to obtain EPA-approved dumping permits and to work with EPA to reach a compliance agreement that outlines a schedule for ending their ocean dumping. Only nine municipalities in New York and New Jersey dump sewage sludge in the ocean at a site 196 km (106 nautical miles) offshore of New Jersey. Only one company ocean dumps industrial wastes at the Acid Waste Site, which is located approximately 28 km (15 nautical miles) offshore of New Jersey. The bill will require any dumpers who are unable to meet the mandated deadlines to pay an escalating schedule of fees and fines. The bill follows a long battle over ocean dumping, which includes previous Congressional and EPA bans on the practice, judicial suits and consent decrees, and state actions. Recently, a 'sludge war' had developed between members of Congress, with legislators from New Jersey, Maryland, Rhode Island, and other coastal states arguing the dumping should be stopped. Although these members acknowledged that scientific data did not prove a link between the dumping and beach pollution or degradation of marine biota, they thought the practice contributed to ocean pollution problems. New York legislators argued against the ban, claiming that New York City had no alternatives for disposal of its sludge, the deadlines were impracticable, and the fines were unrealistic. New York City dumped almost half of the approximately 8.13 million t of sewage sludge disposed at the ocean site last year. The New Jersey State Legislature passed a bill in the summer of 1988 that was similar to the new federal statute (see Mar. Pollut. Bull. 19, 502-503). New York did not pass such a state law, but the two states did reach a compromise agreement that would stop dumping by the end of 1991. The agreement included fee provisions for municipalities failing to meet deadlines, but any such revenues would be placed in a trust fund to finance ocean disposal alternatives. This trust fund provision was adopted by the federal legislators and was included in the new federal law. 157