California raises standards for BWMS

The California State Lands Commission recently issued a report that assessed the efficacy, availability and environmental impacts of currently available ballast water treatment technologies. Said the report: “Thus at least two systems, OceanSaver and OptiMarin, are capable of meeting all standards that can be assessed using the best available techniques and methods at this time.”

The report stems from the California state legislature’s Coastal Ecosystems Protection Act of 2006, which required the implementation of ballast water performance standards by 1 January 2009. This was extended until 1 January 2010, due to the scarcity of appropriate ballast water management systems (BWMS). The California state legislature required the California State Lands Commission to undertake a new study, approved 3 December 2008, to evaluate whether commercially available systems could meet the state’s unique and stringent, performance standards.

The California state standards are similar to the IMO performance standards, but are more stringent in many areas. For example, the IMO standards demand that there be no more than ten viable organisms greater than 50 micrometers in their minimum dimension per cubic meter of discharged ballast water. California standards require no detectable living organisms of this size in discharged ballast.

The California State Lands Commission’s report involved gathering data and both internal and independent reports on 30 different ballast water management systems. The report does not constitute an endorsement or approval of any systems, but rather indicates which systems show a likelihood of performing to the satisfaction of state requirements that will be phased in starting in 2010.

Said OceanSaver Managing Director Stein Foss: “This report can provide further reassurance to owners that the OceanSaver ballast water management system will meet any and all performance standards. For tanker and bulker companies operating on the US west coast, especially, this report should be a call to action. California authorities seem convinced that technological development has advanced sufficiently to allow strict performance standards to enter into force. This parallels experience internationally with governments ratifying the IMO’s ballast water convention in growing numbers.”