Ballast Water Management for Vessels with Ballast Tanks Entering U.S. Waters

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY U.S. COAST GUARD

Ballast Water Management for Vessels with Ballast Tanks Entering U.S. Waters

OMB No. 1625-0069 Exp: 04/30/2012

Who must comply?	Owners and operators of certain vessels.
What is this collection about?	The information is needed to ensure that a vessel complies with the ballast water management (BWM) regulations prior to entry into U.S. waters from beyond the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) (i.e., 200 mile limit).
Where do I find the requirements for this information?	Title 33 CFR 151, is available at—http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov, select TITLE 33 – NAVIGATION AND NAVIGABLE WATERS, and follow to Part 151, subparts C & D.
When must information be submitted to the Coast Guard?	In general, you must submit BWM information at least 24 hour prior to entry into the U.S. For a voyage of less than 24 hour, you must submit the information before you depart on your voyage. For an owner/operator of a vessel seeking a ballast water discharge standards (BWDS) compliance extension request, at least 12 months before the implementation date.
How is the information submitted?	The BWM information may be submitted by one for four methods—by mail, or electronically via an on-line form, e-mail or fax. For details, go to http://invasions.si.edu/nbic/. The BWDS extension request, may be submitted by mail or electronically via e-mail. For details, see below.
What happens when complete information is received?	The information is used by the Coast Guard (CG) to analyze the BWM practices of commercial ships that operate in the waters of the United States.
For additional information, contact--	For BWM, contact your local CG Sector Office or the National Ballast Information Clearinghouse (NBIC). A list of CG sectors, as part of a comprehensive list of Coast Guard units, can be found at http://www.uscg.mil/top/units/. The NBIC is at http://invasions.si.edu/nbic/. If an answer to your question is not in the FAQs, any further inquiries should be directed to: nbic@ballastreport.org. For BWDS, contact— environmental.standards@uscg.mil or Commandant (CG-522), 2100 2nd Street SW Stop 7251, Washington, DC 20593-7251.

An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number.

The Coast Guard estimates that the average burden per response for this report varies per information collection—about 40 minutes for a BWM report; and up to 8 hours for a BWDS compliance extension request. You may submit any comments concerning the accuracy of this burden estimate or any suggestions for reducing the burden to: Commandant (CG-5224), U.S. Coast Guard, 2100 2^nd Street SW Stop 7251, Washington D.C. 20593-7251 or Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (1625-0069), Washington, DC 20503.