1625-0069_SS_r0_2022_

1625-0069

Supporting Statement

for

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

OMB No.: 1625-0069

COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS: BWM Reporting form,
BWM Equivalent Reporting Program application & Instructions

A. Justification.

1) Circumstances that make the collection of information necessary.

The information is necessary to carry out the reporting requirement of Title 33 United States Code (U.S.C.) 1251, which concerns requirement or prohibitions pertaining to the discharge of ballast water into the waters of the United States. The implementing regulations are in 33 CFR Part 151 Subparts C and D, and 46 CFR Part 162. There are 2 elements to this collection—

• First, there is a mandatory requirement imposed on an owner/operator of a vessel who enters a U.S. port after operating outside of our Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The master of the vessel provides information to the Coast Guard that details the vessel operator’s ballast water management (BWM) methods and efforts [BWM Voyage reports].

• Second, there is a voluntary reporting requirement to allow a vessel owner/operator to request an extension if they cannot practicably comply with the ballast water discharge standards (BWDS) compliance date applicable to their vessel. This extension provision gives flexibility to a vessel owner/operator to comply with this rule [BWDS Compliance Extension requests].

The statutory authority is 33 U.S.C. 1251. This authority is delegated by the Secretary to the Coast Guard via the Department of Homeland Security Delegation No. 0170.1, Revision No. 01.2. (II)(73).

2) Purposes of the information collection.

The purpose of the information collection is to monitor and ensure that vessels are in compliance with the Coast Guard’s ballast water regulations.

3) Consideration of the use of improved information technology.

(a) BWM Voyage reports: The information may be submitted by the following methods—electronically via an on-line form or e-mail. For details, go to https://nbic.si.edu/.

(b) BWM ERP applications: The information must be submitted in writing to the Commandant (CG-OES), Attn: Office of Operating and Environmental Standards, U.S. Coast Guard Stop 7509, 2703 Martin Luther King Jr Ave SE, Washington, DC 20593-7509, or via e-mail to environmental_standards@uscg.mil. For details, go to https://nbic.si.edu/submit/equivalentprogram/.

(c) BWDS Compliance Extension requests: Extension requests must be made before the scheduled implementation date listed in 33 CFR 151.1512(b) and submitted in writing to the Commandant (CG-OES), Attn: Office of Operating and Environmental Standards, U.S. Coast Guard Stop 7509, 2703 Martin Luther King Jr Ave SE, Washington, DC 20593-7509, or via e-mail to environmental_standards@uscg.mil. Extension evaluations will be on a per-vessel basis.

We estimate that 100% of the reporting requirements can be done electronically. At this time, we estimate that approximately 100% of the responses are collected electronically.

4) Efforts to identify duplication.

As a result of State agencies imposing their own ballast water reporting requirements, and to alleviate redundant reporting requirements on vessels, the Coast Guard and National Ballast Information Clearinghouse (NBIC) hope to remain the single clearinghouse of BWM reporting data and will make this information directly available to State agencies who would otherwise require vessels to submit ballast water reports to them.

5) Methods to minimize the burden to small businesses if involved.

This information collection does not have a significant impact on small businesses or other small entities. This BWDS compliance extension provision gives flexibility to vessel owners and operators to comply with this rule.

6) Consequences to the Federal program if collection were conducted less frequently.

The consequence of not collecting the information would mean that no reliable, systematic method of establishing that vessels have complied with the regulations would exist. Verbal reports would be the only method of collection, with no means to validate such information. Consequently, there would be insufficient data available to study the long-term effects of BWM. There would be no basis for future decision-making actions to reduce the threat of aquatic nuisance species in the United States.

7) Special collection circumstances.

This information collection is conducted in manner consistent with the guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2).

8) Consultation.

A 60-day Notice was published in the Federal Register to obtain public comment on this collection (See [USCG-2023-0093]; February 2, 2023, 88 FR 7100) and 30-Day Notice (April 28, 2023, 88 FR 26323) were published in the Federal Register to obtain public comment on this collection. The Coast Guard has not received any comments on this information collection.

9) Provide any payment or gift to respondents.

There is no offer of monetary or material value for this information collection.

10) Describe any assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents.

There are no assurances of confidentiality provided to the respondents for this information collection. This information collection request is covered by the Marine Information for Safety and Law Enforcement (MISLE) Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) and System of Records Notice (SORN). Links to the MISLE PIA and SORN are provided below:

• https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/privacy_pia_uscg_misle.pdf

• https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2009-06-25/html/E9-14906.htm

11) Additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature.

There are no questions of sensitive language.

12) Estimate of annual hour and cost burdens to respondents.

• The estimated annual number of respondents is 10,617.

• The estimated annual number of responses is 123,102.

• The estimated total hour burden is 87,509.

• The estimated annual cost burden is $6,213,139.

The burden to respondents is provided in Appendix A. We estimate that a BWM Voyage report takes approximately 40 minutes (0.67 hours) to complete. A BWM ERP application takes about 2 hours, and an BWM ERP update takes about 1 hour. Each of these 2 submissions are completed by a Vessel Crewmember (senior). For the wage rate, we used the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) wage rate for Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels (53-5021) [May 2021, mean hourly wage, loaded 50%, and rounded].¹

We estimate that a BWDS Compliance Extension request takes approximately 8 hours to complete, and the request is made by a Naval Architect. For the wage rate, we used the BLS wage rate for Marine Engineers and Naval Architects (17-2121) [May 2021, mean hourly wage, loaded 50%, and rounded].²

NOTE—The reporting and recordkeeping burdens include time to complete the information, file a log entry, and maintain and/or supply the necessary data to the Coast Guard, private researchers, and other government agencies.

13) Total annualized capital and start-up costs.

There are no capital, start-up or maintenance costs associated with this information collection.

14) Estimates of annualized Federal Government costs.

The estimated total annual Federal Government cost is $1,498,737 (see Appendix B). We estimate that a BWM Voyage report takes approximately 15 minutes (0.25 hours) to review, and the review is done by a GS-7. A BWM ERP application takes about 2 hours and an update takes about 1 hour to review, and the reviews are done by a GS-11. We estimate that a BWDS Compliance Extension request takes approximately 4 hours to review, and the review is done by a GS-14. For the wage rates, we used Office of Personnel Management (OPM) data [2022-RUS Salary Table, GS, Step 5, hourly basic rate, loaded 65%, and rounded].³

15) Reasons for the change in burden.

The change in burden is an ADJUSTMENT due to a change (i.e., increase) in the estimated annual number of responses. There is no proposed change to the reporting or recordkeeping requirements of this collection. The reporting and recordkeeping requirements, and the methodology for calculation burden, remain unchanged.

16) Plans for tabulation, statistical analysis and publication.

This information collection will not be published for statistical purposes.

17) Approval for not explaining the expiration date for OMB approval.

The Coast Guard will display the expiration date for OMB approval of this information collection.

18) Exception to the certification statement.

The Coast Guard does not request an exception to the certification of this information collection.

B. Collection of Information Employing Statistical Methods

This information collection does not employ statistical methods.

1 https://www.bls.gov/oes/2021/may/oes535021.htm

2 https://www.bls.gov/oes/2021/may/oes172121.htm

3 https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salary-tables/pdf/2022/RUS_h.pdf

5 of 5