GBA Update Fall 2024

INVASIVE SPECIES

By Don Jodrey, Director of Federal Government Relations Alliance for the Great Lakes

Proposed EPA Rule Fails to Protect the Great Lakes from Invasive Species

T he US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has identified invasive species such as zebra mussels as a significant threat to the Great Lakes ecosystem. Research shows that larger transport ships play a major role in the introduction and spread of harmful aquatic invasive species. This happens when they discharge ballast water that may contain unwanted visitors like zebra mussels. Once these unwelcome visitors set up camp, they devastate the natural food chain, which can lead to dangerous algae growth, causing substantial environmental and economic harm to the Great Lakes and other bodies of water across the country. Seven years ago, in the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act (VIDA), the US Congress directed the EPA to set national standards for, and regulate discharges from, shipping vessels that can introduce and transfer invasive species. Since then, the EPA has repeatedly failed to issue rules protecting US waters and the Great Lakes from spreading and transferring harmful invasive species. In October 2020, the EPA released its proposed draft VIDA rules, which we, and many others, found deficient because they arbitrarily excluded “lakers” (vessels that do not leave the Great Lakes) from regulation. In response to this criticism, EPA issued a supplemental rule in 2023 that continues to exempt lakers from regulation, but proposes to regulate new lakers constructed after 2026. The EPA’s exclusion of existing lakers is problematic given that the ballast water discharged from these ships accounts for over 95 per cent of ballast water volumes transferred in the Great Lakes – and, thus, is a significant contributor to the spread of invasive species. Furthermore, new lakers are rarely built, and with the EPA’s assumption that approximately seven new lakers are constructed every 20 years, we estimate that it would take nearly a century for the existing laker fleet to turn over and be regulated under the EPA’s proposed approach. In 2022, the Canadian government issued a set of regulations that require all vessels stopping at Canadian ports to have ballast water treatment systems in place by the year 2030. This is in contrast to US regulations, which don't have similar requirements. The Canadian regulations are expected to

reduce the spread of invasive species at Canadian Great Lakes ports by 82 per cent. The primary difference between the rules proposed in the US and those in Canada is that the Canadian regulations mandate the installation of a ballast water treatment system that meets certain equipment standards. This system is intended to remove harmful invasive species and pathogens from the ballast water. Canada realizes that although no system is currently in place to perform perfectly, it is better to require vessel operators to install treatment systems now to gain experience operating them, with the expectation that the systems will be improved over time. Canada evaluated the costs and benefits of imposing an equipment standard and found that the benefits outweighed the costs by a nearly three to one ratio, which is impressive. In contrast to Canada, the EPA based its decision on US legal requirements that it requires the “best available technology that is economically achievable.” The EPA wrongly determined that the costs of a ballast water treatment system that would meet the discharge standard could not be borne by industry. We have questioned this approach and noted that Canada found the compliance costs to be nearly one-third of the costs of compliance assumed by the EPA, although the fleet size is comparable. The EPA also questioned whether any existing system could perform as desired and justified its exclusion of regulating existing Lakers on the premise that something might be developed in the future that would perform better. Canada got this right. So far, the US has not, and we have noted deficiencies in the proposed EPA rule. The Great Lakes are a shared responsibility, and like our northern neighbour, the US waters should be protected by a federal ballast program that prevents the introduction and spread of aquatic invasive species and pathogens. We cannot afford to wait another century for new technology when existing solutions are more than adequate to address the issue of invasive species. The EPA needs to act immediately to address this issue and ensure the safety of our environment.

www.georgianbay.ca

GBA UPDATE Spring 2024

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