Great Lakes Shipping, Trade, and Aquatic Invasive Species Special Report 291 (2008) / Chapter Skim
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5 Identifying and Exploring Options for the Great LakesRegion: The Committee's Approach
5 Identifying and Exploring Options for the Great LakesRegion: The Committee's Approach
Pages 87-121
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From page 87... ...
As discussed in Chapter 3, current evidence suggests that the importance of the ballast water vector far outweighs that of the hull fouling vector for AIS introductions into the freshwater ecosystem of the Great Lakes. Nonetheless, a better understanding of the role of hull fouling is needed to help ensure the elimination of further AIS introductions by shipping through the seaway.
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From page 88... ...
. The resulting candidate actions to enhance the potential for global trade and to eliminate further AIS introductions are listed in Boxes 5-1 and 5-2, respectively.
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From page 89... ...
system • Build on bonding authority of ports • Market freshwater assets of Great Lakes region in economic development strategies Account for the External Costs of Transportation • Provide transition assistance to shippers • Charge for externalities prerequisite to suggesting actions that are practical and technically feasible. The candidate actions listed in Boxes 5-1 and 5-2 are broad in scope and variable in their level of detail.
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From page 90... ...
ballast water standards for vessels entering the Great Lakes in advance of ratification of IMO convention • Adopt ballast water standards more stringent than those of IMO • Adopt ballast water standards more stringent than those of IMO, with voluntary phase-in period • Implement tiered system of ballast water permits • Regulate ballast water discharges in a manner consistent with the U.S. Clean Water Act Enforce Regulations and Standards • Require posting of bond and testing for compliance • Engage major shippers in requiring compliance with prevention measures Monitor Progress and Plan Ahead • Implement surveillance, control, and rapid response capabilities • Accelerate research and development on role of hull fouling as a vector for introductions Coordinate Prevention Efforts • Coordinate state and provincial actions to prevent introductions • Adopt unified binational approach to IMO convention: Canada has indicated its intention to ratify, and the United States should follow suit
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From page 91... ...
The two following sections summarize the candidate actions to enhance the potential for trade and eliminate further ship-vectored AIS introductions and discuss their potential strengths and weaknesses. Areas of uncertainty and unknowns are noted, and any potential roadblocks are highlighted.
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From page 92... ...
Instead, as dictated by the overall study context and objective, it focused primarily on transportation-related actions for meeting the requirement to enhance the potential for global trade. This section summarizes candidate actions that may meet or contribute to meeting the first project criterion, namely, enhance the potential for global trade in the Great Lakes region (Box 5-1)
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From page 93... ...
Developing a binational strategy to finance the seaway's capital maintenance and renovation could, therefore, contribute to enhancing the Great Lakes region's potential for global trade by removing an anticipated impediment to such trade. As discussed in Chapter 2, ongoing maintenance and long-term capital expenditures needed through 2050 to ensure the continuing reliability of the GLSLS system have been estimated at more than $2 billion (Transport Canada et al.
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From page 94... ...
Because the seaway serves the industrial and agricultural heartland of North America, it could be used as a route for transshipping goods from saltwater ports on the east coast of North America to inland ports. Such transshipment would expand the use of ships into the Great Lakes heartland and might include container feeder services between deepwater transoceanic ports on the eastern seaboard and Great Lakes ports, such as Hamilton, Ontario.
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From page 95... ...
The seasonal nature of the seaway navigation system could also be a major disadvantage, since shippers and receivers would need to stockpile inventories of relatively high-value containerized cargoes or find alternative means of moving goods during the seaway's winter closure. Enhance Intermodal Services and Encourage More Holistic Treatment Across All Modes Enhancing intermodal services for goods moving on the seaway could add to the Great Lakes region's potential for global trade by offsetting the adverse impacts of policies aimed at preventing further ship-vectored AIS introductions.
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From page 96... ...
Foster an Environment Conducive to Economic Development and Trade Role of Ports Encouraging greater collaboration among ports within the GLSLS system is a possible approach to enhancing the Great Lakes region's potential for global trade. While some ports may compete for cargoes, different ports serve different hinterlands to a large extent.
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From page 97... ...
guarantee that the seaway will remain open to vessels complying with ballast water management regulations could help stimulate several seawaydependent, economy-enhancing initiatives within the Great Lakes 2 Because Canadian ports do not have bonding authority, the option of using this authority for competitive advantage is available only to U.S. ports.
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From page 98... ...
Thus, it could be a valuable component of a suite of actions to prevent further ship-vectored AIS introductions and enhance the potential for global trade. Market Freshwater Assets in Economic Development Strategies Given that drinking water is an increasingly precious commodity, it has been suggested that the Great Lakes region could market its freshwater assets in various economic development strategies.4 For example, a report from the Brookings Institution observes that the Great Lakes and its waterways offer "a tremendous opportunity for reinvigorating the economy of the region," while other regions face long-term sustainability challenges arising from lack of water, among other factors (Austin et al.
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From page 99... ...
. Provide Transition Assistance to Shippers Shipping companies are likely to incur additional costs in ensuring that their vessels take measures to prevent further AIS introductions into the Great Lakes.
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From page 100... ...
This strategy, which could include the elimination of subsidies where they exist, would result in fairer competition among the different modes and in commerce that reflects true environmental costs. However, it would increase the costs of transportation, and as a result it would not enhance the potential for global trade.
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From page 101... ...
Thus, the region could enjoy a relative trade advantage over some other regions. Concluding Remarks Various aspects of Great Lakes regional economic development, including opportunities to enhance global trade, are already being explored by many highly qualified individuals and organizations in government, the private sector, and academia.
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From page 102... ...
The committee concluded that there are few new and promising transportation-related opportunities to enhance the Great Lakes region's potential for global trade over and above the candidate actions already under consideration. It did, however, identify one promising new approach to reducing impediments to global trade -- developing a binational guarantee that the seaway will remain open to shipping.
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From page 103... ...
To facilitate the discussion, the candidates have been grouped into the following categories: • Exploit ballast water management technologies; • Adopt ballast water management regulations, including standards; • Enforce regulations and standards; • Monitor progress and plan ahead; • Coordinate prevention efforts; • Involve stakeholders; • Assign liability; and • Close the seaway. Exploit Ballast Water Management Technologies Ballast Water Exchange, Saltwater Flushing, and Shipboard Treatment Systems Ship-based ballast water management technologies -- notably ballast water exchange (BWE)
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From page 104... ...
Noncompliant vessels would be required to take additional ballast water management measures before being granted permission to enter the seaway. The shipping industry currently uses automated shipboard reporting systems for maintenance and insurance purposes, and the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea requires certain vessels to carry voyage data recorders similar to the "black boxes" carried on aircraft.
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From page 105... ...
The main weakness of the candidate action just described (mandatory BWE or flushing with automated reporting) is that the designs of current vessels limit the effectiveness of BWE and flushing in removing or killing freshwater organisms in ballast tanks.
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From page 106... ...
. Portable Modular and Shore-Based Ballast Water Treatment Systems An additional technology-based ballast water management option would be to use a modular treatment system operating on the ship's power independently of any ship function.
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From page 107... ...
. Adopt Ballast Water Management Regulations, Including Standards The adoption of revised ballast water management regulations for vessels entering the Great Lakes has received widespread attention as a key component of efforts to prevent further ballast-mediated AIS introductions.
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From page 108... ...
Compliance with the more stringent standards would be voluntary, but vessels meeting them would be rewarded with significant incentives, such as reduced tolls or port charges. At some time in the future, the more stringent standards would likely become mandatory.8 Ballast water management regulations for the Great Lakes that are not directly related to the IMO convention have also been proposed.
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From page 109... ...
International standards aside, it is far from clear that the diverse organizations with authority to establish ballast water management regulations affecting vessels using the Great Lakes could agree among themselves on how best to achieve the desired protection. A complex patchwork of federal, state and
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From page 110... ...
Department of Commerce, which funds the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Ballast Water Management Demonstration Program. The purpose of this program is to create test platforms for use by technology vendors in developing new ballast water treatment systems.
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From page 111... ...
Although the vessel would forfeit its bond, the Great Lakes ecosystem would not be protected from the risk of new AIS introductions. In addition, distinguishing viable from dead organisms is not always an easy task, and development of specific assays would be needed for successful implementation of the proposed spot checking approach.
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From page 112... ...
In the committee's judgment, efforts to monitor progress in preventing further AIS introductions and investigate possible deficiencies in current prevention strategies are key components of any technology-based approach to eliminating further AIS introductions by vessels transiting the seaway. Coordinate Prevention Efforts As discussed in Chapter 4, rules and regulations specifying ballast water management requirements for vessels entering the GLSLS system are issued by the Canadian and U.S.
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From page 113... ...
They have emphasized the importance of coordinating efforts to prevent further ballastmediated AIS introductions. As noted earlier, the number of jurisdictions with authority to issue ballast water management regulations affecting vessels operating on the Great Lakes makes it difficult to establish a harmonized system of regulations, particularly in the absence of robust scientific evidence about the levels of ballast water "cleanliness" required to prevent further ship-vectored AIS introductions.
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From page 114... ...
Green Marine has identified AIS as one of its priority issues and developed a series of collective actions aimed at reducing the risk of introducing and propagating aquatic organisms and harmful pathogens by means of ships' ballast water.12 Assign Liability Because transoceanic vessels entering the Great Lakes have been a major source of biological pollution in the form of AIS, some have argued that shipowners and operators should be held accountable for damages resulting from past releases. Proponents of this strategy would encourage litigation under tort law based on the principle of "the polluter pays." As many have noted, however, establishing clear, unequivocal evidence that links a release of ballast water containing AIS by a particular vessel (a culpable defendant)
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From page 115... ...
. In general, the usual antipollution tools, such as bonding, insurance, assignment of liability, and litigation, may have limited applicability in preventing AIS introductions because of the absence of robust evidence identifying a culpable defendant.15 13 As noted earlier, the litigation was initiated in 1999 when environmental groups petitioned EPA to repeal the long-standing exemption of ballast water discharges from the CWA's permitting requirements.
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From page 116... ...
Closing the seaway to transoceanic shipping would eliminate the leading vector for AIS introductions into the Great Lakes, namely, the ballast water of transoceanic vessels. This action would not, however, eliminate further AIS introductions by vessels transiting the seaway.
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From page 117... ...
They would need to be part of a suite of actions aimed at meeting the second project criterion. For example, ballast water management technologies would need to be combined with appropriate regulations, enforcement, and monitoring to ensure that the technologies were being implemented correctly and were proving effective in preventing further AIS introductions.
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From page 118... ...
Closing the seaway to all vessels would obviate the need for such ballast water management technologies, as well as regulations and enforcement. Thus, complete closure of the seaway to vessel traffic appears to be the most promising candidate action to eliminate further shipvectored AIS introductions into the Great Lakes -- and is the only candidate identified by the committee that could guarantee to meet the absolute requirement to eliminate further introductions by vessels.
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From page 119... ...
The committee focused, therefore, on identifying compromise options that would both enhance the Great Lakes region's potential for global trade and greatly reduce the risk of further shipvectored AIS introductions via the seaway. The following chapter presents the committee's conclusions about possible compromise options, with particular reference to the two different approaches to preventing further ship-vectored AIS introductions -- removing or killing organisms carried by vessels or keeping these vessels out of the Great Lakes altogether.
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From page 120... ...
2007. Ballast Water Treatment Technologies and Their Application for Vessels Entering the Great Lakes via the St.
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From page 121... ...
Department of Transportation, St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation, Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, Environment Canada, and U.S.
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