Commercial Vessel Incidental Discharge Act

openUnited States· United States Congress· EN

Introduced

17 January 2017

Last action

30 March 2017 · Reported

Status

Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 27.

Summary

Commercial Vessel Incidental Discharge Act This bill requires the U.S. Coast Guard to: (1) address the regulation of discharges incidental to the normal operation of a commercial vessel into navigable waters, including ballast water discharges; and (2) preempt applicable state laws and federal regulations issued under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act). Ballast water is water and suspended matter taken on board a commercial vessel to control or maintain trim, draught, stability, or stresses of the commercial vessel. This bill requires commercial vessels to meet ballast water discharge standards established by the Coast Guard by applying the best available technology that is economically achievable, unless they are a type of vessel exempted from the standards. By 2022, the Coast Guard must complete an effectiveness review to determine whether revising ballast water discharge standards will result in reducing the risk of introducing or establishing aquatic nuisance species. Further revisions to the standards must be considered every 10 years. If the standard would result in reducing the risk of introducing or establishing aquatic nuisance species, then the Coast Guard must conduct a practicability review to determine whether: (1) a ballast water management system that is capable of achieving the proposed standard is economically achievable and operationally practicable, and (2) testing protocols can accurately measure compliance. The Coast Guard must revise the standard if it meets practicability criteria. The Coast Guard must also issue rules establishing: (1) reasonable and practicable standards for reception facilities to mitigate adverse effects of aquatic nuisance species on navigable waters, and (2) best management practices for certain discharges for commercial vessels that are at least 79 feet in length and are not fishing vessels.

This text is taken from the official record. PoliticalRepo does not editorialize.

Timeline

17 January 2017
Introduced
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Source: IntroReferral
17 January 2017
Introduced
Introduced in Senate
Source: IntroReferral
24 January 2017
Reported
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably.
Source: Committee
30 March 2017
Calendars
Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 27.
Source: Calendars
30 March 2017
Reported
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Reported by Senator Thune without amendment. With written report No. 115-16.
Source: Committee
30 March 2017
Reported
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Reported by Senator Thune without amendment. With written report No. 115-16.
Source: Committee

Votes

No vote records are attached yet.

Versions

Reported to Senate · 30 March 2017 · Download file
Introduced in Senate · 17 January 2017 · Download file

Documents

6 official files

Reported to Senate (text)

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Reported to Senate (text)
Reported to Senate · EN · 30 March 2017
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Reported to Senate (PDF)
Reported to Senate · EN · 30 March 2017
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Reported to Senate without amendment
summary · EN · 30 March 2017
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Introduced in Senate (text)
Introduced in Senate · EN · 17 January 2017
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Introduced in Senate (PDF)
Introduced in Senate · EN · 17 January 2017
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Introduced in Senate
summary · EN · 17 January 2017
Open at official source
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Related records

related to ← Commercial Vessel Incidental Discharge Act

Sources

PoliticalRepo is an index and interpretation layer, not the authoritative legal source.

Official source: https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/168
Open data entity: https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/115/s/168
us · 115-s-168 · source updated 21 January 2026