0
dm-filestext
dm-emptyview-before dm-emptyview-after
Environmental legislation / US Vessel General Permit
Understanding the on-going regulatory reviews to protect our waters
Castrol’s Liquid Engineers are committed to meeting regulations that preserve our marine environment.
Regulations from MARPOL (International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships) and IMO (International Maritime Organisation) protect international waters against accidental oil and chemicals spills. New legislation is being formulated to take into account the day-to-day operational discharges of chemicals in the sea, which often take place below the waterline.
More than 5,000 Marine Protected Areas exist worldwide and polar waters are increasingly protected. IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee and Marine Environment Protection Committee have issued guidelines for ships operating in polar waters which state that "Stern tube bearings, seals and main propulsion components located outside the hull should not leak pollutants. Non-toxic, biodegradable lubricants are not considered to be pollutants".
US 2013 Vessel General Permit
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the USA has published a new version of the Vessel General Permit (VGP), which has been in force since 19th December 2013, mandating the use of ‘Environmentally Acceptable Lubricants’ (EALs) by any ‘vessel’ calling in the waters of the United States. From this date, all ‘vessels’ in the ‘waters of the United States’ must:
- Obtain a Vessel General Permit (VGP)
- Use Environmentally Acceptable Lubricants in all oil-to-sea interfaces, unless technically infeasible
Why the change?
The EPA’s recognition of the impact that lubricant discharges (not accidental spills) have on the marine ecosystem has motivated the change. The 2013 VGP mandates the use of EALs for all applications where lubricants are likely to enter the sea, not mineral oils, as EALs can offer a significantly reduced environmental impact across all applications.