Original Notice.

     Preproposal statement of inquiry was filed as WSR 02-10-095.

     Title of Rule: Ballast water exchange rules.

     Purpose: Amend ballast water treatment date.

     Statutory Authority for Adoption: Chapter 282, Laws of 2002.

     Statute Being Implemented: Chapter 282, Laws of 2002.

     Summary: Change implementation date.

     Reasons Supporting Proposal: Statutory change.

     Name of Agency Personnel Responsible for Drafting: Evan Jacoby, 1111 Washington Street, Olympia, (360) 902-2930; Implementation: Dave Brittell, 1111 Washington Street, Olympia, (360) 902-2504; and Enforcement: Bruce Bjork, 1111 Washington Street, Olympia, (360) 902-2373.

     Name of Proponent: Department of Fish and Wildlife, governmental.

     Rule is not necessitated by federal law, federal or state court decision.

     Explanation of Rule, its Purpose, and Anticipated Effects: Chapter 282, Laws of 2002 changed the date on which ballast water must be treated from July 1, 2002, to July 1, 2004. The rule change conforms [confirms] this date.

     Proposal Changes the Following Existing Rules: Date changed.

     No small business economic impact statement has been prepared under chapter 19.85 RCW. The date change delays, but does not change, the treatment requirement already established.

     RCW 34.05.328 does not apply to this rule adoption. Not hydraulics rules.

     Hearing Location: Pearsall Multi-Services Center, 2109 Sumner Avenue, Aberdeen, WA, on August 2-3, 2002, at 8:00 a.m.

     Assistance for Persons with Disabilities: Contact Debbie Nelson by July 19, 2002, TDD (360) 902-2207, or (360) 902-2267.

     Submit Written Comments to: Evan Jacoby, Rules Coordinator, 600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98501-1091, fax (360) 902-2155, by July 26, 2002.

     Date of Intended Adoption: August 2, 2002.

June 19, 2002

Evan Jacoby

Rules Coordinator

OTS-5806.1

AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending Order 01-173, filed 8/20/01, effective 9/20/01)

WAC 220-77-095   Interim ballast water discharge standard approval process.   (1) The Washington state interim ballast water discharge standard is inactivation or removal of ninety-five percent of zooplankton organisms and ninety-nine percent of phytoplankton and bacteria organism.

     (2) Vessels subject to chapter 77.120 RCW that have not adequately exchanged their ballast water must treat their ballast prior to discharge into Washington waters, after July 1, ((2002)) 2004. An interim approval process shall be used to evaluate ballast water treatment technologies and provide approval for certain technologies that are determined to meet the Washington state interim ballast water discharge standard. Only ballast water treatment technologies that are approved through this process may be used to discharge treated ballast water into Washington waters following the guidelines identified within the approval process. Ballast water treatment technology vendors or vessel owners may submit ballast treatment technology for evaluation through the following process:

     (a) Applications for approval will be accepted by the director or the director's designee at any time. The applicant is to be notified of department receipt of the application package within ten working days. If the application package is incomplete, the application will be returned to the applicant with an explanation of deficiencies or if the deficiencies are minimal, held for thirty days to allow the applicant to correct the deficiencies. Formal reviews of supporting data and proposed study plans will be completed within forty-five days of receipt of the complete application package.

     (b) Formal reviews will be conducted by a science advisory panel and a maritime advisory panel. Panel members will be appointed by the director or the director's designee. The science advisory panel will provide recommendations to the director or the director's designee regarding the ability of each technology to meet the Washington state interim ballast water discharge standard, the adequacy of the proposed study plan, and determine if such technology should be evaluated as a promising technology that could be considered as a "best available technology." The maritime advisory panel will provide recommendations to the director or the director's designee regarding the ability of each technology to meet the practical needs of the maritime industry, including safety, practicality and cost effectiveness, and determine if such technology should be evaluated as a promising technology that could be considered as a "best available technology."

     (c) The director, or the director's designee, shall take into consideration the findings of the scientific advisory panel, and the maritime advisory panel and make one of the following determinations:

     (i) That the ballast water treatment technology has been approved by the United States Coast Guard or a state agency and is an approved system for use in Washington state;

     (ii) To grant general approval to a technology meeting the Washington state interim ballast water discharge standard for a period of five years with stipulations for scientific evaluation. Approval may be revoked if new information shows the technology to be grossly inadequate and incapable of being retrofitted to correct the inadequacy;

     (iii) To grant conditional approval for use on a specific number of vessels for further full-scale testing; or

     (iv) Deny approval.

     (d) Criteria for review. Applications for interim approval of a ballast water treatment system shall be evaluated on the completeness of the following:

     (i) A letter of commitment from the technology vendor, the vessel owner installing the technology, and the principal investigators conducting the tests, stating their intents to carry out all components of the study plan for which they are responsible. Principal investigators must be qualified independent researchers. Applications for a treatment system to be used within a specified port must include a letter from the port authority in which the system is to be operated, granting authority for testing or use within the port.

     (ii) Documentation stating that the residual concentrations of any primary treatment chemicals or chemicals that occur as by-products of the treatment meet all applicable regulatory requirements.

     (iii) All available documentation describing the technical, operational and installation characteristics of the system.

     (iv) Documentation from preliminary experiments that demonstrate the potential of the system to meet the Washington state interim ballast water discharge standard. Indicator species may be used to evaluate the technologies' effectiveness. Technologies may be approved that do not currently meet this criteria, but show promise for improvement or are considered to be a "best available technology." The technology should include easily verifiable indicators to ensure the system is operational and effectively treating ballast at the time of treatment.

     (v) The discharge from a technology must be environmentally sound and in compliance with existing water quality discharge laws.

     (e) Each proposed technology must include a detailed study plan that:

     (i) Is organized according to a department-approved standardized format.

     (ii) Evaluates the effectiveness of the treatment system over a range of operational conditions during operations, including the cumulative hours of operation, volumes treated, times since the tanks were last cleaned of sediment, abundance of organisms, organic and inorganic load, temperature and salinity of water.

     (iii) Identifies limiting conditions such as water quality attributes that may affect the performance of the equipment, length of time for adequate treatment, or other factors that may render the technology as inadequate to meet the interim ballast water discharge standard.

     (iv) Assures that samples are representative of the flow or volume from which they are taken.

     (v) Contains a detailed quality assurance and/or quality control plan.

     (3) Conditions of approval.

     (a) Approval of a technology shall be withdrawn after one year if the system is not installed or the testing begun as proposed.

     (b) Systems approved under the interim approval process shall be considered to meet all ballast water treatment requirements promulgated by the department for a period of five years. In the event subsequent work reveals adverse effects on ecology or human health, approval of the system will be withdrawn unless the treatment system can be repaired to address the system's inadequacies.

     (c) Systems approved under the interim process will be subject to all subsequent standards and regulations upon the expiration of the interim approval period.

     (d) Interim approval is contingent on adherence to the detailed study plan described in the application and agreed upon by the applicant and the department.

     (e) The principal scientist and engineers responsible for conducting and analyzing the tests shall submit a report documenting the performance of the equipment and results of the testing to the department within twelve months after installation. Further testing may or may not be required based upon the test results.

     (f) Vessels or technologies receiving interim approval shall be subject to inspections by the department or the department's designated representative to verify adherence with the terms of this interim approval agreement and the operation of the treatment systems.

[Statutory Authority: RCW 77.12.047. 01-17-097 (Order 01-173), § 220-77-095, filed 8/20/01, effective 9/20/01.]

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