Ballast water bill introduced

Ballast water bill introduced A bill to protect U.S. lakes, rivers and coastal waters from aquatic invasive species was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives today by Republican members of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
   The Ballast Water Management Act of 2007 (H.R. 2423) would incorporate international ballast water management requirements into U.S. law and would establish ballast water discharge standards that are 100 times more stringent than current international standards.
   “The Ballast Water Management Act of 2007 will establish national ballast water discharge standards that will protect our lakes, rivers and coastal waters from future introductions of environmentally harmful invasive species,” said U.S. Rep. Steven C. LaTourette, an Ohio congressman who is the ranking Republican of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee.
   “In the Great Lakes, we have experienced the effects that invasive species can have on natural ecosystems and fisheries,” he said. “This bill includes measures that will further minimize the possibility of any future invasion taking place.”
   “From the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, ballast water has been the incubator of harmful invasive species. Our bill is an ambitious approach to combating this environmental disaster to America’s water resources,” said Rep. Richard Baker, R-La.
   Under the new standards established in the bill, vessels operating in U.S. waters would be prohibited from discharging ballast water that was not treated with a system designed to remove or kill aquatic organisms that are carried within a vessel’s ballast tanks. The bill’s treatment requirements would be phased in for certain new vessels beginning in 2009 and for all vessels by 2016.