Virginia Code 28.2-111: Adoption of guidelines and forms
A. The Commission shall adopt the federal guidelines as the guidelines governing voluntary ballast water management practices to be followed by the operators of commercial vessels. The guidelines adopted by the Commission shall not require a commercial vessel to be operated in a manner that may threaten the safety of the commercial vessel, its crew or its passengers.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 28.2-111
- Ballast water: means any water or matter taken on board a vessel to control or maintain trim, draft, stability or stresses of the vessel, without regard to the manner in which it is carried. See Virginia Code 28.2-109
- Commercial vessel: means a self-propelled ship in commerce of 300 gross tons or more. See Virginia Code 28.2-109
- Commission: means the Marine Resources Commission. See Virginia Code 28.2-100
- Federal guidelines: means the provisions of 33 C. See Virginia Code 28.2-109
- Operator: means any person who owns, operates, charters, rents or otherwise exercises control over or responsibility for a vessel. See Virginia Code 28.2-109
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
- United States: includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-255
B. The Commission shall adopt Ballast Water Control Report forms, consistent with the form adopted by the United States Coast Guard and set forth in 33 C.F.R. part 151, Subpart D, Appendix, to monitor compliance with the guidelines adopted pursuant to this section. The Commission shall adopt procedures to distribute the Ballast Water Control Report form to the operator of a commercial vessel, or to a ship agent for the operator, at the time the commercial vessel enters state waters or as soon thereafter as practicable.
C. The Commission shall submit copies of the forms received from operators of commercial vessels and ship agents acting on behalf of operators of commercial vessels with the National Ballast Water Information Clearinghouse of the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center on a quarterly basis. The Virginia Maritime Association shall submit such forms to the Commission monthly.