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VOLUNTARY AND REGULATORY INITIATIVES 



The Act stipulates that the Coast Guard regulate the discharge of 

 ballast water from ships entering the Great Lakes which have 

 operated outside the Exclusive Economic Zone ( EEZ ) of both the 

 United States and Canada. The Act specified that guidelines be 

 issued within 6 months of its enactment and that an educational 

 program be conducted as a prelude to mandatory regulations. 



The U. S. Coast Guard's excellent working relationship with the 

 Canadian Coast Guard and Environment Canada greatly facilitated 

 the development of joint voluntary guidelines that were published 

 in March 1991. These voluntary guidelines asked all vessels 

 entering the St. Lawrence Seaway, coming from a foreign port, to 

 exchange their ballast water in deep ocean. They further 

 requested that mariners provide documentation of where this 

 exchange had taken place and where the ballast had been taken 

 aboard. Ballast water exchange was chosen. as the primary means 

 of managing ballast, as other techniques were, and still are 

 today, largely unproven or costly to implement. 



Compliance with these voluntary guidelines exceeded all 

 expectations. It was estimated that within a year there was a 

 85-90% compliance rate. At the same time that these guidelines 

 were being encouraged, the Coast Guard implemented an education 

 program for mariners on the problems of aquatic nuisance species 

 introduction. This program, developed by a Coast Guard graduate 



