88 



The Coast Guard was able to develop timely, effective regulations 

 because of a strong legislative mandate and sufficient resources 

 to implement the provisions of the Act. However, the absence of 

 clear alternatives to ballast water exchange, and a lack of 

 resources to develop a scientific evaluation program remain 

 shortcomings of this mission. 



Industry response to these regulations has been outstanding. To 

 date, there have been only two instances where vessels were not 

 in full compliance with the regulations. In both cases, vessel 

 operators made good faith attempts to comply, but the required 

 salinity level was not achieved. While always ready to use our 

 enforcement authority if necessary, the Coast Guard understands 

 the delicate balance between protecting the environment and 

 facilitating commerce. With this in mind, the Coast Guard worked 

 with industry representatives to develop procedures that the 

 aforementioned two vessels could use to bring themselves into 

 compliance. In one instance, salt was added to ballast tanks to 

 bring the salinity to an acceptable level, and in the oth-3r case 

 the vessel used heat to treat the ballast water before discharge. 



The shipping industry on the Great Lakes has been proactive 

 rather than reactive. One particular problem within the Great 

 Lakes is the movement of the European Ruffe from one area to 

 another. In order to contain the Ruffe, the Great Lake^ Shipping 

 Association, with Coast Guard assistance, developed guidelines 



