The DEQ's Office of the Great Lakes has initiated the 2010 Ballast Water Reporting Program.  The program requires the DEQ to determine whether ballast water management practices provided by the Shipping Federation of Canada are being complied with by all oceangoing vessels operating on the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence waterway.

In addition, the DEQ will determine whether ballast water management practices provided by the Lake Carriers' Association and the Canadian Shipowners Association are being complied with by all nonoceangoing vessels operating on the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence waterway.  Any owner or operator not identified on the list of complying vessels, or any persons in the state who have contracts for the transportation of cargo with a vessel operator that is not on the list, are not eligible for new grants, loans or awards administered by the DEQ after March 1, 2010. 

Ballast Water reporting forms may be submitted electronically.  Details of the Ballast Water Reporting Program are available online at http://www.deq.state.mi.us/eforms/ballastwaterreporting.html, or by contacting the Office of the Great Lakes at 517-335-4056 .

Editor's note:  DEQ news releases are available on the department's Internet home page at www.michigan.gov/deq.

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