The DEQ’s Office of the Great Lakes announced that it has initiated the 2011 Ballast Water Reporting Program, authorized by Section 3103a (MCL 324.3103a) of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, which was added in 2001. The program requires the DEQ to determine the following:

• 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; and,
• whether ballast water management practices provided by the Lake Carriers’ Association and the Canadian Shipowners Association are being complied with by all non-oceangoing vessels operating on theGreat 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, 2012.

Ballast Water reporting forms may be submitted electronically. Details of the Ballast Water Reporting Program are available online.