Virginia Law

The following words and terms when used in this regulation shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

"Ballast tank" means any tank or hold that carries ballast water regardless of design.

"Ballast water" means any water or matter taken on board a vessel, United States or foreign, to control or maintain trim, draft, stability or stresses of the vessel, without regard to the manner in which it is carried. In order to qualify under this regulation, the ballast water must have been taken on the vessel in an area lying within 200 nautical miles of any shore or in waters less than 2,000 meters in depth.

"Ballast Water Control Report form" means the form adopted by the commission to monitor compliance with the federal guidelines. This form shall be consistent with the form adopted by the United States Coast Guard and set forth in 33 CFR Part 151, Subpart D, Appendix.

"Captain of the Port (COTP)" means the United States Coast Guard officer designated as the COTP of Hampton Roads.

"Commercial vessel" means a self-propelled ship, United States or foreign, in commerce of 300 gross tons or more. The term "commercial vessel" does not include a vessel of the United States Department of Defense or United States Coast Guard subject to the requirements of § 1103 of the National Invasive Species Act of 1996, or any vessel of the Armed Forces, as defined in 33 USC § 1322 (A)(14), that is subject to the uniform national discharge standards for vessels of the Armed Forces under 23 USC § 1322 (N).

"Commission" means the Marine Resources Commission.

"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of the Marine Resources Commission.

"EEZ" means the United States Exclusive Economic Zone.

"Exchange" means to replace the water in a ballast tank using one of the following methods:

1. Flow through exchange means to flush out ballast water by pumping in mid-ocean water at the bottom of the tank and continuously overflowing the tank from the top until three full volumes of water have been changed; this is done to minimize the number of original organisms remaining in the tank.

2. Empty/refill exchange means to flush out the ballast water taken on in ports, estuarine, or territorial waters until the tank is empty, then refilling it with mid-ocean water; masters/operators should pump out as close to 100% of the ballast water as is safe to do so.

"Federal guidelines" means the provisions of 33 CFR Part 151, Subpart D, "Ballast Water Management for Control of Nonindigenous Species in Waters of the United States."

"HRMA" means the Hampton Roads Maritime Association.

"IMO guidelines" means the International Maritime Organization Guidelines for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water to Minimize the Transfer of Harmful Aquatic Organisms and Pathogens (IMO Resolution A.868 (20), adopted November 1997).

"Innocent transit" means the transit of Virginia's territorial waters by a commercial vessel, United States or foreign, that is not destined to enter into or depart from a Virginia port.

"NANCPA" means the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990.

"NBIC" means the National Ballast Water Information Clearinghouse operated by the United States Coast Guard and the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center as mandated under the National Invasive Species Act of 1996.

"NISA" means the National Invasive Species Act of 1996, which reauthorized and amended the NANCPA.

"Operator" means any person who owns, operates, charters, rents or otherwise exercises control over or responsibility for a vessel.

"Territorial waters" means the Virginia waters lying within the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, and a belt, three nautical miles wide, that is adjacent to Virginia's coast and seaward of the mean low water mark.