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L&W Home > Permits & Standards > Waste Discharge > Special Topics > Ships & Boats > Commercial Passenger Vessels > LCPVs > General Permit Part 3

Large Commercial Passenger Vessels (LCPVs)

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GENERAL PERMIT FOR THE DISCHARGE OF GRAYWATER OR A MIXTURE OF GRAYWATER AND BLACKWATER FROM LARGE COMMERCIAL PASSENGER VESSELS TO COASTAL WATERS

Part 3. Standards and prohibitions

A. Standards. The owner, operator, master or other person in charge of a LCPV that discharges graywater or a mixture of graywater and blackwater in the coastal waters of Maine shall meet the requirements and standards contained in or referenced by Chapter 532, Large Commercial Passenger Vessels. The text of Large Commercial Passenger Vessels, 06-096 CMR 532, is incorporated herein as if fully set forth, except as provided below.

B. Prohibitions on discharge by area. Discharges within certain areas are prohibited as provided below.

1. Class SA waters. This general permit does not authorize discharges to Class SA waters. Class SA is the highest classification of estuarine and marine waters. This classification is applied to waters that are outstanding natural resources and that should be preserved because of their ecological, social, scenic, economic or recreational importance. There may be no direct discharge of pollutants to Class SA waters, except storm water discharges that are in compliance with state and local requirements. (1)

 2. No Discharge Area. This general permit does not authorize discharges containing blackwater within no discharge areas. D ischarges containing treated or untreated blackwater are prohibited within a No Discharge Area approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). (2)

C. Prohibitions on discharge by type or effect. Discharges may not affect the receiving water or its designated uses as provided below.

D.  Impact on the receiving water. Discharges to Class SB waters shall not cause an adverse impact to estuarine and marine waters in that the receiving waters shall be of sufficient quality to support all estuarine and marine species indigenous to the receiving water without detrimental changes in the resident biological community. There shall be no new discharge to Class SB waters which would cause closure of open shellfish areas by the Department of Marine Resources. 38 MRSA 465-B(2)(C). Discharges to SC waters may cause some changes to estuarine and marine life provided that the receiving waters are of sufficient quality to support all species of fish indigenous to the receiving waters and maintain the structure and function of the resident biological community. 38 MRSA 465-B(3)(C).

E.  Causing receiving water to be unsuitable for designated uses. A discharge may not impart color, taste, turbidity, radioactivity, settleable materials, floating substances or other properties that cause the receiving water to be unsuitable for the designated uses ascribed to its classification. (3)

F.  Receiving water not meeting classification standard. A discharge may not be to a receiving water that is not meeting its classification standard if the discharge will cause or contribute to the failure of the receiving water to meet the classification standards. (4)

FOOTNOTES

(1) See 38 MRSA 465-B(1).

(2) See Clean Water Act, Section 312.

(3) See 38 MRSA 464(4)(A)(4) and 38 MRSA 464(4)(B).

(4) See 38 MRSA 464(4)(F)(3)(in part).