On December 4, President Trump signed the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act into law. This milestone achievement is the result of an intensive, years-long advocacy effort led by AWO and its members to reform a broken system of overlapping and conflicting federal and state regulations for ballast water and other vessel discharges. Now that VIDA has been enacted, how will the law change the status quo, and what should AWO members expect as implementation proceeds?
AWO held a webinar on the Certificate of Inspection application and issuance process under Subchapter M featuring an expert panel including CDR Jennifer Hnatow and Eric Johnson of the Office of Commercial Vessel Compliance at Coast Guard headquarters, as well as three AWO members who have recently obtained their first COIs: Rick Iuliucci, The Vane Brothers Company; Bruce Reed, Tidewater Barge Lines; and Tessa Seitzinger, Marquette Transportation Company.
