9.3 ELEMENTS OF THE VICTORIAN BALLAST WATER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

The Committee believes that there is a need to depart from a purely reactive management of the ballast water problem to a more pro-active format. The intent of the proposed Victorian Ballast Water Management System is to encourage compliance with a management system, rather than to concentrate solely on imposing sanctions for pollution offences. In this way, the Committee is seeking to address the problem's causes instead of responding to its symptoms.

The Committee recognises that such a management system for ballast water in Victoria would comprise a number of elements. These include risk assessment, and detection and enforcement measures, as well as incentives for vessels which comply with the System. Various options under these broad headings are now discussed by the Committee.

9.3.1 Lead agency

The EPA is currently Victoria's nominated lead agency for ballast water issues. It also has responsibility for the prevention of exotic marine organisms at the Victorian barrier (Chapter 8). In addition, since the relevant powers of the Port of Melbourne Authority were transferred to the EPA under the Port Services Act 1995 (Vic) in March 1996⁴²⁹ the EPA has been responsible for the regulation of pollution caused by shipping.

The Environment Protection Act 1970 (Vic) provides a sufficient basis for effective regulation of ballast water discharge and confers wide pro-active powers on EPA officers to carry out their obligations under the Act (Chapter 5).

For these reasons, the Committee concurs with the nomination of the EPA as the lead Victorian agency for ballast water issues and considers that the EPA is the appropriate agency to administer a Victorian Ballast Water Management System for the prevention of exotic organism introductions.

Recommendation 2 That the Minister for Conservation and Land Management instruct the Environment Protection Authority to assume immediate responsibility for managing a Victorian Ballast Water Management System. The System should be implemented within 12 months of the Minister's instruction.

9.3.2 Australian (International) Ballast Water Management Guidelines and a risk assessment process as a basis for the Victorian Ballast Water Management System

Both the Australian Chamber of Shipping (ACOS) and the Australian Shipowners Association (ASA) were involved in the development of the voluntary Australian Ballast Water Management Guidelines. These were subsequently used by the IMO as a basis for the International Voluntary Guidelines⁴³⁰ The Australian Shipowners Association presented evidence to the Committee on behalf of Australian shipowners and operators, and also represented the Australian Chamber of Shipping⁴³¹ The Committee was advised that:

We [ACOS & ASA] fully support the role of AQIS at the IMO and of the Australian Ballast Water Management Advisory Council (ABWMAC) in developing international and uniform coastal voyage controls.

and that:

All Australian vessels abide by and cooperate with the Guidelines and there has been a large measure of international cooperation with AQIS⁴³²

The Australian (International) Guidelines recommend ballast water exchange at sea as an effective means of lowering the risk of discharging organism contaminated ballast water. The Committee was advised by the Shell Company of Australia that provided it is correctly managed, ballast exchange at sea;

... is a safe practice and we support that concept⁴³³

Given that the Australian (International) Ballast Water Management Guidelines have been widely accepted by the shipping industry as offering safe and acceptable alternatives for ballast water management, the Committee considers that a Victorian Ballast Water Management System based on the Australian (International) Guidelines and a risk assessment process would be the preferred basis for a management regime. The implementation of such a system would, in the long term, result in a uniform management system for ballast management at the state, national and international levels.

In addition to the application of Guidelines, the Committee considers that risk assessment (Section 9.3.5) should be part of Victoria's ballast water management regime. The Committee considers that one of the main benefits of risk assessment in the ballast water context is to make the problem more manageable by directing resources towards those vessels deemed to pose the greatest danger. Risk assessment would enable information on shipping to be analysed to minimise work performed on the ground, while still ensuring optimum preventive success.

The Committee believes that the net effect of a risk management system would have two main benefits. First, it would reduce the costs for the authority administering the management system. Second, it would remove the burden of regulation from compliant shipping, and place it almost exclusively on non-compliant shipping. Possible delays involved for high risk ships would create a substantial but appropriate incentive to take proper care, especially if backed by a range of sanctions.

Recommendation 3 That the Environment Protection Authority adopt the Australian (International) Ballast Water Management Guidelines and the principle of risk assessment as the basis of the Victorian Ballast Water Management System.

9.3.3 Implementation of the Victorian Ballast Water Management System

The regulation-making powers in s 71 of the Environment Protection Act 1970 (Vic) are very wide⁴³⁴ The requirement for all vessels entering Victoria's ports to comply with the Victorian Ballast Water Management System could be implemented through the use of regulations to the Act.

Alternatively, the Victorian Ballast Water Management System could be implemented through the use of State Environment Protection Policies (SEPPs) or Industrial Waste Management Policies (IWMPs). Such EPA policies provide a broad framework for the development of environment protection programs in Victoria, and as statutory instruments, their provisions are legally enforceable⁴³⁵ The Committee believes that there may be a number of advantages in using SEPPs or IWMPs to implement the Victorian Ballast Water Management System. For example, if the Commonwealth were to legislate to manage ballast water in the future, the State would have greater flexibility in responding to such legislation. The Committee also recognises that the use of EPA policies may increase the speed at which the Victorian Ballast Water Management System can be formalised.

Recommendation 4 That the Environment Protection Authority implement a Ballast Water Management System for Victoria using the most appropriate mechanism under the Environment Protection Act 1970.

9.3.4 Port Ballast Management Plans

The Committee considers that in order to achieve a comprehensive and coordinated Victorian Ballast Water Management System, each Victorian port should have its own Port Ballast Management Plan. As well as assisting ports, industry and the EPA in implementing the Victorian Ballast Water Management System, Port Ballast Management plans will enable individual ports to identify port characteristics (environmental, management, biological etc) relevant to the uptake and discharge of ballast inside port waters.

The Committee also understands that a number of Victorian ports may, in the future, develop Port Environmental Plans. Port Ballast Management Plans as proposed in this report would form an important component of such environmental plans.

The issue of exotic organism transfer via ships' hulls could also be addressed through Port Ballast Management Plans. The Committee recognises that management issues associated with hull fouling and marine organism transfer are potentially more difficult than those associated with ballast water. As more knowledge about the hull fouling issue develops, appropriate prevention measures could be incorporated into Port Ballast Management Plans.

The Australian Coastal Voyage Ballast Water Working Group (CVBWWG) is in the process of developing a model port management plan for ballast water management for domestic shipping. The model plan includes legislative and management issues, details of environmental characteristics of the port area, port management issues, ballast management issues, maps of the port area and reporting arrangements⁴³⁶ The Committee commends the CVBWWG on its model plan and refers Victorian ports, the EPA and DNRE to the plan.

Recommendation 5 That the Environment Protection Authority require that Port Ballast Management Plans are developed and implemented as a component of the Victorian Ballast Water Management System.

9.3.5 Risk assessment

Because the Victorian Ballast Water System is based on the principles of the Australian (International) Guidelines which request that all vessels exchange their ballast water where it is safe for them to do so, the role of risk assessment in the Victorian Ballast Water Management System is to identify and regulate those vessels thought most likely to pose a problem, either due to the origin of their ballast uptake, ballast management practices en route or a history of non compliance. The Committee believes that such an approach should ensure that regulatory resources are not strained, while ensuring an optimum coverage of potential sources of introduction.

The Committee emphasises, however, that all vessels entering Victorian ports will be expected to comply with the Management System. The Committee agrees with Mr Denis Paterson, National Manager Animal and Plant Programs AQIS, who believes that:

.. for ballast water management reasons (as distinct from Research and Development reasons) every vessel must prima facie be considered a threat, and hence we should not, in my view, adopt a solely targeted species approach. I recommend that ABWMAC and AQIS further consider this matter⁴³⁷

Paterson further recommends that Australia's species-targeted approach be reconsidered:

..with a view to altering to a policy based on a presumption that all vessels pose a risk of introduction of some unwanted marine organisms UNLESS we determine otherwise⁴³⁸

The primary objective of risk assessment in the Victorian Ballast Water Management System should not, therefore, be to identify and target vessels which are expected to follow the Australian (International) Guidelines. Rather, in encouraging compliance with a management system, the expectation of ports and the EPA will be that all ships intending to discharge ballast into Victorian ports have followed the Australian (International) Guidelines and that where possible, ballast water has been exchanged en route.

In the event that a vessel has been unable to exchange ballast water, or is suspected of not having exchanged its ballast, the ship may be subject to further risk assessment which may consider a combination of factors such as;

· presence and location of target species in ports where ballast was taken up and in Victorian ports;
· port environmental characteristics;
· length of vessel journey;
· results of salinity or other testing; and
· previous compliance history.

In order to undertake risk assessment of vessels entering Victorian ports, the regulatory authority (EPA) responsible for administering the Ballast Water System will establish and maintain a database to manage and monitor vessel movements, ballast information data and port characteristics. The establishment of a database by the EPA will not require any particular legislative authority. The database could then be used to determine which vessels contain ballast water that would be 'potentially harmful' if discharged into Victorian waters.

The Committee understands that AQIS is currently developing its Decision Support System (DSS) to manage ballast water through risk assessment and that it is likely to be 3-5 years before the system is ready to be implemented⁴³⁹ When development of the DSS is completed, the Committee suggests that information gathered by Victoria could be absorbed into the DSS, or complemented by the DSS. Either way, the Committee considers that the early establishment of a Victorian database for risk assessment of ships entering Victorian ports will not only complement Commonwealth efforts, but is an essential element of the Victorian Ballast Water System.

9.3.5.1 Ballast Water Risk Assessment Form

The Committee believes that the Ballast Water Risk Assessment Form should follow a simple format similar to that of the AQIS Pratique form. Additional questions seeking information on such matters as quantity of ballast on-board, quantity of ballast to be discharged, origin of ballast in each ballast tank and details of which tanks will be emptied will also need to be collected. The document should be designed to enable its easy transmission via satellite telex using the GMDSS system. The GMDSS system is required to be installed on all merchant vessels by 1.2.1999⁴⁴⁰ Vessels which do not yet have such a system can continue to use telexes sent via radiotelephony.

International vessels at their second or subsequent Australian port of call, and coastal vessels trading between states and territories are not currently required to communicate information regarding ballast water exchange to relevant authorities. For international vessels entering a Victorian port as their first Australian port of call, the Committee recognises that some duplication of information with the Victorian Form and AQIS Pratique may occur. The Committee considers, however, that if the Victorian form is clear and concise, inconvenience to the ship master is likely to be minimal.

9.3.5.2 Monitoring programme

A risk management system requires that a database of information relating to different vessels' reliability and history of compliance or non-compliance is established. The Committee believes that random checks of ships' ballast water (salinity or pH testing) to monitor compliance would provide a basis for future risk assessment of individual vessels and perhaps even their operators. A vessel which has misled authorities in the past would present a greater risk when coming from a high risk port than one which had previously demonstrated compliance.

In addition, ships' masters need to be advised that permission to discharge ballast into Victorian waters is granted on the basis that information provided by them is accurate, and that the EPA will continuously check the veracity of the information so provided.

The Committee considers that rigorous monitoring of compliance is therefore an essential element of the Victorian Ballast Water Management System.

Recommendation 6 That the Environment Protection Authority develop and implement an ongoing compliance monitoring scheme as part of the Victorian Ballast Water Management System.

9.3.6 Education and awareness

The Committee recognises and commends the willingness of the shipping industry to cooperate in the development of ballast water management measures and to contribute to ballast water research. The Committee believes that if every effort is made to inform and educate individual shipowners and masters and the shipping industry in general about the implementation and operation of the Victorian Ballast Water Management System, full cooperation from the industry will be forthcoming. Importantly, shipowners and masters must be given accurate and timely practical advice and assistance about how they can minimise the risk of exotic organism transfer.

Vessels intending to enter Victorian ports should be provided with an explanatory document outlining the principles behind and operation of the Ballast Water Management System in Victoria. The document should describe what is likely to constitute unacceptable risk. Ship masters should be advised of:

· actions required to comply with the Victorian Ballast Management System;

· steps a vessel may take to reduce the risk of importing exotic species into Victoria (based on the Australian {International} Guidelines);

· options available for vessels in cases where ballast water is deemed to be high risk and permission to discharge ballast is denied; and

· possible consequences of non-compliance with the Victorian Ballast Management System.

On-board ship ballast management plans being developed by the International Maritime Organisation and trialed by Shell will further assist vessels in managing ballast water to reduce the risk of organism transfer.

The Committee believes that in order to assist the shipping industry in complying with the Victorian Ballast Water Management System, a comprehensive and on-going education and awareness program must be implemented.

The Victorian Ballast Water Management System may also provide incentives for vessels to implement technological solutions. The Committee recognises that as research progresses, and ballast water treatment technologies provide affordable solutions to the problem of exotic organism transfer, those ships applying such technologies may no longer be subject to repeated risk assessment and compliance monitoring upon entry to Victorian ports.

Recommendation 7 That the Environment Protection Authority mount an extensive information and education campaign to explain and increase awareness of the Victorian Ballast Water Management System.