The US Coast Guard (USCG) has issued final rule establishing penalty provisions for failure to submit a ballast water management (BWM) report, which applies to vessels equipped with ballast water tanks bound for ports or places within the United States.
The final rule gives the USCG the direction to impose a civil penalty of up to US$27,500 for each violation, with each day of a continuing violation constituting a separate violation. In addition, the final rule widens the reporting and recordkeeping requirements in order to increase the USCG's ability to prevent the introduction of nonindigenous species as required by relative laws.
This final rule, which is effective from August 13, 2004, can be found in the Federal Registry of June 14, 2004 on page 32864-32871.