Great Lakes Ballast Water R&D Plan, Version 6

Direction is provided within the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act to develop, achieve type approval for, and pilot shipboard or land-based ballast water management systems (BWMS) applicable to commercial vessels operating solely within the Great Lakes. Vessel operational issues associated with BWMS function and impacts of water quality on BWMS function can best be understood while aboard vessels plying the Great Lakes. The changes in version 6 of the Plan reflect those realities and describe a shift from smaller projects to larger scale testing (e.g. land-based and shipboard). Further stakeholders provided valuable comments to version 5 of the Plan. Actual stakeholder comments are provided in Appendix A and where appropriate included in version 6. In addition, this version more clearly aligns with GLRI Action Plan III. The numbering of research areas and associated tasks has been realigned to create a more coherent Plan.Per VIDA, the primary goal of this Research and Development (R&D) Plan is to identify approaches, methods, and best available technologies that can be applied to ballast water discharges that are effective at reducing propagules in Great Lakes ballast water, thereby decreasing the environmental risk associated with the ballast water vector from vessels operating exclusively within the Great Lakes System. Projects outlined in this R&D Plan will also consider the implications of these ballast water management approaches for vessels that operate in the Great Lakes System, but not solely within these waters. For example, a seagoing vessel that may visit the Great Lakes once a year may still be faced with having to treat Great Lakes water using a BWMS that has never been tested in Great Lakes water quality and biological conditions. In addressing these goals, ballast water treatment will be considered in addition to alternative approaches, such as ballast water best management practices. Importantly, the research projects outlined in this plan will provide essential scientific and technical information that will support science-based decisions during the VIDA rulemaking and implementation processes