FMC Ends One Probe Into Canada Water Treatment Rules After US Vessels Exempted
The Federal Maritime Commission is ending one of its two investigations into new Canadian rules that were thought to have imposed unfair burdens on U.S. vessels, making the announcement after Canada granted exemptions for six ships and took other steps to “temporarily” resolve the issue. The FMC said it’s still moving forward with a separate, broader investigation into whether the Canadian regulations unfairly affect all U.S.-flagged Great Lakes vessels.
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The announcement comes about seven months after the FMC launched a probe into whether the new Canadian rules would have unfairly required certain U.S. vessels to install new ballast water management systems by September 2024 (see 2405210028 and 2202020027). That investigation specifically looked at how the rules would apply to six U.S.-flagged vessels that trade exclusively within the Great Lakes.
The commission said it’s ending the investigation because Canada exempted the U.S. vessels from the rules that would have taken effect for them in September, and it “determined that the other affected vessels would not be subject to the rule in 2024.” Although the FMC said its “immediate concerns that prompted this investigation have been temporarily resolved,” it noted that the exemptions are temporary, “so the vessels will be in a similar precarious operating position when the exemptions expire.”
The FMC said it's continuing to investigate how the new Canadian rules will apply to the “remaining more than four dozen” U.S.-flagged vessels traversing the Great Lakes. Those vessels won’t be subject to the new rules until 2030. It also said Canada’s exemptions for the initial group of six vessels, “due both to the lateness of its availability and the seeming onerousness of its process, may have imposed negative effects on certain U.S. carriers,” adding that it has “ongoing concerns with respect to specific elements of the above exemption determinations.”
The commission will look at those issues in its separate investigation. It said it “strongly encourages affected entities or anyone with relevant information to participate” in the probe.