The Navy may be subject to rquirements that apply to all or most government agencies, the Department of Defense (DoD), or the Navy specifically. Among the sources of these requirements are the following Federal statutes and their periodic amendments: Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA), also known as Clean Water Act(CWA), Clean Air Act (CAA), Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Endangered Species Act(ESA), Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), Federal Facility Compliance Act, National Marine Sanctuaries Act, Public Vessel Medical Waste Anti-Dumping Act, Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS), Marine Plastic Pollution Research and Control Act(MPPRCA), Oil Pollution Act, Coastal Zone Management Act, and Marine Sanctuaries Act. Two very important international agreements enacted through U.S. law have had far-reaching impacts on the Navy Fleet: Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer and amendments; and Iternational Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL 73/78) and its individually-adopted annexes-currently Annex I (oily wastes) and Annex V (garbage). Environmental-related Presidential executive orders with significant implications for the Navy Fleet include: E.O. 12114, Environmental Effects Abroad of Major Federal Actions; E.O. 12843, Procurement Requirements and Policies for Federal Agencies for Ozone-Depleting Substances; E.O. 12856, Federal Compliance With Right-to-Know Laws and Pollution Prevention Requirements; E.O. 13101, Greening the Government Through Waste Prevention, Recycling, and Federal Acquisition; E.O. 12088, Federal Compliance With Pollution Control Standards; E.O. 13089, Coral Reef Protection; and E.O. 13112, Invasive Species.
In implementing certain provisions of Federal statutes, especiany CWA and CAA, states are allowed to impose more stringent rerquirements on regulated industries. Some states have also been considering Navy vessels in port as stationary sources and, therefore, not-subject to the CWA exemption for modes of transportation, Increasing interest by the states in regulating Navy ships and submarines has become a special problem for the Navy in recent years.
Navy afloat environmental requirements are documented in the OPNAVINST 5090 series (currently 5090,1B Change 1 of Feb 98). These requirements include instances where the CNO has decided to implement stricter guidance than rerquired by law, e.g., a 15-ppm oil discharge limit (versus DoD's 20-ppm limit) and holding all used/excess hazardous materials while undenway (versus the CWA's 200-mile limit). The Navy also voluntarily complies with some regulatory regimes that do not (yet) apply to Navy vessels, e.g., ballast water management guidelines developed by USCG pursuant to the National Invasive Species Act.
Emerging Requirements
The Navy must always keep its sights on the environmental horizon for new and upcoming laws and regulations that might apply to its ships, submarines, and Fleet-support shore activities. The design for a new platform that is initiated today should incorporate, to the extent possible, shipboard pollution control capabilities that will still be compliant, or can be easily upgraded for compliance, decades from now. This is a very challenging expectation because of the difiiculty in predicting environmental problems and legislation years into the future and because advances in environmental technologies may present unforeseen opportunities for improving the environmental performance of Navy vessels. The ability to comply with any particular new environmental rquirement depends on how extensive a backfit would be required for an existing ship and where in the new-platform design process an environmental technology can be inserted.
The major emerging rerquirements that are steering the shipboard environmental RDT&E program as we enter the 21st century include:
・Recent EPA National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQSs) for ozone and particulates under CAA, which will pose compliance problems for current Navy shipboard paints and coatings
