Consideration for Acceptance of One or More Viability Testing Methods for Type Approval of Ballast Water Management Systems; Withdrawal
The U.S. Coast Guard is issuing this notice to advise Federal, State, and local governmental agencies and the public that the Coast Guard is withdrawing the Notice of Intent (NO...
Notice of intent for intent to prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement; notice of virtual scoping meetings; and request for comments; withdrawal.
SUMMARY:
The U.S. Coast Guard is issuing this notice to advise Federal, State, and local governmental agencies and the public that the Coast Guard is withdrawing the Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for the Consideration for Acceptance of One or More Viability Testing Methods for Type Approval of Ballast Water Management Systems, which was published in the
Federal Register
on August 21, 2024.
DATES:
The NOI to prepare a PEIS published in the
Federal Register
on
( printed page 55352)
August 21, 2024 (89 FR 67646), is withdrawn as of August 27, 2026.
ADDRESSES:
Related information on the notice of intent is available in docket number USCG-2025-0501 at
www.regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Questions concerning this notice should be directed to Commander Brad Peifer, Coast Guard; telephone 571-608-7869; email
CG-OES@uscg.mil.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
We previously published an NOI to prepare a PEIS in the
Federal Register
on August 21, 2024 (89 FR 67646). That notice asked for public participation and request for comments on proposed acceptance of viability testing methods. Following the publication of the NOI, the Coast Guard held three virtual scoping meetings on September 5, 10, and 11, 2024. The Coast Guard received 9 comments on the NOI that reflected the following main themes:
Coast Guard should promote maximum protection against aquatic invasive species;
Coast Guard should align with IMO, including using MPN + Motility;
Coast Guard should acknowledge current weaknesses in type approval and conduct more rigorous research to support compliance.
However, since publication of the NOI, the Coast Guard has re-evaluated the purpose and need for the proposed action and determined we have insufficient information available to evaluate the NOI's proposed viability test methods in accordance with our process laid out in CG-OES Policy Letter 02-22. As such, this type of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review is not practicable at this time. Therefore, the Coast Guard is terminating this NEPA review process by withdrawing its NOI to prepare a PEIS. The Coast Guard will conduct a NEPA review of viability testing methods submitted in the future only, as necessary, and according to current Coast Guard policy CG-OES Policy Letter 02-22. That policy letter is available on
Regulations.gov
by searching for docket number USCG-2019-0477.
This notice is issued under authority of 5 U.S.C. 552.
Dated: August 24, 2026.
R.C. Compher,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Assistant Commandant for Prevention Policy.
Use this for formal legal and research references to the published document.
91 FR 55351
Web Citation
Suggested Web Citation
Use this when citing the archival web version of the document.
“Consideration for Acceptance of One or More Viability Testing Methods for Type Approval of Ballast Water Management Systems; Withdrawal,” thefederalregister.org (August 27, 2026), https://thefederalregister.org/documents/2026-17479/consideration-for-acceptance-of-one-or-more-viability-testing-methods-for-type-approval-of-ballast-water-management-syst.
www.regulations.gov
5 U.S.C. 552