The Federal Maritime Commission is closing one of its two investigations of how Canadian ballast water regulations impact shipping in the Great Lakes, but the remaining investigation will continue to permit the agency to assess if Canadian government policies create unfavorable conditions affecting U.S. flagged vessels operating in the U.S.-Canada trade.
The Commission published Notice in the Federal Register that it is closing its Investigation into Conditions Affecting United States Carriers in Connection with Canadian Ballast Water Regulations in the United States/Canada Great Lakes Trade (Docket No. FMC-2024-0008). The FMC voted unanimously in May to initiate the investigation under the authority found at 46 U.S.C. § 42302(a).
The issue in the investigation that is closing was whether new Canadian regulations governing the use of ballast water treatment systems, which were expected to apply to six U.S. flagged vessels that trade exclusively within the Great Lakes starting this past September, violate 46 U.S.C. § 42302(a). The Canadian regulations will not apply to the remaining more than four dozen U.S. flagged Great Lakes vessel until 2030.
All six vessels in question have now either been exempted by the government of Canada or have been found to not need to come into compliance with the regulation this year. These actions alleviate the need for the Commission to take immediate action under 46 U.S.C. Chapter 423.
The change in conditions affecting the six vessels in question does not address the broader differences in how the United States and Canada will regulate ballast water management systems for their respective Great Lakes fleets.
The Commission’s separate Investigation of Regulations Affecting Shipping in Foreign Trade (Docket No. 20-10), initiated in June 2020 under 46 U.S.C. Chapter 421, remains open. This investigation permits the Commission to examine the treatment of all U.S. flagged Great Lakes fleet vessels, including ongoing review of the six that were already exempted or granted waivers.
