New York State has abandoned a plan that the Canadian government and shipping industry feared would cripple marine transportation in two provinces, resulting in massive job and revenue losses.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo had been pushing for ballast water regulations 100 times greater than international standards in an effort to prevent foreign invasive species from entering New York’s waters through boats travelling along the seaway.
The problem — aside from uncertainty among industry and government officials about the necessity of the regulations — is the technology required to comply with the standards does not exist.
The Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner filed comments this week indicating New York’s intention to move away from its original proposal and toward a uniform, national ballast water standard.
Ballast water is the term used for water that is sucked in and pumped out of the bowels of a ship to help large vessels stay balanced while loading and unloading cargo. The practice, however, can also result in live and potentially harmful organisms being introduced to new waterways.
Despite the move, New York is still concerned with the possibility of invasive species infiltrating the state’s waterways, commissioner Joseph Martens said in his filings to the Environmental Protection Agency.
“At the same time, shipping and maritime activity is critical to New York State international commerce,” he said. “A technically feasible national standard which recognizes the critical economic role played by our waterways is the only viable way to address the spread of destructive aquatic invaders through ballast water.”
The announcement from New York State came as a relief to Canadians, said Pierre Poilievre, parliamentary secretary to the minister of transport.
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Overall, shipments along this system in 2010 generated $34.6 billion of economic activity and 227,000 jobs in the U.S. and Canada, according to a study published by industry officials last year.
“We are thrilled to hear New York has done this,” he said. “The proposed regulations would have choked off commercial traffic… we were nervous, and now we’re tremendously relieved.”
Poilievre said the regulations could have affected almost $11 billion in business revenue and up to 72,000 jobs on both sides of the border.
The brunt of the losses would have been felt in Quebec and Ontario, where half the jobs and revenue the industry currently generates could have been lost, wiping out up to $8.5 billion annually and 55,000 jobs.
Poilievre travelled to New York State in November, bringing with him concerns about the strict new water treatment regulations.
At the time, he was convinced the regulations would close down the St. Lawrence Seaway and cause “massive” damage.
Any ship that didn’t meet the rigorous regulations would be blocked from passing through the seaway, even if in transit. Without the technology necessary to meet the standards, though, virtually all commerce risked coming to a halt, effectively cutting off marine access to and from Ontario, Quebec and ports in eight U.S. states along the Great Lakes.
New York State Senator Diane Savino was equally relieved, after spending months concerned the regulations — which were poised to become law in August 2013 — would shut down the Port of New York and New Jersey.
“Hundreds of thousands of jobs are saved and the prices of all goods are kept where they are by the importation of goods through the Port of New York,” she said in a statement. “If the (Department of Environmental Conservation) had set a higher standard than the ports of Philadelphia, Baltimore, Halifax, or Miami, goods would have been redirected there, effectively shutting down the Martine industry in the Port of New York and New Jersey.”
Canada is still committed to protecting the Great Lakes from potentially invasive species, Poilievre said.
Current standards require all vessels to pump out their ballast water before entering the Great Lakes — a practice one Canadian government-funded study found to be 99.99 per cent effective at removing and killing potentially invasive species.
A United Nations agency has also set international standards requiring all ocean-going vessels to install onboard equipment to treat ballast water.
No new invasive species have been found in the Great Lakes since 2006, Polievre said.
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