Although the United States is not signatory to BWM Convention, vessels discharging ballast water into the waters of the U.S. are to comply with the requirements of 33 CFR 151 Subparts C & D.

The United States Coast Guard (USCG) has issued CG-CVC Policy Letter 18-02 that gives guidance on evaluating potential courses of action when a vessel bound for a U.S. port has an inoperable ballast water management system (BWMS).
A vessel that HAS passed its compliance date and has an inoperable BWMS may use one of the following BWM methods outlines in 33 CFR 151.2025(a).
- Use and discharge ballast water obtained exclusively from a U.S. Public Water System (PWS);
- Perform complete Ballast Water Exchange (BWE) in an area 200 nautical miles from any shore;
- Do not discharge ballast water inside 12 nautical miles
- Discharge ballast water to a reception facility or to another vessel;
If the vessel intends to use BWE, it must obtain approval from the District Commander or Captain of the Port (COTP) first.

The Policy Letter applies to ships using a USCG approved BWMS or a BWMS accepted by the Coast Guard as an Alternate Management System. It does not address situations where the inoperable BWMS is the result of an emergency situation caused by weather, vessel casualty, flooding, etc.

For compliance date (original compliance date), please refer ClassNK Technical Information No.TEC-1056.
For AMS, please refer ClassNK Technical Information No.TEC-0951.

For further details, please refer to the attached Policy Letter (CG-CVC Policy Letter 18-02).

Furthermore, it is necessary to be complied with not only USCG requirements but also local regulations determined by each state. Therefore, please confirm local regulations before vessels engaged in U.S. waters.

(To be continued)