NY Appeals Court Upholds States' Ballast Regulations

Feb 4: A release from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) highlights a New York State appellate court ruling that dismissed a challenge brought by shipping interests against what they say are the State's tough new ballast water requirements, designed to limit the introduction of more invasive species into the Great Lakes. NRDC points out that this is the second time that the State, with help from intervening NGOs, has successfully defended the ballast water restrictions in court. Legal experts at NRDC and National Wildlife Federation (NWF) hailed the win as a huge victory for states in the region that have taken an aggressive stand to limit dumping of water containing biological pollution from ocean going vessels. They indicated that alien species have already cost the Great Lakes economy billions of dollars.

 

    Due to the incredible environmental threat posed by invasive species, lawyers from NRDC intervened in the shipping industry lawsuit alongside the State of New York, representing NWF. The Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court, Third Judicial Department, rejected shipping industry arguments that the New York ballast water regulations were illegal because they were stricter than the U.S. EPA's nationwide discharge permit. Marc Smith, Policy Manager with NWF said, "Today's court decision is an important victory in the ongoing saga to protect our majestic Great Lakes from invasive species. Requiring the shipping industry to install effective protections against these invaders is long over-due. Now more than ever do we need aggressive federal action to help reinforce New York's leadership to ensure a more comprehensive defense policy against invasive species."

 

    The New York court's ruling that states have authority to adopt ballast water rules that are more protective than Federal standards is consistent with the decision last year in a lower state court as well as the Sixth Circuit Federal appeals court in Cincinnati to uphold Michigan's ballast water rules against a similar shipping industry challenge. NRDC and NWF also intervened in those cases, along with other environmental groups, to defend the challenged rules. 

    Access a release from NRDC and link to the court ruling and related information (click here).