28.2-110 - Filing requirements; penalty.
§ 28.2-110. Filing requirements; penalty.
A. The operator, or a ship agent acting on behalf of the operator, of acommercial vessel that enters into Virginia waters shall file a Ballast WaterControl Report form with the Virginia Maritime Association as the designatedagent of the Commission (i) within seventy-two hours of the completion of thedischarge of ballast water if the commercial vessel discharges ballast waterinto Virginia waters, or (ii) prior to the commercial vessel's departure fromVirginia waters if the commercial vessel does not discharge ballast waterinto Virginia waters. The operator, or ship agent of an operator, shall notbe required to file a Ballast Water Control Report form if the commercialvessel's previous port-of-call is located within the United States ExclusiveEconomic Zone and a ballast water control report was previously filed uponentering the first port-of-call within the United States Exclusive EconomicZone. A Ballast Water Control Report form shall be deemed to have been filedwhen it is hand delivered to the Virginia Maritime Association, sent byelectronic mail or facsimile transmission and received by the VirginiaMaritime Association, or sent to the Virginia Maritime Association byregistered or certified mail, return receipt requested. The services of theVirginia Maritime Association shall be provided at no cost to the Commission.The fees assessed by the Virginia Maritime Association shall only be thatamount necessary to cover the expenses for the reporting services provided tovessel operators and any associated recordkeeping related to the ballastwater reporting requirements of this article. If in the judgment of theCommission or the Virginia Maritime Association, the Virginia MaritimeAssociation is unable to satisfactorily perform its responsibilities, theCommission may (i) select another agent, provided proper notice of the changein the designated agent has been given to operators, or (ii) assumeresponsibility for carrying out the provisions of this section.
B. For commercial vessels whose point of origin is located outside the UnitedStates Exclusive Economic Zone and whose first port of call within the UnitedStates Exclusive Economic Zone is within Virginia waters, the filing of acopy of the completed form submitted by the operator to the National BallastWater Information Clearinghouse of the Smithsonian Environmental ResearchCenter with the Virginia Maritime Association shall be deemed compliance withthe reporting requirements of this section.
C. Any operator of a commercial vessel who knowingly fails to file a BallastWater Control Report form with the Virginia Maritime Association within theapplicable time period set forth in subsection A, or who knowingly makes anyfalse statement in a Ballast Water Control Report form submitted to theVirginia Maritime Association, shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
(2001, c. 312; 2002, c. 40; 2010, c. 815.)