The bill (S.140) including the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act of 2018 (VIDA) was signed into law by the White House on December 4, 2018 paving the way for increased consistency in ballast water management aligning the U.S. and the international standard on ballast water providing a similar framework for Type Approval.
VIDA amends the USCG regulations to allow for the use of reproductive methods by explicitly expanding the definition of “living” to ensure that organisms that can’t reproduce (nonviable) are not considered to be living.
The changes effected by the new law will be developed and phased in over a 2-year period.