Vessel Incidental Discharge Act (VIDA)
The US Vessel Incidental Discharge Act regulates discharges incidental to vessel operation, excluding sewage, through EPA standards and US Coast Guard rules.
The Vessel Incidental Discharge Act (VIDA) is the US federal law under which the Environmental Protection Agency sets national standards of performance for discharges incidental to the normal operation of a vessel, except sewage, and the US Coast Guard writes the implementing regulations. The EPA published its final Vessel Incidental Discharge National Standards of Performance in October 2024; the Coast Guard has two years from that rule to finalize its corresponding regulations, and state requirements are preempted once both are final and enforceable.
The full article will cover the discharge categories, the transition from the 2013 Vessel General Permit, ballast water, grey water and the relation to sewage rules under 33 CFR Part 159 and MARPOL Annex IV , to which the United States is not a Party.