The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has made it official. The no discharge area of Long Island Sound was extended to cover all New York State waters.
The no discharge designation prohibits the discharge of treated wastewater from boats. The USCG imposes fines for illegal discharge of sewage. The new ban covers 716 square miles of open waters, harbors, bays and navigable tributaries of the Sound and a portion of the East River between the Hell Gate Bridge connecting Queens to Randalls and Wards Islands in Manhattan in the west and the northern bounds of Block Island Sound in the east.
The Connecticut portion of the Long Island Sound has been a no discharge area since 2007. The New York portion of the Hudson River has been designated a no discharge zone and NDZ status has been approved for Jamaica Bay.
The Clean Water Act controls vessel sewage by regulating the equipment that treats or holds the sewage, and through the establishment of areas in which the discharge of sewage from vessels is not allowed (no discharge zones). Federal law prohibits the discharge of raw sewage anywhere in U.S. territorial waters, within the three mile limit.
The U.S. Coast Guard sets standards and certifies three types of marine sanitation devices (MSD), which treat or hold wastewater.
- MSD I Flow-through treatment process.
- MSD II Biological treatment to disinfect sewage before discharge.
- MSD III A holding tank stores sewage for discharge at a pumpout station or beyond three miles from the shore.
Vessels are prohibited from discharging any sewage, even treated by an MSD, into waters designated a No Discharge Zone. Type I and Type II MSDs must be secured to prevent discharge. The Y-valve must be locked. Vessels containing Type III MSDs should discharge at an pumpout station. Look for the red pumpout logo. For a list of sewage pumpout facilities, visit the Clean Boating pages at www.goingcoastal.org.
Pumpouts facilities are not always available. On the day of the NDZ announcement, many of the pumpout stations in Western Long Island Sound were out of service. Let us know where you want new pumpout stations and if the pumpout you use is not working, contact us at info (at) goingcoastal.org.
Pumpouts
Look for this symbol
To make it easy for boaters to locate free pumpout stations, Going Coastal produces free maps of pumpout facilities in New York State, including: NY-NJ Harbor Estuary, Hudson River, Long Island and the Erie Canal. Maps are available at marinas and boat clubs. The maps can also be viewed online at goingcoastal.org and accessed by iPhone or smart phones for easy reference.
Grants to Install Pumpouts
Any New York State marina looking to install a pump out station can submit a request to the Environmental Facilities Corporation, which provides funding as part of the Clean Vessel Assistance Program (CVAP). The CVAP Construction Grant provides reimbursement funding for up to 75% of eligible project costs, up to $35,000. Stationary pumpouts installed through CVAP funding are required to be available to all recreational boaters, at no or minimal $5 charge. For more information about the application process, technical guidance or more grant opportunities, visit www.nysefc.org/CVAP.
