The Coast Guard’s Office of Operating and Environmental Standards announced that it accepted PIA GmbH located in Aachen, Germany as a new Independent Laboratory for testing of ballast water management systems.

The Coast Guard accepts Independent Laboratories (ILs) under 46 CFR 159.010 as part of its ballast water regulatory oversight program. The ILs have a very important role in meeting the requirements of 46 CFR 162.060.  Information regarding this new IL and its sub-laboratories are listed in the Coast Guard’s Maritime Information Exchange (CGMIX) main page. 

Any questions regarding the IL program should be sent to environmental_standards@uscg.mil.

This blog is not a replacement or substitute for the formal posting of regulations and updates or existing processes for receiving formal feedback of the same. Links provided on this blog will direct the reader to official source documents, such as the Federal Register, Homeport and the Code of Federal Regulations. These documents remain the official source for regulatory information published by the Coast Guard.