Implications of the U. S. Coast Guard Segregated Ballast Retrofit Ruling on Import Alternatives and Pollution of the Marine Environment.

In May of 1976, the U.S. Coast Guard published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking which would require the backfitting of segregated ballast tanks (SBT) on all tankers engaged in importing oil to the United States which displace 70,000 DWT or more. This study was commissioned to: (1) Estimate the economic costs and environmental benefits to be derived from implementation of the regulation, and (2) Examine the economic feasibility of alternative oil importing schemes (i.e., transshipment and lightering) which could circumvent the proposed regulation.