A bill to remove a limitation on a prohibition relating to permits for discharges incidental to normal operation of vessels.

[AI summary unavailable — showing source text] Makes permanent a prohibition exempting from National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit requirements under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) a vessel under 79 feet in length or a fishing vessel for any discharge: (1) of effluent from properly functioning marine engines, or of laundry, shower, and galley sink wastes; or (2) that is incidental to the normal operation of those vessels. (Currently, the prohibition is temporary, and the time period during which the Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] and any state with a state permit program are prohibited from requiring a NPDES permit ends on December 18, 2014. This prohibition does not apply, however, with respect to garbage discharged overboard, other discharges when the vessel is operating in a capacity other than as a means of transportation, discharges of ballast water held in ships to increase stability, or any discharge that contributes to a violation of a water quality standard or poses an unacceptable risk to human health or the environment.)…