activities must meet both federal and state standards for
preventing air pollution.
The Navy has begun taking steps to help meet the
nation’s goal of reducing air pollution. One step has
been the conversion of its power plants ashore and afloat
to use more efficient pollution control systems for stack
emissions.
When required by state or local regulations,
activities have set up a program for monitoring and
analyzing the exhaust from each vehicle. Vehicles that
do not meet emission standards must have corrective
maintenance before being returned to service.
Clean Water Act
The Clean Water Act, as amended, represents a
clear goal to restore and maintain the chemical,
physical, and biological integrity of the nation’s waters.
To help reach that goal, the Navy uses municipal
treatment plants where possible for its wastewater and
sewage. (NOTE: Operators of municipal treatment
p l a n t s m u s t m e e t t h e o p e r a t o r- c e r t i fi c a t i o n
requirements of the state in which the Navy facility is
located.) Whenever use of a municipal facility is
impractical, the Navy provides, installs, and operates its
own wastewater treatment and disposal systems.
(NOTE: The Navy complies with water pollution
control standards that govern the types of pollutants that
can be introduced into a treatment facility.)
The Navy has installed marine sanitation devices
(MSDs) aboard most of its ships. Some of those devices
treat sewage to a level acceptable for overboard
discharge. Others (collection, holding and transfer
[CHT] systems) retain sewage on board for later
discharge ashore or in waters in which discharge is
allowed. No untreated or inadequately treated sewage
may be discharged into navigable waters of the United
States. In foreign waters, Navy vessels comply with the
applicable Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) in
operating MSDs. If no SOFA exists, vessels operate
MSDs based on the sewage-discharge standards
observed by the host country’s military forces.
Some of the guidelines followed by the Navy are
shown below:
Navy vessels may not discharge hazardous
substances in harmful quantities into or upon
navigable waters of the United States.
They also may not discharge those substances
upon adjoining shorelines or into or upon waters
of the contiguous zone (12 nautical miles [nm]
from shore).
Since Navy vessels use many substances they
cannot dispose of at sea outside the contiguous
zone, they must store them in containers for
shore disposal.
Vessels may not discharge unpulped trash at sea
within 25 nautical miles (nm) from the U. S.
coastline and pulped trash within 12 nm of the
U.S. coastline.
They must make every effort to package all trash
for negative buoyancy before overboard
discharge.
Submarines may discharge negatively buoyant
compacted trash not less than 12 nm from the
U.S. coastline only if the water depth is greater
than 1,000 fathoms.
Vessels may not discharge any trash within 25
nm of any foreign coastline.
Overboard discharge of plastic waste material is
prohibited.
Noise Prevention Ashore
The Noise Prevention Program directs federal
facilities, including naval shore stations, to comply
with all substantive or procedural requirements that
apply to environmental noise reduction. Therefore,
whenever feasible, the Navy procures (buys)
l ow - n o i s e e m i s s i o n p r o d u c t s a n d p r o v i d e s
soundproofing of Navy-owned/operated schools and
hospitals affected by noisy operations. It also locates
housing and other developments away from major
noise sources and cooperates with and in support of
neighborhood self-help programs. Aviation facilities
consider remote siting, sound suppression equipment,
and sound barriers when developing new systems. To
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