Pollution Control Equipment

LI 0935 - Pollution Control Equipment is a Navy program funded under the Other Procurement, Navy appropriation, specifically within the Ships Support Equipment budget activity. The goal of this program is to procure, install, and modernize shipboard and shore-based environmental protection systems and technologies. These investments are designed to ensure Navy ships comply with federal laws, international regulations, and Department of Defense (DoD) and Navy instructions regarding pollution prevention and control. The program addresses requirements for controlling the discharge of oily wastewater, sewage, solid waste, plastic waste, and hazardous materials, which are critical for maintaining operational flexibility and avoiding legal liabilities.

Oil Pollution Abatement (OPA) Improvements focus on upgrading and maintaining shipboard systems that manage oily wastewater and prevent oil pollution. Objectives include improving operational availability, maintainability, and reliability of OPA systems. This involves ship-specific upgrades such as installing new tank level sensors, upgrading Oily Water Separators (OWS) and Oil Content Monitors (OCM), correcting piping and pump deficiencies, and integrating advanced membrane or centrifugal OWS technologies. These improvements are tailored to specific ship classes to ensure compliance with oil discharge requirements and to address platform-specific integration challenges.

Dry Waste Processing Suite (DWPS) Improvements are aimed at modernizing legacy shipboard solid waste management systems. The program addresses issues of reliability, maintainability, and availability due to aging equipment, increased plastic waste, and higher fleet populations at sea. DWPS improvements include the procurement and installation of compressed melt units, pulpers, shredders, compactors, and incinerators across various ship classes. The goal is to enhance sanitary conditions, reduce labor hours, improve system availability, and mitigate obsolescence and safety risks associated with solid waste and hazardous material management.

Hazardous Material Stowage Modernization supports the safe storage, control, and management of hazardous materials aboard Navy ships. This initiative is necessary due to the increasing depth and range of hazardous material inventory, longer missions, and greater equipment diversity. The program aims to reduce personnel, safety, environmental, and equipment risks by updating stowage systems and procedures, thereby ensuring compliance with environmental regulations and enhancing fleet safety.

Shore-Based Pollution Control Equipment provides resources for responding to Navy-originated oil and hazardous substance spills in near-shore, open sea, and remote environments. Major procurements include vessel skimmer systems, underwater oil recovery systems, boom replacement sections, rubber boat replacements, salvage skimmer system life extensions, arctic oil and heavy debris recovery systems, and specialized pumps. The Supervisor of Salvage is responsible for deploying these assets, which are essential for fulfilling the Navy's role in the National Oil and Hazardous Substance Pollution Contingency Plan under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act.

Production Engineering and Support Equipment funding covers technical manual development, software quality control, engineering support, and the removal of obsolete equipment from inactive ships. This ensures that pollution control systems remain up-to-date, properly documented, and maintainable. Additional investments include logistics support equipment, skimmer support equipment, field lighting, transfer bladders, vessel of opportunity skimming systems, and van refurbishments, all of which are necessary for the effective deployment and operation of pollution control technologies.

CFC-114 (R-114) Air Conditioning Conversion addresses the Navy's dependence on chlorofluorocarbon-based refrigerants for mission-critical cooling applications. In response to environmental regulations prohibiting CFC production, the program procures and installs conversion kits to transition shipboard air conditioning plants to ozone-friendly refrigerants. The objective is to maintain uninterrupted fleet operations while meeting sustainability mandates. This effort supports compliance with the Clean Air Act and Executive Orders on sustainable procurement.