USCG Type Approval Standards - Applied AI Foundation

USCG authority and scope

The United States Coast Guard enforces 33 CFR Part 151 for ballast water management on vessels operating in US waters. This regulation applies to vessels of 300 gross registered tons or more that operate in the US Exclusive Economic Zone and take on or discharge ballast water. The USCG standard is more stringent than IMO D-2 and requires separate type approval from the USCG.

The USCG numeric standard

Organism category	USCG limit	IMO D-2 limit	Difference
Organisms ≥ 50 μm	< 0.01 per m³	< 10 per m³	1,000× stricter
Organisms 10–50 μm	< 0.01 per mL	< 10 per mL	1,000× stricter
Indicator microbes	Same as D-2	Same as D-2	Equal

UV intensity requirement

To reliably achieve the USCG standard, UV systems must operate at a minimum intensity of:

530 W/m²

This value is defined in the codebase as THRESHOLDS.UV_INTENSITY.USCG_MIN.

The three intensity zones

UV Intensity	IMO D-2	USCG	Dashboard Status
≥ 530 W/m²	✅ Compliant	✅ Compliant	Green — both standards met
252–529 W/m²	✅ Compliant	⚠️ Non-compliant	Yellow warning — IMO only
< 252 W/m²	❌ Non-compliant	❌ Non-compliant	Red — neither standard met

How the dashboard checks USCG compliance

The Compliance tab evaluates the latest UVR_INTENSITY reading:

USCG = COMPLIANT  if UVR_INTENSITY >= 530
USCG = WARNING    if 252 <= UVR_INTENSITY < 530
USCG = NON-COMPLIANT  if UVR_INTENSITY < 252

The “WARNING” state (yellow) indicates the system is operating within the IMO marginal zone but below USCG requirements. This is significant if the vessel is operating in or transiting to US waters.

Operational implications

When a vessel is bound for a US port:

Check the Compliance tab to confirm the USCG item is green before entering the Exclusive Economic Zone.
Use the Trend Analysis tab with the upcoming voyage’s date range to verify intensity has been sustained, not just at the moment of checking.
If the USCG item shows yellow, investigate lamp efficiency in the Predictive Maintenance tab — power compensation may be masking lamp degradation that will worsen under higher-intensity demand.