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Congress amended the Clean Water Act (CWA) in 1996 to create section 312(n), captioned "Uniform National Discharge Standards (UNDS) for Vessels of the Armed Forces." Section 312(n) directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Defense (DoD) to establish national discharge standards for discharges incidental to the normal operation of a vessel of the armed forces in three phases. This rule addresses the second phase of rulemaking required by section 312(n). After the third phase of the rulemaking is complete, these national standards will preempt State discharge standards for these vessels, although States may enforce the uniform national standards.

The EPA and DoD jointly promulgated Phase I on May 10,1999 (64 FR 25126), and concluded that 25 discharges from vessels of the Armed Forces would require discharge performance standards. Phase II of the rulemaking (joint EPA/DoD rule) is the development of the 25 discharge performance standards and being done in three ‘batches’ of rulemaking. UNDS Phase II Batch One performance standards were promulgated on January 11, 2017 (82 FR 3173). The UNDS Phase II Batch Two was proposed on October 7, 2016 (81 FR 69753). The UNDS Phase II Batch Two includes: catapult water brake tank & post-launch retraction exhaust, controllable pitch propeller hydraulic fluid; deck runoff, firemain systems, graywater, hull coating leachate, and motor gasoline compensating discharge; sonar dome discharge; submarine bilgewater, surface vessel bilgewater/oil-water separator, and underwater ship husbandry. The EPA and DoD anticipate completing the UNDS Phase II Batch Two Final Rulemaking in the Fall of 2019. The UNDS Phase II Batch Three will begin on completion of Batch Two.