THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.R. NO.

140

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2003

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

requesting a review of existing legislation regulating cruise ships and their environmental effects.

WHEREAS, cruise ships are floating cities that produce enormous volumes of unregulated or inadequately regulated waste; and

WHEREAS, today's largest ships can transport more than 5,000 passengers and crew, and have the capacity to generate more than 11 million gallons of waste water every day, as well as carry significant amounts of hazardous chemicals from onboard printing, photo processing, and dry cleaning operations; and

WHEREAS, there are numerous regulatory loopholes and gaps in environmental laws that should be controlling pollution by cruise ships; and

WHEREAS, several types of cruise ship discharges are exempt from key regulations governing other wastewater dischargers; and

WHEREAS, for example, the Federal Clean Water Act makes it unlawful to discharge any pollutant from a point source into U.S. waters unless a permit is obtained under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES); and

WHEREAS, however, discharges of sewage from vessels, effluent from properly functioning marine engines, laundry, shower, and galley sink wastes ("graywater"), or any other discharge "incidental to the normal operation of a vessel," are exempt from the requirement to obtain NPDES permits (40 C.F.R. §122.3(a)); and

WHEREAS, graywater can legally be dumped anywhere except the Great Lakes, even though the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has found that graywater has the potential to cause adverse environmental effects; and

WHEREAS, the condition of water surrounding Hawaii is important not only for public health but for the health of the tourism industry; and

WHEREAS, with the recent expansion of the cruise ship industry in Hawaii, the risk of accidental and intentional release of untreated effluent increases; and

WHEREAS, cruise lines have become a significant part of Hawaii's economy and some places - such as Hilo, Kauai, and even parts of tourism-rich Maui - have a high level of economic dependence on the ship-borne tourists; and

WHEREAS, it is in the cruise lines' own financial interest to be more than ordinarily careful about the environment; and

WHEREAS, cruise lines marketing Hawaii and other destinations try to bring people to the most beautiful places in the world and that means those places have to be kept beautiful; and

WHEREAS, other states and countries have implemented legislation to fill the loopholes to protect ocean resources from cruise ship pollution; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-Second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2003, that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to research existing legislation of other states and countries on strategies to regulate the environmental effects of cruise ships in order to provide draft legislation and a framework for appropriate legislation for Hawaii; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to report its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation with an interim report to the Legislature by September 19, 2003, and a final report to the Legislature no later than twenty days before the convening of the Regular Session of 2004; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the Legislative Reference Bureau.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Cruise Ships; Environmental Effects; LRB Research