SB 6329-S - DIGEST

(DIGEST AS ENACTED)

Adds the following to the ballast water work group: (1) One representative of the shellfish industry;

(2) One representative of the tribes;

(3) One representative of maritime labor; and

(4) One representative from the department of fish and wildlife.

Requires the ballast water work group to study, and provide a report to the legislature by December 15, 2006, on the following issues: (1) All issues relating to ballast water technology, including exchange and treatment methods, management plans, the associated costs, and the availability of feasible and proven ballast water treatment technologies that could be cost-effectively installed on vessels that typically call on Washington ports;

(2) The services needed by the industry and the state to protect the marine environment, including penalties and enforcement;

(3) The costs associated with, and possible funding methods for, implementing the ballast water program;

(4) Consistency with federal and international standards, and identification of gaps between those standards, and the need for additional measures, if any, to meet the goals of this act;

(5) Describe how the costs of treatment required as of July 1, 2007, will be substantially equivalent among ports where treatment is required;

(6) Describe how the states of Washington and Oregon are coordinating their efforts for ballast water management in the Columbia river system; and

(7) Describe how the states of Washington, Oregon, and California and the province of British Columbia are coordinating their efforts for ballast water management on the west coast.

Provides that the ballast water work group expires June 30, 2007.

Requires masters, owners, operators, or persons-in-charge to submit to the department an interim ballast water management report by July 1, 2006, in the form and manner prescribed by the department. The report shall describe actions needed to implement the ballast water requirements in subsection (2) of this section, including treatment methods applicable to the class of the vessel.

Requires the ballast water work group created in section 1, chapter 282, Laws of 2002 to develop recommendations for the interim ballast water management report. The recommendations must include, but are not limited to: (1) Actions that the vessel owner or operator will take to implement the ballast water requirements in this act, including treatment methods applicable to the class of the vessel;

(2) Necessary plan elements when there are not treatment methods applicable to the vessel for which the report is being submitted, or which would meet the requirements of this act; and

(3) The method, form, and content of reporting to be used for such reports.

Provides that, for treatment technologies requiring shipyard modification that cannot reasonably be performed prior to July 1, 2007, the department shall provide the vessel owner or operator with an extension to the first scheduled drydock or shipyard period following July 1, 2007.

Requires the department to make every effort to align ballast water standards with adopted international and federal standards while ensuring that the goals of this chapter are met.