BILL REQ. #: H-0379.2
| State of Washington | 59th Legislature | 2005 Regular Session |
Read first time 01/24/2005. Referred to Committee on Natural Resources, Ecology & Parks.
AN ACT Relating to impacts of commercial passenger vessels on the marine waters of Washington; amending RCW 90.48.020 and 90.48.144; adding new sections to chapter 90.48 RCW; prescribing penalties; and providing an expiration date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1 RCW 90.48.020 and 2002 c 161 s 4 are each amended to read
as follows:
((Whenever the word)) The definitions in this section apply
throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
(1) "Person" ((is used in this chapter, it shall be construed to))
includes any political subdivision, government agency, municipality,
industry, public or private corporation, copartnership, association,
firm, individual, or any other entity whatsoever.
((Wherever the words)) (2) "Waters of the state" ((shall be used in
this chapter, they shall be construed to)) includes lakes, rivers,
ponds, streams, inland waters, underground waters, salt waters, and all
other surface waters and watercourses within the jurisdiction of the
state of Washington.
((Whenever the word)) (3) "Pollution" ((is used in this chapter, it
shall be construed to)) means such contamination, or other alteration
of the physical, chemical, or biological properties, of any waters of
the state, including change in temperature, taste, color, turbidity, or
odor of the waters, or such discharge of any liquid, gaseous, solid,
radioactive, or other substance into any waters of the state as will or
is likely to create a nuisance or render such waters harmful,
detrimental, or injurious to the public health, safety, or welfare, or
to domestic, commercial, industrial, agricultural, recreational, or
other legitimate beneficial uses, or to livestock, wild animals, birds,
fish, or other aquatic life.
((Wherever the word)) (4) "Department" ((is used in this chapter it
shall)) means the department of ecology.
((Whenever the word)) (5) "Director" ((is used in this chapter it
shall)) means the director of ecology.
((Whenever the words)) (6) "Aquatic noxious weed" ((are used in
this chapter, they have)) has the meaning ((prescribed under)) provided
in RCW 17.26.020.
((Whenever the words)) (7) "General sewer plan" ((are used in this
chapter they shall be construed to)) includes all sewerage general
plans, sewer general comprehensive plans, plans for a system of
sewerage, and other plans for sewer systems adopted by a local
government entity including but not limited to cities, towns, public
utility districts, and water-sewer districts.
(8) "Blackwater" means treated or untreated sewage wastewater from
the toilets, urinals, and similar facilities on commercial passenger
vessels.
(9) "Biomedical waste" has the same meaning provided in RCW
70.95K.010.
(10) "Commercial passenger vessel" means a vessel not owned by the
government of the United States or a foreign nation that is authorized
and capable of providing overnight accommodations for at least fifty
passengers for hire.
(11) "Graywater" means galley, dishwater, bath, laundry, and other
nonsewage wastewaters from a commercial passenger vessel that are
treated or untreated. The term includes graywater that is stored in or
transferred to a ballast tank or other holding area on the vessel that
may not be customarily used for storing graywater. Mixtures of
graywater and blackwater, regardless of concentrations, shall be
treated under this chapter as graywater.
(12) "Hazardous waste" has the same meaning given to both the terms
"hazardous substances" and "hazardous waste" in RCW 70.105.010.
(13) "Oily bilge water" includes bilge water that contains used
lubrication oils, oil sludge and slops, fuel and oil sludge, used oil,
used fuel and fuel filters, and oily waste.
(14) "Passengers for hire" means vessel passengers that are
required to contribute some form of consideration as a condition of
carriage on the vessel, whether that consideration flows directly or
indirectly to the owner, charterer, operator, agent, or other person
having an interest in the vessel.
(15) "Release" means any discharge, however caused, from a
commercial passenger vessel, and includes any escape, disposal,
spilling, leaking, pumping, emitting, or emptying.
(16) "Sewage sludge" has the meaning provided in RCW 70.95.030.
(17) "Solid waste" has the meaning provided in RCW 70.95.030.
(18) "Vessel-accessible waters" means the entirety of the Puget
Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca from the Washington coast to the
Canadian border, coastal waters out to three miles from the Washington
coast, and all fresh water bodies within which a commercial passenger
vessel can navigate.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2 A new section is added to chapter 90.48 RCW
to read as follows:
(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a person may not,
regardless of intent, release sewage sludge, oily bilge water, solid
waste, biomedical waste, hazardous waste, graywater, or untreated
blackwater from a commercial passenger vessel into any vessel-accessible waters.
(2) This section does not apply to releases made for the purpose of
securing the safety of a commercial passenger vessel or saving life at
sea if all reasonable precautions have been taken to prevent or
minimize the release.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3 A new section is added to chapter 90.48 RCW
to read as follows:
(1) Except as provided in this section, a person may not release
blackwater into any vessel-accessible waters from a commercial
passenger vessel that calls on a public port in Washington unless the
owner or operator of the commercial passenger vessel has been approved
for blackwater releases by the department for the vessel in question
and satisfies the requirements of section 4 of this act.
(2)(a) The department shall approve blackwater releases from a
commercial passenger vessel if the owner or operator of the commercial
passenger vessel:
(i) Can demonstrate to the department's satisfaction that the
blackwater to be released from the vessel will receive an adequate
level of treatment to protect the quality of the water receiving the
release; and
(ii) Has paid the mandatory annual operating fee established in
section 6 of this act.
(b) The department shall presume that the level of treatment given
to blackwater releases from a vessel is adequate if the owner or
operator of a large commercial vessel provides documentation to the
department that the wastewater treatment system on the vessel in
question has been certified by the United States coast guard for
continuous discharge of blackwater in the state of Alaska. If the
mandatory annual operating fee established in section 6 of this act has
been satisfied, the approval for blackwater release may be presumed by
the owner or operator of a commercial passenger vessel providing such
documentation if the department has not provided notification to the
contrary or a request for further documentation within sixty days of
submitting the original documentation.
(3) Approvals granted by the department under this section shall
remain in effect until January 1st following the approval and may be
rescinded if substantial changes are made to the approved wastewater
treatment system or if a violation of section 4 of this act is
discovered.
(4) This section does not apply to releases made for the purpose of
securing the safety of a commercial passenger vessel or saving life at
sea if all reasonable precautions have been taken to prevent or
minimize the release.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4 A new section is added to chapter 90.48 RCW
to read as follows:
(1) A person may release treated blackwater from a commercial
passenger vessel that has been approved for releases under section 3 of
this act and is at least more than one nautical mile from its berth at
a public port in Washington and is traveling at least six knots if the
owner or operator of the commercial passenger vessel agrees with the
department to do all of the following:
(a) Sample the quality of the treated blackwater released from the
commercial passenger vessel while at berth at a Washington public port
at least once during each month that the commercial passenger vessel
calls on a public port in Washington. The sample must be analyzed by
a department-approved laboratory for, at a minimum, the following five
parameters: pH, biochemical oxygen demand, fecal coliform, total
suspended solids, and residual chlorine;
(b) Share all effluent samples with the department, when requested,
for all samples taken in waters of the state;
(c) Conduct a whole effluent toxicity test, or WET test, unless the
department notifies that such testing is unnecessary;
(d) Provide the department, when requested, with duplicate results
of tests performed on the commercial passenger vessel's wastewater
treatment system in other jurisdictions;
(e) Notify the department at least one week before sampling in
waters of the state is to occur, and allow department staff to observe
the sampling events when requested;
(f) Allow the department to conduct a minimum of one inspection of
the commercial passenger vessel, if requested, to verify the operating
conditions of the wastewater treatment system; and
(g) Notify the department if material changes are made to the
wastewater treatment system approved under section 3 of this act.
(2) A person may release treated blackwater from a commercial
passenger vessel that has been approved for releases under section 3 of
this act if the vessel is at or within one nautical mile of its berth
at a public port in Washington if the owner or operator of the
commercial passenger vessel agrees with the department to do all of the
following:
(a) Comply with the requirements set forth in subsection (1)(a)
through (f) of this section;
(b) Provide twenty-four hour continuous monitoring of the turbidity
of any released blackwater, or an equivalent to turbidity monitoring
agreed to by the department that judges the effluent released by the
wastewater treatment system of a commercial passenger vessel;
(c) Provide documentation to the department that all treated
blackwater will receive a final treatment with ultraviolet light
immediately before discharge;
(d) Provide copies of any water quality tests taken from the
effluent of the commercial passenger vessel during the six months
preceding the approved release; and
(e) Provide documentation of the commercial passenger vessel's
wastewater treatment system design that demonstrates:
(i) That the system can be either automatically shut down or that
there are operational procedures in place to ensure an immediate shut
down of the system if effluent monitoring reveals that the wastewater
treatment system is malfunctioning;
(ii) A plan has been adopted that describes protocols for notifying
the department if the wastewater treatment system malfunctions or is
shut down while in the waters of the state; and
(iii) How blackwater will be stored, including the capacity of any
holding tanks to be used, until the wastewater treatment system is
repaired and operating.
Sec. 5 RCW 90.48.144 and 1995 c 403 s 636 are each amended to
read as follows:
Except as provided in RCW 43.05.060 through 43.05.080 and
43.05.150, every person who:
(1) Violates the terms or conditions of a waste discharge permit
issued pursuant to RCW 90.48.180 or 90.48.260 through 90.48.262, or
(2) Conducts a commercial or industrial operation or other point
source discharge operation without a waste discharge permit as required
by RCW 90.48.160 or 90.48.260 through 90.48.262, or
(3) Violates the provisions of RCW 90.48.080, or other sections of
this chapter or chapter 90.56 RCW or rules or orders adopted or issued
pursuant to either of those chapters, shall incur, in addition to any
other penalty as provided by law, a penalty in an amount of up to ten
thousand dollars a day for every such violation, except that violations
of section 2 or 3 of this act may be penalized in an amount up to
twenty-five thousand dollars for each violation. Each and every such
violation shall be a separate and distinct offense, and in case of a
continuing violation, every day's continuance shall be and be deemed to
be a separate and distinct violation. Every act of commission or
omission which procures, aids or abets in the violation shall be
considered a violation under the provisions of this section and subject
to the penalty herein provided for. The penalty amount shall be set in
consideration of the previous history of the violator and the severity
of the violation's impact on public health and/
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6 A new section is added to chapter 90.48 RCW
to read as follows:
(1) Before releasing treated blackwater under section 4 of this
act, the owner or operator of a commercial passenger vessel must remit
to the department an annual operating fee in an amount set by the
department.
(2) The department shall set the per-vessel annual operating fee so
that the total estimated receipts equal the estimated annual costs in
implementing sections 2, 3, and 4 of this act. If actual revenues do
not match actual costs, the underestimate or overestimate may be
reflected in the fee level set for the subsequent year.
(3) The department may enter into agreements with a public port to
collect the annual operations fee from the owner or operators of the
commercial passenger vessels calling on that port.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 7 A new section is added to chapter 90.48 RCW
to read as follows:
(1) By November 30, 2007, the department shall submit to the
appropriate committees of the legislature a report that concludes if
the limitations on the release of treated blackwater from commercial
passenger vessels under this chapter are adequate for protecting water
quality. At a minimum, the report must make findings as to whether
commercial passenger vessels are releasing treated blackwater in the
same locations, and if so, whether the cumulative effects of these
releases degrade the water quality in those areas.
(2) For each year from 2005 until 2010, the department shall
analyze all water quality data received from commercial passenger
vessels and make available to the public by December 31st of each year
a report that summarizes all data collected in lay terms.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 8 If any provision of this act or its
application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the
remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other
persons or circumstances is not affected.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 9 Section 7 of this act expires January 1,
2011.