S-4197

AN ACT Relating to ballast water management; adding a new chapter to Title 75 RCW; and prescribing penalties.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that some nonindigenous species have the potential to cause economic and environmental damage to the state and that current efforts to stop the introduction of nonindigenous species from shipping vessels do not adequately reduce the risk of new introductions into Washington waters.

The legislature recognizes the international and rapidly changing dimensions of this issue, and the difficulty that any one state has in either legally or practically managing this issue. Recognizing the possible limits of state jurisdiction over international issues, the state declares its support for the international maritime organization and United States coast guard efforts, and the state intends to complement, to the extent its powers allow it, the United States coast guard's ballast water management program.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

(1) "Ballast tank" means any tank or hold on a vessel used for carrying ballast water, whether or not the tank or hold was designed for that purpose.

(2) "Ballast water" means any water and matter taken on board a vessel to control or maintain trim, draft, stability, or stresses of the vessel, without regard to the manner in which it is carried.

(3) "Empty/refill exchange" means to pump out, until the tank is empty or as close to empty as the master or operator determines is safe, the ballast water taken on in ports, estuarine, or territorial waters, and then refilling the tank with open sea waters.

(4) "Exchange" means to replace the water in a ballast tank using either flow through exchange, empty/refill exchange, or other exchange methodology recommended or required by the United States coast guard.

(5) "Flow through exchange" means to flush out ballast water by pumping in midocean water at the bottom of the tank and continuously overflowing the tank from the top until three full volumes of water have been changed to minimize the number of original organisms remaining in the tank.

(6) "Nonindigenous species" means any species or other viable biological material that enters an ecosystem beyond its natural range.

(7) "Open sea exchange" means an exchange that occurs fifty or more nautical miles offshore. If the United States coast guard requires a vessel to conduct an exchange further offshore, then that distance is the required distance for purposes of compliance with this chapter.

(8) "Recognized marine trade association" means those trade associations in Washington state that promote improved ballast water management practices by educating their members on the provisions of this chapter, participating in regional ballast water coordination through the Pacific ballast water group, assisting the department in the collection of ballast water exchange forms, and the monitoring of ballast water. This includes members of the Puget Sound marine committee for Puget Sound and the Columbia river steamship operators association for the Columbia river.

(9) "Sediments" means any matter settled out of ballast water within a vessel.

(10) "Treated ballast water" means ballast water that has undergone some form of treatment to remove or reduce the number of viable biological organisms.

(11) "Untreated ballast water" includes exchanged or unexchanged ballast water that has not undergone treatment.

(12) "Vessel" means a self-propelled ship in commerce of three hundred gross tons or more.

(13) "Voyage" means any transit by a vessel destined for any Washington port.

(14) "Waters of the state" means any surface waters, including internal waters contiguous to state shorelines within the boundaries of the state.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) This chapter applies to all vessels carrying ballast water into the waters of the state from a voyage, except:

(a) A vessel of the United States department of defense or United States coast guard subject to the requirements of section 1103 of the national invasive species act of 1996, or any vessel of the armed forces, as defined in 33 U.S.C. Sec. 1322(a)(14), that is subject to the uniform national discharge standards for vessels of the armed forces under 33 U.S.C. Sec. 1322(n);

(b) A vessel (i) that discharges ballast water or sediments only at the location where the ballast water or sediments originated, if the ballast water or sediments do not mix with ballast water or sediments from areas other than open sea waters; or (ii) that does not discharge ballast water in Washington waters;

(c) A vessel traversing the internal waters of Washington in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, bound for a port in Canada, and not entering or departing a United States port, or a vessel in innocent passage, which is a vessel merely traversing the territorial sea of the United States and not entering or departing a United States port, or not navigating the internal waters of the United States; and

(d) A crude oil tanker engaged in coast-wide trade that does not exchange or discharge ballast water into the waters of the state.

(2) This chapter does not authorize the discharge of oil or noxious liquid substances in a manner prohibited by state, federal, or international laws or regulations. Ballast water containing oil, noxious liquid substances, or any other pollutant shall be discharged in accordance with the applicable requirements.

(3) The master or operator in charge of a vessel is responsible for the safety of the vessel, its crew, and its passengers. Nothing in this chapter relieves the master or operator in charge of a vessel of the responsibility for ensuring the safety and stability of the vessel or the safety of the crew and passengers.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The owner or operator in charge of any vessel covered by this chapter is required to ensure that the vessel under their ownership or control does not discharge ballast water into the waters of the state except as authorized by this section.

(1) Discharge into waters of the state is authorized if the vessel has conducted an open sea exchange of ballast water. A vessel is exempt from this requirement if the vessel's master reasonably determines that such a ballast water exchange operation will threaten the safety of the vessel or the vessel's crew, or is not feasible due to vessel design limitations or equipment failure. If a vessel relies on this exemption, then it may discharge ballast water into waters of the state, subject to any requirements of treatment under subsection (2) of this section and subject to section 5 of this act.

(2) After July 1, 2002, discharge of ballast water into waters of the state is authorized only if there has been an open sea exchange or if the vessel has treated its ballast water to meet standards set by the department. When weather or extraordinary circumstances make access to treatment unsafe to the vessel or crew, the master of a vessel may delay compliance with any treatment required under this subsection until it is safe to complete the treatment.

(3) The requirements of this section do not apply to a vessel discharging ballast water or sediments that originated solely within the waters of Washington state, the Columbia river system, or the internal waters of British Columbia south of latitude fifty degrees north, including the waters of the Straits of Georgia and Juan de Fuca.

(4) Open sea exchange is an exchange that occurs fifty or more nautical miles offshore. If the United States coast guard requires a vessel to conduct an exchange further offshore, then that distance is the required distance for purposes of compliance with this chapter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. The owner or operator in charge of any vessel covered by this chapter is required to ensure that the vessel under their ownership or control complies with the reporting and sampling requirements of this section.

(1) Vessels covered by this chapter must report ballast water management information to the department for each voyage using ballast water management forms that are acceptable to the United States coast guard. Any vessel may rely on a recognized marine trade association to forward this information to the department or directly submit the report to the department. The report shall be submitted before the vessel departs its port of call in Washington.

(2) In order to monitor the effectiveness of national and international efforts to prevent the introduction of nonindigenous species, all vessels covered by this chapter must submit monitoring data describing nonindigenous species that might be present in the vessel's ballast. A vessel covered by this chapter may contract with a recognized marine trade association to randomly sample vessels within that association's membership, and provide data to the department. Vessels that do not belong to a recognized marine trade association must submit ballast tank sample data to the department for each voyage. The department may require monitoring data from any vessel that exempts itself from ballast water exchange under section 4(1) of this act.

(3) All data submitted to the department under subsection (2) of this section shall be consistent with sampling and testing protocols as adopted by rule by the department.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. (1) The shipping vessel industry and the department shall promote the creation of a pilot project to establish a private sector ballast water treatment operation that is capable of servicing vessels at all Washington ports. Federal and state agencies and private industries shall be invited to participate. The project will develop equipment to treat ballast water and establish operational methods that do not increase the cost of ballast water treatment at smaller ports. The legislature intends that the cost of treatment required by this chapter is substantially equivalent among large and small ports in Washington.

(2) The department shall adopt rules to implement (a) and (b) of this subsection. The rules and recommendations shall be developed in consultation with advisors from regulated industries and the potentially affected parties, including but not limited to shipping interests, ports, shellfish growers, fisheries, environmental interests, interested citizens who have knowledge of the issues, and appropriate governmental representatives including the United States coast guard.

(a) The department shall set standards for the discharge of treated ballast water into the waters of the state. The rules are intended to ensure that the discharge of treated ballast water poses minimal risk of introducing nonindigenous species. In developing this standard, the department shall consider the extent to which the requirement is technologically and practically feasible. Where practical and appropriate, the standards shall be compatible with standards set by the United States coast guard and shall be developed in consultation with federal and state agencies to ensure consistency with the federal clean water act, 33 U.S.C. Sec. 1251-1387.

(b) The department shall adopt ballast water sampling and testing protocols for monitoring the biological components of ballast water that may be discharged into the waters of the state under this chapter. Monitoring data is intended to assist the department in evaluating the risk of new, nonindigenous species introductions from the discharge of ballast water, and to evaluate the accuracy of ballast water exchange practices. The sampling and testing protocols must consist of cost-effective, scientifically verifiable methods that, to the extent practical and without compromising the purposes of this chapter, utilize easily measured indices, such as salinity, or check for species that indicate the potential presence of nonindigenous species or pathogenic species. The department shall specify appropriate quality assurance and quality control for the sampling and testing protocols.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. The legislature recognizes that international and national laws relating to this chapter are changing and that state law must adapt accordingly. The department shall submit to the legislature, and make available to the public, a report that summarizes the results of this chapter and makes recommendations for improvement to this chapter on or before December 1, 2001, and a second report on or before December 1, 2004. The 2001 report shall describe how the costs of treatment required as of July 1, 2002, will be substantially equivalent among ports where treatment is required. The department shall strive to fund the provisions of this chapter through existing resources, cooperative agreements with the maritime industry, and federal funding sources.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. (1) Except as limited by subsection (2) or (3) of this section, the director or the director's designee may impose a civil penalty or warning for a violation of the requirements of this chapter on the owner or operator in charge of a vessel who fails to comply with the requirements imposed under sections 4 and 5 of this act. The penalty shall not exceed five thousand dollars for each violation. In determining the amount of a civil penalty, the department shall consider if the violation was intentional, negligent, or without any fault, and shall consider the quality and nature of risks created by the violation. The owner or operator subject to such a penalty may contest the determination by requesting an adjudicative proceeding within twenty days. Any determination not timely contested is final and may be reduced to a judgment enforceable in any court with jurisdiction. If the department prevails using any judicial process to collect a penalty under this section, the department shall also be awarded its costs and reasonable attorneys' fees.

(2) The civil penalty for a violation of reporting requirements of section 5 of this act shall not exceed five hundred dollars per violation.

(3) Any owner or operator who knowingly, and with intent to deceive, falsifies a ballast water management report form is liable for a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed five thousand dollars per violation, in addition to any criminal liability that may attach to the filing of false documents.

(4) The department, in cooperation with the United States coast guard, may enforce the requirements of this chapter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. By December 31, 2005, the natural resources committees of the legislature must review this chapter and its implementation and make recommendations if needed to the 2006 regular session of the legislature.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. 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. 11. Sections 1 through 10 of this act constitute a new chapter in Title 75 RCW.