AN
ACT Relating to ballast water; amending RCW 77.120.030, 77.120.040, and
77.120.060; adding a new section to chapter 77.120 RCW; creating a new section;
providing an expiration date; and declaring an emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 1. (1)
The director of the department of fish and wildlife must establish the ballast
water work group.
(2)
The ballast water work group consists of the following individuals:
(a)
One staff person from the governor's executive policy office. This person must
act as chair of the ballast water work group;
(b)
Two representatives from the Puget Sound steamship operators;
(c)
Two representatives from the Columbia river steamship operators;
(d)
Three representatives from the Washington public ports, one of whom must be a
marine engineer;
(e)
Two representatives from the petroleum transportation industry;
(f)
One representative from the Puget Sound water quality action team; and
(g)
Two representatives from the environmental community.
(3)
The ballast water work group must study, and provide a report to the
legislature by December 15, 2003, the following issues:
(a)
All issues relating to ballast water technology, including exchange and
treatment methods and the associated costs;
(b)
The services needed by the industry and the state to protect the marine
environment; and
(c)
The costs associated with, and possible funding methods for, implementing the
ballast water program.
(4)
The ballast water work group must begin operation immediately upon the
effective date of this section. The department of fish and wildlife must
provide staff for the ballast water work group. The staff must come from existing
personnel within the department of fish and wildlife.
(5)
The director must also monitor the activities of the task force created by the
state of Oregon in 2001 Or. Laws 722, concerning ballast water management. The
director shall provide the ballast water work group with periodic updates of
the Oregon task force's efforts at developing a ballast water management
system.
(6)(a)
The ballast water work group expires June 30, 2004.
(b)
This section expires June 30, 2004.
Sec.
2. RCW
77.120.030 and 2000 c 108 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
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 RCW 77.120.040.
(2)
After July 1, ((2002)) 2004, 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.
Sec.
3. RCW
77.120.040 and 2000 c 108 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:
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 using ballast water management forms that are
acceptable to the United States coast guard. The frequency, manner, and form
of such reporting shall be established by the department by rule. Any vessel
may rely on a recognized marine trade association to collect and forward this
information to the department.
(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 nonindigenous species ballast water monitoring data. The
monitoring, sampling, testing protocols, and methods of identifying
nonindigenous species in ballast water shall be determined by the department by
rule. 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.
(3)
Vessels that do not belong to a recognized marine trade association must submit
individual ballast tank sample data to the department for each voyage.
(4)
All data submitted to the department under subsection (2) of this section shall
be consistent with sampling and testing protocols as adopted by the department
by rule.
(5)
The department shall adopt rules to implement this section. 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. In recognition of the need to have a coordinated response to ballast
water management for the Columbia river system, the department must consider
rules adopted by the state of Oregon when adopting rules under this section for
ballast water management in the navigable waters of the Columbia river system.
(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.
Sec.
4. RCW
77.120.060 and 2000 c 108 s 7 are each amended to read as follows:
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)) 2004 report shall
describe how the costs of treatment required as of July 1, ((2002)) 2004,
will be substantially equivalent among ports where treatment is required. The
2004 report must describe how the states of Washington and Oregon are
coordinating their efforts for ballast water management in the Columbia river
system. 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. 5. A
new section is added to chapter 77.120 RCW to read as follows:
The
department, working with the United States coast guard and the marine
exchanges, will work cooperatively to improve the ballast water information
system and make improvements no later than October 1, 2002. The cooperative
effort will strive to obtain ballast water reports for the United States coast
guard under contract. The reports may be used for ballast water management
information under this chapter and be forwarded to the United States coast
guard for its management purposes. Prior to July 1, 2002, the department must
take steps to reduce or eliminate the costs of reporting.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. This
act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or
safety, or support of the state government and its existing public
institutions, and takes effect immediately.
