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Cruise ships provide millions of passengers an opportunity to relax and learn about oceans and marine wildlife. Despite the benefits they provide to people across the globe, cruise ships also are a danger to our oceans and the activities and life they support. According to EPA and industry data, a typical 3,000 passenger cruise ship each week generates 210,000 gallons of black water, which is raw sewage; 1 million gallons of gray water, including runoff from showers, sinks and dishwashers; and 37,000 gallons of oily bilge water, which collects in the bottom of ships and contains oil and chemicals from engine maintenance that are toxic to marine life.
Right now, cruise ships are exempt from critical regulations that would help protect the beautiful and inspiring oceans and marine wildlife that attract many cruise ship travelers-except in Alaskan waters, which are protected by federal legislation enacted just a few years ago. We can extend these protections by enacting the Durbin bill: a targeted, reasonable approach to cruise ship pollution that would protect all U.S. ocean waters. The Durbin bill draws from key provisions of the Alaskan legislation and the Clean Water Act. It would:
- Prohibit discharges of sewage (including sewage sludge), graywater and bilge water within 12 miles of U.S. shore.
- For discharges outside of 12 miles, establishes maximum limits for levels of fecal coliform and chlorine in treated sewage and graywater, and require the Coast Guard and EPA to issue final standards taking into account the best available technology, with the goal of zero pollutant discharge from sewage or graywater by 2015. Certain treatment systems in Alaska would be “grandfathered,” due to the investments that have already been undertaken to comply with current law.
- Provide for inspection of discharge operation and equipment, including sampling and testing.
- Require the Coast Guard to establish a three-year program in which independent observers would be placed onboard cruise vessels to monitor compliance of cruise vessels with all applicable laws.
- Direct the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, with expertise in monitoring technologies, to help develop and foster commercialization of alternative technologies that would allow for monitoring of cruise ship compliance with all applicable laws.
- Implement whistleblower protection for employees who report employers' noncompliance with the Act.
- Empower citizens to commence a civil action against anyone in violation of the Act.
- Authorize appropriations and establish a Cruise Vessel Pollution Control Fund, which would be funded through fees on cruise vessel voyages. The Coast Guard would be responsible for devising the fee structure, within limits established in the legislation.
For more information about the Durbin bill, please contact
Catherine Potter of Senator Durbin's staff at 202-224-2152.
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