Ballast Water Management Hearing Held
On March 25, the Subcommittees on Coast Guard & Maritime Transportation and on Water Resources & Environment of the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure conducted a joint hearing on Ballast Water Management. The purpose of the hearing was to examine the international ballast water standards recently agreed to by the IMO and to review reauthorization of the National Invasive Species Act (NISA). RADM Thomas Gilmour, USCG, Assistant Commandant for Marine Safety, Security, and Environmental Protection, testified that the new international convention sets reasonable standards, while allowing individual port states to establish more stringent requirements. Joseph J. Cox, Shipping Industry Ballast Water Coalition, testified in support of international regime adopted at IMO.
Ocean Conservancy Releases Report
The Ocean Conservancy is releasing Cruise Control: How Cruise Ships Affect the Marine Environment. Cruise ships can carry up to 5,000 passengers and produce waste equivalent to that of small cities, yet they are not governed by the same anti-pollution laws as municipalities of comparable size on land. The Cruise Control report recommends a series of necessary governmental actions, including: Regulating all cruise ship discharges; Amending the Clean Water Act to to prevent discharges of raw sewage and toxic chemicals; Requiring the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop effluent limits, stronger air emission limits and mandatory ballast water treatment programs…
