An Act To Protect the Environment and Natural Resources of the State by Regulating the Discharge of Certain Substances into the Environment
Emergency preamble. Whereas, acts and resolves of the Legislature do not become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and
Whereas, the unregulated discharge of ballast water from ocean-going vessels into the coastal waters of the State poses a significant risk to the biological, ecological and economic vitality of the State; and
Whereas, in order for the Board of Environmental Protection to provisionally adopt major substantive rules in time for legislative review in 2011, this legislation must take effect immediately; and
Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, therefore,
Sec. 1. 38 MRSA §423-E is enacted to read:
§ 423-E. Prohibited discharges; ballast water from ocean-going vessels
This section governs the discharge of ballast water by an ocean-going vessel on or after January 1, 2011. For the purposes of this section, "ocean-going vessel" means a vessel operating within the coastal waters of the State that is equipped with ballast tanks capable of taking on and discharging water for the purposes of controlling or maintaining the vessel's trim, draft or stability or to control stresses on the vessel.
(1) More than 1,000 bacteria per 100 milliliters;
(2) More than 10,000 viruses per 100 milliliters; and
(3) Concentrations of microbes that constitute more than 125 colony-forming units of Escherichia coli per 100 milliliters and 32 colony-forming units of intestinal enterococci per 100 milliliters; and
Emergency clause. In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this legislation takes effect when approved.
summary
This bill prohibits ocean-going vessels from discharging ballast water that contains any detectable living organisms into the coastal waters of the State after January 1, 2021. The bill defines "ocean-going vessel" as any vessel operating within the coastal waters of the State that is equipped with ballast tanks capable of taking on and discharging water for the purposes of controlling or maintaining the vessel's trim, draft or stability or to control stresses on the vessel. The bill establishes interim standards in effect from January 1, 2011 to January 1, 2021 that allow ocean-going vessels to obtain a permit from the Department of Environmental Protection to discharge ballast water that contains minimal amounts of living organisms, bacteria, viruses and microbes into the coastal waters of the State. Those interim standards are incrementally applied to larger and older ocean-going vessels over that 10-year period. A person who violates these provisions commits a civil violation and is subject to a penalty of not less than $1,000 and not more than $10,000 for each violation.
The Board of Environmental Protection is required to adopt emergency major substantive rules in 2010 to implement these provisions, and to subsequently submit those rules to the Legislature for review no later than January 14, 2011. The rules must require an annual ballast water discharge permit for ocean-going vessels. The annual fee for that permit must be based on the ballast water capacity of vessels covered by these provisions and must be, in the aggregate, sufficient to fully fund the cost of implementing and enforcing these provisions.