Tough bill on dumping by ships

[Jason]

Washington -- Rep. Sam Farr, D-Carmel, wants to impose new federal water pollution controls on cruise ships, a booming part of the Bay Area tourism industry that has become a focus of environmentalists' criticism.

Farr has introduced a bill that would change federal law, which now allows ships to dump raw sewage and "gray water'' from sinks, dishwashers and laundries at least 3 miles from shore, by imposing a minimum 12-mile limit on all dumping. The bill also would give federal regulators new enforcement power and provide cruise company employees protection if they turn in their employers for breaking the rules.

The legislation, which has earned the support of a coalition of environmental groups, is opposed by the cruise line industry, which says it is making environmental improvements and its standards already exceed those imposed by the United States and international agreements. It also says that cruise ships account for only a tiny percentage of maritime traffic and that studies show most coastal water problems stem from onshore sources.

California has some protections in place within its 3-mile offshore jurisdiction and voluntary agreements are in effect in the ports of San Francisco and Monterey, in Farr's district. But Farr, whose legislation has been endorsed by California Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, said much more is needed.

"Voluntary agreements with cruise ship operators aren't enough to guarantee cruise ships will not dump in sensitive marine environments,'' Farr said.

As for California's existing protections, he said, "Our bill takes the next step of extending that protection to the entire nation's coastline.''

Farr's bill follows incidents in which cruise ships were found to be dumping and polluting waters too close to shore. It sets the dumping limit at 12 miles because the federal government has authority over waters within 12 miles of the country's coastline.

Among those supporting Farr's bill is Oceana, an international environmental group.

Tim Eichenberg, a San Francisco attorney who is consulting with Oceana on Farr's legislation, said the bill is needed to keep waters safe up to the 12- mile limit.

Supporters liken today's huge passenger liners, which can carry 3,000 people, to floating towns. A passenger liner can produce 30,000 gallons of sewage daily, along with 200,000 gallons of gray water and 37,000 gallons of oil-laden bilgewater. Many newer ships are fitted with water treatment plants that can partly clean the sewage, gray water and bilge, but the industry so far won't agree to legislation that would mandate such equipment.

"The cruise industry has adopted mandatory environmental practices that are fully protective of the coastal areas of the United States,'' said Michael Crye, president of the International Council of Cruise Lines. The voluntary rules, adopted in 2001, call for no discharges within 4 miles of the coast, unless the water is treated by onboard systems.

For San Francisco, the cruise industry has emerged as a bright spot for tourism, especially since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks led many people to vacation closer to home. Pier 35 expects to host about 90 cruise ship arrivals this year, from 14 different lines, said the port's maritime director, Peter Dailey. He said the 220,000 passengers pump an estimated $50 million a year into the city's economy.

The 28 different ships expected to call this year aren't allowed to dump anything into San Francisco Bay, Dailey said, according to their contract restrictions. The port plans to build a big new cruise ship terminal at Piers30-32 and has convened an advisory committee made up of industry representatives, environmental groups and local residents to come up with pollution rules.

A consensus is approaching, Dailey said, on berthing contracts that would ban discharge of just about anything into the shallow bay. "We're trying to take advantage of the industry's economic benefit, but we want to do it in a way to make sure that the cruise lines are good neighbors,'' he added.

But even if the ships don' discharge in port, they still have to dispose of it elsewhere.

Christine Fischer of Crye's group said 30 of the 113 ships owned by her group's 15 member lines already are equipped with the advanced waste water treatment equipment. Crye said more are installing the systems and that eventually all will have the equipment.

But Eichenberg said that without required federal inspections of discharges it will be impossible to know if the ships are really cleaning up their act.