SB 156: "An Act relating to commercial passenger vessel environmental compliance; relating to commercial passenger vessel fees; establishing the wastewater infrastructure grant fund; repealing the authority for citizens' suits relating to commercial passenger vessel environmental compliance; and providing for an effective date."
00 SENATE BILL NO. 156 01 "An Act relating to commercial passenger vessel environmental compliance; relating to 02 commercial passenger vessel fees; establishing the wastewater infrastructure grant fund; 03 repealing the authority for citizens' suits relating to commercial passenger vessel 04 environmental compliance; and providing for an effective date." 05 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 06 * Section 1. AS 46.03.460(a) is amended to read: 07 (a) The department shall regulate [THERE IS ESTABLISHED THE] 08 commercial passenger vessel discharges and environmental compliance by 09 [PROGRAM PROVIDING FOR] 10 (1) adopting regulations to carry out the purposes of AS 46.03.460 11 - 46.03.490, including regulations that establish terms and conditions of 12 commercial passenger vessel discharges; 13 (2) verifying [INDEPENDENT VERIFICATION OF] environmental 14 compliance; and
01 (3) monitoring and supervising [ALLOWING THE DEPARTMENT 02 TO MONITOR AND SUPERVISE DISCHARGES FROM] commercial passenger 03 vessels through a registration system. 04 * Sec. 2. AS 46.03.463 is repealed and reenacted to read: 05 Sec. 46.03.463. Prohibited discharges. (a) Except as provided in (b) of this 06 section, or under the terms of prior authorization from the department under 07 AS 46.03.100, a person may not discharge wastewater from a commercial passenger 08 vessel into the marine waters of the state. 09 (b) This section does not apply to discharges from a commercial passenger 10 vessel made to secure the safety of the commercial passenger vessel or to save life at 11 sea, if all reasonable precautions have been taken to prevent or minimize the 12 discharge. 13 * Sec. 3. AS 46.03.465(a) is amended to read: 14 (a) The owner or operator of a commercial passenger vessel shall maintain 15 daily records related to the period of operation while in the state, detailing the dates, 16 times, and locations, and the volumes and flow rates of any discharges of wastewater 17 [SEWAGE, GRAYWATER, OR OTHER WASTEWATERS] into the marine waters 18 of the state, and provide electronic copies of those records [ON A MONTHLY 19 BASIS] to the department in a manner established by the department in regulation 20 [NOT LATER THAN FIVE DAYS AFTER EACH CALENDAR MONTH OF 21 OPERATION IN STATE WATERS]. 22 * Sec. 4. AS 46.03.465(b) is amended to read: 23 (b) While a commercial passenger vessel is present in the marine waters of the 24 state, the owner or operator of the vessel shall provide an hourly report of the vessel's 25 location based on Global Positioning System technology and, if authorized to 26 discharge under AS 46.03.100, shall routinely collect [ROUTINE] samples of 27 wastewater [THE VESSEL'S TREATED SEWAGE, GRAYWATER, AND OTHER 28 WASTEWATERS] being discharged into marine waters of the state with a sampling 29 technique approved by the department. 30 * Sec. 5. AS 46.03.465(c) is amended to read: 31 (c) While a commercial passenger vessel is present in the marine waters of the
01 state, including while underway, the owner or operator of the vessel shall allow 02 the department, or an independent contractor retained by the department, to board 03 and 04 (1) inspect systems that collect, treat, or dispose of wastewater; 05 (2) [MAY] collect [ADDITIONAL] samples of wastewater [THE 06 VESSEL'S TREATED SEWAGE, GRAYWATER, AND OTHER 07 WASTEWATERS] being discharged into the marine waters of the state; and 08 (3) inspect systems that affect air emissions under AS 46.14. 09 * Sec. 6. AS 46.03.465(d) is amended to read: 10 (d) The owner or operator of a commercial passenger vessel required to 11 collect samples under (b) of this section shall ensure that all sampling techniques and 12 frequency of sampling events are approved by the department in a manner sufficient to 13 determine [ENSURE DEMONSTRATION OF] compliance with all discharge 14 requirements under AS 46.03.460 - 46.03.490 [AS 46.03.462]. 15 * Sec. 7. AS 46.03.465(f) is amended to read: 16 (f) If the owner or operator of a commercial passenger vessel has, when 17 complying with another state or federal law that requires [SUBSTANTIALLY 18 EQUIVALENT] information gathering, gathered information that is substantially 19 equivalent to the information required under (a), (b), or (d) of this section, the owner 20 or operator shall be considered to be in compliance with that subsection so long as the 21 information is [ALSO] provided to the department in a manner established by the 22 department in regulation. 23 * Sec. 8. AS 46.03.465(h) is amended to read: 24 (h) At the department's [ON] request, the owner or operator of a commercial 25 passenger vessel discharging wastewater [UNDER AS 46.03.462(b)] shall provide the 26 department with information relating to wastewater treatment, pollution avoidance, 27 and pollution reduction measures used on the vessel, including testing and evaluation 28 procedures and economic and technical feasibility analyses. 29 * Sec. 9. AS 46.03.480(a) is amended to read: 30 (a) Except as provided in (c) of this section, each commercial passenger 31 vessel is subject to [THERE IS IMPOSED] an environmental compliance fee of $5
01 per berth, determined by the number of lower berths, for [ON] each voyage 02 during which the [COMMERCIAL PASSENGER] vessel operates [OPERATING] 03 in the marine waters of the state. The department shall 04 (1) establish procedures for collection of the fee; 05 (2) reduce the fee by $1 per lower berth if the owner or operator of 06 a vessel 07 (A) installs and operates an electronic monitoring system 08 for wastewater discharges that has been approved by the department; and 09 (B) provides monitoring data to the department consistent 10 with AS 46.03.465; and 11 (3) provide a rebate to the owner or operator of a commercial 12 passenger vessel after the vessel's last voyage of the year, in an amount equivalent 13 to the vessel's total number of unoccupied lower berths that year, if the owner or 14 operator of the vessel, in a manner established by the department in regulation, 15 (A) requests a rebate; and 16 (B) provides information related to the number of 17 unoccupied lower berths of the vessel for that year. 18 * Sec. 10. AS 46.03.480(b) is repealed and reenacted to read: 19 (b) Except as provided in (c) of this section and notwithstanding (a) of this 20 section, for each voyage during which a small commercial passenger vessel operates 21 in the marine waters of the state, the vessel is only subject to an environmental 22 compliance fee of 23 (1) $75 for a commercial passenger vessel with overnight 24 accommodations for at least 50 but not more than 99 passengers for hire; 25 (2) $175 for a commercial passenger vessel with overnight 26 accommodations for at least 100 but not more than 249 passengers for hire. 27 * Sec. 11. AS 46.03.480(c) is repealed and reenacted to read: 28 (c) The commissioner of environmental conservation and the commissioner of 29 transportation and public facilities shall jointly set a fee to be imposed on all 30 commercial passenger vessels operated by the state in the marine waters of the state. 31 * Sec. 12. AS 46.03.482(c) is amended to read:
01 (c) The legislature may make appropriations from the fund to the department 02 [TO PAY] for 03 (1) the department's operational costs necessary to [PREPARE 04 REPORTS THAT ASSESS THE INFORMATION RECEIVED BY THE 05 DEPARTMENT FOR THE CRUISE SHIP SEASONS OF 2000, 2001, 2002, AND 06 2003 AND FOR THE DEPARTMENT'S OPERATIONAL COSTS NECESSARY 07 TO] carry out activities under AS 46.03.460 - 46.03.490 relating to commercial 08 passenger vessels; and 09 (2) the wastewater infrastructure grant fund administered by the 10 department under AS 46.03.483. 11 * Sec. 13. AS 46.03 is amended by adding a new section to read: 12 Sec. 46.03.483. Wastewater infrastructure grant fund. (a) The wastewater 13 infrastructure grant fund is established in the general fund and consists of 14 (1) money appropriated to the fund by the legislature; 15 (2) money appropriated to the fund in accordance with 16 AS 46.03.482(c); and 17 (3) earnings on the fund. 18 (b) Appropriations from the commercial passenger vessel environmental 19 compliance fund shall be deposited in a separate account within the wastewater 20 infrastructure grant fund. The department may establish other accounts within the 21 wastewater infrastructure grant fund as it considers appropriate. 22 (c) The department may expend money appropriated to the wastewater 23 infrastructure grant fund for wastewater infrastructure grants without further 24 appropriation. Money in the fund does not lapse and remains available for expenditure 25 in successive fiscal years. 26 (d) A municipality may submit an application for a wastewater infrastructure 27 grant to establish, upgrade, or improve a wastewater treatment system or facility in a 28 port community that serves commercial passenger vessels. The application must 29 include information demonstrating that 30 (1) the proposed project is a capital improvement project and not part 31 of a preventive maintenance program or regular custodial care program;
01 (2) the municipality 02 (A) intends to secure and maintain adequate property loss 03 insurance for the replacement cost of the proposed wastewater treatment 04 system or facility; or 05 (B) has secured and will maintain an adequate program of 06 property loss insurance for the replacement cost of the proposed wastewater 07 treatment system or facility; and 08 (3) the municipality has a preventive maintenance plan for the 09 proposed wastewater treatment system or facility and will adequately adhere to the 10 preventive maintenance plan after completion of the proposed project. 11 (e) Awards granted by the department from the separate commercial passenger 12 vessel environmental compliance account established under (b) of this section shall be 13 limited to the percentage of operations that the wastewater treatment system or facility 14 expends servicing commercial passenger vessels. 15 (f) The department may award a wastewater infrastructure grant during a 16 fiscal year for a proposed project eligible under this section based on a grant 17 application filed during the immediately preceding fiscal year before February 1. 18 (g) The department shall award grants to applicants for proposals to establish, 19 upgrade, or improve a wastewater treatment system or facility under this section. The 20 department shall award the grants based on an evaluation of how effectively each 21 proposal meets the following criteria: 22 (1) protect or improve public health; 23 (2) protect or improve water quality; 24 (3) mitigate environmental impact caused by commercial passenger 25 vessels and passengers; and 26 (4) help port communities adapt to increased demand for seasonal 27 wastewater treatment resulting from wastewater produced by commercial passenger 28 vessels and passengers. 29 (h) Nothing in this section creates a dedicated fund. 30 (i) In this section, "municipality" means a political subdivision incorporated 31 under the laws of the state that is a home rule or general law city, a home rule or
01 general law borough, or a unified municipality. 02 * Sec. 14. AS 46.03.490(2) is amended to read: 03 (2) "commercial passenger vessel" means a vessel that carries 04 passengers for hire except that "commercial passenger vessel" does not include a 05 vessel 06 (A) authorized to carry fewer than 50 passengers; 07 (B) that does not provide overnight accommodations for at 08 least 50 passengers for hire [, DETERMINED WITH REFERENCE TO THE 09 NUMBER OF LOWER BERTHS]; or 10 (C) operated by the United States or a foreign government; 11 * Sec. 15. AS 46.03.490(13) is amended to read: 12 (13) "small commercial passenger vessel" means a commercial 13 passenger vessel that provides overnight accommodations for 249 or fewer passengers 14 for hire [, DETERMINED WITH REFERENCE TO THE NUMBER OF LOWER 15 BERTHS]; 16 * Sec. 16. AS 46.03.490 is amended by adding a new paragraph to read: 17 (19) "wastewater" means any graywater or sewage, including any 18 graywater or sewage that is stored in or transferred to a ballast tank or other holding 19 area on the vessel that may not be customarily used for storing graywater or sewage. 20 * Sec. 17. AS 46.03.460(b), 46.03.461, 46.03.462, 46.03.465(i), 46.03.480(d), 21 46.03.480(e), 46.03.481, 46.03.490(1), 46.03.490(7), 46.03.490(10), 46.03.490(14), and 22 46.03.490(15) are repealed. 23 * Sec. 18. AS 46.03.476 is repealed. 24 * Sec. 19. AS 46.03.480(b) is repealed December 31, 2024. 25 * Sec. 20. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 26 read: 27 TRANSITION: REGULATIONS. The Department of Environmental Conservation 28 shall adopt regulations necessary to implement this Act. The regulations take effect under 29 AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act), but not before the effective date of the law 30 implemented by the regulation. 31 * Sec. 21. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to
01 read: 02 RETROACTIVITY. Section 18 of this Act is retroactive to April 1, 2020. 03 * Sec. 22. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 04 read: 05 REVISOR'S INSTRUCTION. The revisor of statutes is requested to consider 06 changing the catch line of AS 46.03.460 from "Program established" to "Regulation of 07 commercial passenger vessel discharges and environmental compliance." 08 * Sec. 23. Sections 18, 20, and 21 of this Act take effect immediately under 09 AS 01.10.070(c). 10 * Sec. 24. Except as provided in sec. 23 of this Act, this Act takes effect January 1, 2024.