00 Enrolled SB 121 01 Relating to discharge from small commercial passenger vessels; relating to information- 02 gathering requirements for small commercial passenger vessels; providing for an effective 03 date by repealing the delayed effective date found in sec. 16, ch. 153, SLA 2004; and 04 providing for an effective date. 05 _______________ 06  * Section 1. AS 46.03.462(a) is amended to read: 07 (a) An owner or operator may not discharge any treated sewage, graywater, or 08 other wastewater from a [LARGE] commercial passenger vessel into the marine 09 waters of the state unless the owner or operator 10 (1) obtains a permit under AS 46.03.100, which shall comply with the 11 terms and conditions of vessel discharge requirements specified in (b) of this section; 12 or  13 (2) has a plan approved by the department under (c) of this  14 section. 01  * Sec. 2. AS 46.03.462(a) is amended to read: 02 (a) An owner or operator may not discharge any treated sewage, graywater, or 03 other wastewater from a commercial passenger vessel into the marine waters of the 04 state unless the owner or operator 05 [(1)] obtains a permit under AS 46.03.100, which shall comply with 06 the terms and conditions of vessel discharge requirements specified in (b) of this 07 section [; OR 08 (2) HAS A PLAN APPROVED BY THE DEPARTMENT UNDER 09 (c) OF THIS SECTION]. 10  * Sec. 3. AS 46.03.462 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 11 (c) The owner or operator of a small commercial passenger vessel may submit 12 a plan for alternative terms and conditions of vessel discharges if the keel of the vessel 13 was laid before January 1, 2004. The alternative terms and conditions may include 14 alternatives to the requirements under AS 46.03.465(a) - (d). Except as provided in (d) 15 of this section, the department shall approve the plan for a three-year period if the 16 department finds that the alternative terms and conditions in the plan incorporate the 17 best management practices for protecting the environment to the maximum extent 18 feasible. The department shall adopt regulations to implement this subsection but may 19 not require an owner or operator to retrofit a vessel solely for the purpose of waste 20 treatment if the retrofitting requires additional stability testing or relicensing by the 21 United States Coast Guard. In this subsection, "best management practices" means 22 schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and other 23 management practices to prevent or reduce the pollution of the marine waters of the 24 state. 25 (d) A plan submitted under (c) of this section after December 31, 2012, may 26 not be approved by the department for a period extending beyond December 31, 2015. 27  * Sec. 4. AS 46.03.463(b) is amended to read: 28 (b) Except as provided in (h) of this section or under AS 46.03.462(c) 29 [AS 46.03.462(c) - (e)], a person may not discharge sewage from a commercial 30 passenger vessel into the marine waters of the state that has suspended solids greater 31 than 150 milligrams per liter or a fecal coliform count greater than 200 colonies per 01 100 milliliters except that the department may by regulation adopt a protocol for 02 retesting for fecal coliform, if this discharge limit for fecal coliform is exceeded, under 03 which a discharger will be considered to be in compliance with the fecal coliform limit 04 if the geometric mean of fecal coliform count in the samples considered under the 05 protocol does not exceed 200 colonies per 100 milliliters. [UPON SUBMISSION BY 06 THE OWNER OR OPERATOR OF A SMALL COMMERCIAL PASSENGER 07 VESSEL OF A PLAN FOR INTERIM PROTECTIVE MEASURES UNDER 08 AS 46.03.462(c)(2) AND (d), THE DEPARTMENT SHALL EXTEND THE TIME 09 FOR COMPLIANCE OF THAT VESSEL WITH THIS SUBSECTION.] 10  * Sec. 5. AS 46.03.463(b) is amended to read: 11 (b) Except as provided in (h) of this section [OR UNDER AS 46.03.462(c)], a 12 person may not discharge sewage from a commercial passenger vessel into the marine 13 waters of the state that has suspended solids greater than 150 milligrams per liter or a 14 fecal coliform count greater than 200 colonies per 100 milliliters except that the 15 department may by regulation adopt a protocol for retesting for fecal coliform, if this 16 discharge limit for fecal coliform is exceeded, under which a discharger will be 17 considered to be in compliance with the fecal coliform limit if the geometric mean of 18 fecal coliform count in the samples considered under the protocol does not exceed 200 19 colonies per 100 milliliters. 20  * Sec. 6. AS 46.03.463(c) is amended to read: 21 (c) Except as provided in (h) of this section or under AS 46.03.462(c) 22 [AS 46.03.462(c) - (e)], a person may not discharge graywater or other wastewater 23 from a commercial passenger vessel into the marine waters of the state that has 24 suspended solids greater than 150 milligrams per liter or a fecal coliform count greater 25 than 200 colonies per 100 milliliters except that the department may by regulation 26 adopt a protocol for retesting for fecal coliform, if this discharge limit for fecal 27 coliform is exceeded, under which a discharger will be considered to be in compliance 28 with the fecal coliform limit if the geometric mean of fecal coliform count in the 29 samples considered under the protocol does not exceed 200 colonies per 100 30 milliliters. [UPON SUBMISSION BY THE OWNER OR OPERATOR OF A LARGE 31 COMMERCIAL PASSENGER VESSEL OF A PLAN FOR INTERIM 01 PROTECTIVE MEASURES, THE DEPARTMENT SHALL EXTEND THE TIME 02 FOR COMPLIANCE OF THAT VESSEL WITH THIS SUBSECTION FOR A 03 PERIOD OF TIME THAT ENDS NOT LATER THAN JANUARY 1, 2003. UPON 04 SUBMISSION BY THE OWNER OR OPERATOR OF A SMALL COMMERCIAL 05 PASSENGER VESSEL OF A PLAN FOR INTERIM PROTECTIVE MEASURES 06 UNDER AS 46.03.462(c)(2) AND (d), THE DEPARTMENT SHALL EXTEND THE 07 TIME FOR COMPLIANCE OF THAT VESSEL WITH THIS SUBSECTION.] 08  * Sec. 7. AS 46.03.463(c) is amended to read: 09 (c) Except as provided in (h) of this section [OR UNDER AS 46.03.462(c)], a 10 person may not discharge graywater or other wastewater from a commercial passenger 11 vessel into the marine waters of the state that has suspended solids greater than 150 12 milligrams per liter or a fecal coliform count greater than 200 colonies per 100 13 milliliters except that the department may by regulation adopt a protocol for retesting 14 for fecal coliform, if this discharge limit for fecal coliform is exceeded, under which a 15 discharger will be considered to be in compliance with the fecal coliform limit if the 16 geometric mean of fecal coliform count in the samples considered under the protocol 17 does not exceed 200 colonies per 100 milliliters. 18  * Sec. 8. AS 46.03.465 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 19 (g) The department may exempt from the requirements of (a) - (d) of this 20 section the owner or operator of a small commercial passenger vessel who has a plan 21 for alternative terms and conditions of vessel discharges approved by the department 22 under AS 46.03.462(c). 23  * Sec. 9. AS 46.03.462(c), 46.03.462(d), and 46.03.465(g) are repealed January 1, 2016.  24  * Sec. 10. Sections 3, 5, 8, 10, 12, 13, and 14, ch. 153, SLA 2004, are repealed. 25  * Sec. 11. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 26 read: 27 RETROACTIVITY. Sections 1, 3, 4, 6, and 8 of this Act are retroactive to 28 December 17, 2006. 29  * Sec. 12. Section 16, ch. 153, SLA 2004, is repealed. 30  * Sec. 13. Sections 2, 5, and 7 of this Act take effect January 1, 2016. 31  * Sec. 14. Except as provided in sec. 13 of this Act, this Act takes effect immediately under 01 AS 01.10.070(c).