SB 3: "An Act relating to the regulation of wastewater discharge from small commercial passenger vessels in state waters; relating to art requirements for certain public facilities; and providing for an effective date."
00 SENATE BILL NO. 3 01 "An Act relating to the regulation of wastewater discharge from small commercial 02 passenger vessels in state waters; relating to art requirements for certain public 03 facilities; and providing for an effective date." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. AS 46.03.462(a) is amended to read: 06 (a) An owner or operator may not discharge any treated sewage, graywater, or 07 other wastewater from a commercial passenger vessel into the marine waters of the 08 state unless the owner or operator 09 (1) obtains a permit under AS 46.03.100 that complies [, WHICH 10 SHALL COMPLY] with the terms and conditions of vessel discharge requirements 11 specified in (b) of this section; or 12 (2) has a plan approved under (k) of this section. 13 * Sec. 2. AS 46.03.462(b) is amended to read: 14 (b) The minimum standard terms and conditions for all discharge permits
01 authorized under (a)(1) of this section require that the owner or operator 02 (1) may not discharge untreated sewage, treated sewage, graywater, or 03 other wastewaters in a manner that violates any applicable state or federal law 04 governing the disposal or discharge of solid or liquid waste material; 05 (2) shall maintain records and provide the reports required under 06 AS 46.03.465(a); 07 (3) shall collect and test samples as required under AS 46.03.465(b) 08 and (d) and provide the reports with respect to those samples required by 09 AS 46.03.475(c); 10 (4) shall report discharges in accordance with AS 46.03.475(a); 11 (5) shall allow the department access to the vessel at the time samples 12 are taken under AS 46.03.465 for purposes of taking the samples or for purposes of 13 verifying the integrity of the sampling process; and 14 (6) shall submit records, notices, and reports to the department in 15 accordance with AS 46.03.475(b), (d), and (e). 16 * Sec. 3. AS 46.03.462(e) is amended to read: 17 (e) When issuing, reissuing, renewing, or modifying a permit required under 18 (a)(1) [(a)] of this section, the department may only include the authorization of a 19 mixing zone for a commercial passenger vessel that employs an advanced wastewater 20 treatment system that falls within the class of systems identified by the department 21 under (j) of this section or employs other means of pollution prevention, control, and 22 treatment that the department finds can achieve a quality of effluent that is comparable 23 to that of one or more vessels employing an advanced wastewater treatment system. If 24 a commercial passenger vessel employs an advanced wastewater treatment system that 25 satisfies the requirements of this subsection, the department shall find the commercial 26 passenger vessel satisfies all state technology-based treatment requirements for 27 authorization of a mixing zone. 28 * Sec. 4. AS 46.03.462 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 29 (k) The owner or operator of a small commercial passenger vessel may submit 30 a plan for alternative terms and conditions of vessel discharges. The alternative terms 31 and conditions may include alternatives to the requirements under AS 46.03.465(a) -
01 (d). The department shall approve the plan for a five-year period if the department 02 finds that the alternative terms and conditions in the plan incorporate the best 03 management practices for protecting the environment to the maximum extent feasible. 04 The department shall adopt regulations to implement this subsection but may not 05 require an owner or operator to retrofit a vessel solely for the purpose of waste 06 treatment if the retrofitting requires additional stability testing or relicensing by the 07 United States Coast Guard. In this subsection, "best management practices" means 08 schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and other 09 management practices to prevent or reduce the pollution of the marine waters of the 10 state. 11 * Sec. 5. AS 46.03.463(b) is amended to read: 12 (b) Except as provided in (h) of this section or under a plan for a small 13 commercial passenger vessel approved under AS 46.03.462(k), a person may not 14 discharge sewage from a commercial passenger vessel into the marine waters of the 15 state that has suspended solids greater than 150 milligrams per liter or a fecal coliform 16 count greater than 200 colonies per 100 milliliters except that the department may by 17 regulation adopt a protocol for retesting for fecal coliform, if this discharge limit for 18 fecal coliform is exceeded, under which a discharger will be considered to be in 19 compliance with the fecal coliform limit if the geometric mean of fecal coliform count 20 in the samples considered under the protocol does not exceed 200 colonies per 100 21 milliliters. 22 * Sec. 6. AS 46.03.463(c) is amended to read: 23 (c) Except as provided in (h) of this section or under a plan for a small 24 commercial passenger vessel approved under AS 46.03.462(k), a person may not 25 discharge graywater or other wastewater from a commercial passenger vessel into the 26 marine waters of the state that has suspended solids greater than 150 milligrams per 27 liter or a fecal coliform count greater than 200 colonies per 100 milliliters except that 28 the department may by regulation adopt a protocol for retesting for fecal coliform, if 29 this discharge limit for fecal coliform is exceeded, under which a discharger will be 30 considered to be in compliance with the fecal coliform limit if the geometric mean of 31 fecal coliform count in the samples considered under the protocol does not exceed 200
01 colonies per 100 milliliters. 02 * Sec. 7. AS 46.03.465 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 03 (i) The department may exempt from the requirements of (a) - (d) of this 04 section the owner or operator of a small commercial passenger vessel who has a plan 05 for alternative terms and conditions of vessel discharges approved under 06 AS 46.03.462(k). 07 * Sec. 8. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 08 read: 09 STATE FERRY CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS NOT SUBJECT TO AS 35.27.020. 10 The construction of two new vessels for the Alaska marine highway system under 11 construction on July 1, 2017, in a shipyard in Ketchikan and scheduled for delivery in 2018, is 12 exempt from AS 35.27.020. 13 * Sec. 9. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 14 read: 15 MOTOR VESSEL TUSTUMENA REPLACEMENT NOT SUBJECT TO 16 AS 35.27.020. The construction of a replacement vessel for the Motor Vessel Tustumena for 17 the Alaska marine highway system is exempt from AS 35.27.020. 18 * Sec. 10. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 19 read: 20 RETROACTIVITY. Section 8 of this Act is retroactive to September 1, 2014. 21 * Sec. 11. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).