SB 29-CRUISE SHIP WASTEWATER DISCHARGE PERMITS  3:30:06 PM CHAIR GIESSEL announced SB 29 to be up for consideration. 3:30:36 PM LYNN KENT, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), Anchorage, Alaska, said the department supported SB 29. She reported that the large cruise ships had made tremendous improvements to their waste water quality over the years, particularly since they had installed advanced waste water treatment systems. Of the 28 ships that visit Alaska regularly, only 15-18 are permitted in any given year to discharge in Alaska and of those, a subset does not discharge. So they are talking about a small universe of dischargers given the variety of industries in the state. Those that discharge are meeting all of the water quality standards at the point of discharge except for the four they talked about last time. Other methods of reducing those concentrations were evaluated by the Science Advisory Panel and potential improvements to existing systems were looked at, but no new technologies were found that now or in the future would get them all the way to meeting water quality standards at the point of discharge. So, SB 29 allows the department to treat them as other waste water dischargers and to continue to push for improvements over time. MS. KENT explained that right now cruise ship permits expire every three years, but now for most permits and under this bill they will expire every five years. She said they do have the ability to push the cruise ships to do better and to look at new technologies as they become available and this bill will allow them to make that progress with them. 3:32:26 PM SENATOR FRENCH said one public comment caught his attention: section 5 that repeals four statutes; the last one being AS 46.03.464 that sets up the Advisory Panel. Someone asked why they are sunseting it before their final report is issued. 3:33:08 PM MS. KENT explained that when the panel was set up it was in an advisory capacity to the commissioner on improvements that could be made on waste water treatment in cruise ships; it was this panel that decided to produce a report. The report is preliminary, but they did a thorough review and looked at promising technologies, as well. There is no need to keep them on tab for another couple of years when the department has the authority under AS 46.03.048 to continue to push for improvements and search for new technologies with or without a science advisory panel. She said the department did the first technology conference without one. SENATOR MICCICHE said he, as a commercial fisherman who demands clean water in a pristine marine environment, would vote to pass SB 29 to the next committee. It was better to allow tertiary treated waste water discharge into mixing zones than rather than to encourage cruise ships to discharge into federal waters or into municipal systems that don't require the same degree of treatment. However, he wanted to encourage the cruise industry to convert away from copper water distribution systems in a timely manner and noted that after hearing from some constituents today he would recommend that SB 29 be amended to not permit waste water discharges within the boundaries of Alaska critical habitat areas in existence at the time of the passage of this bill. SENATOR DYSON moved to report SB 29, version \A, from committee with individual recommendations [and attached fiscal note(s)]. There were no objections and it was so ordered. 3:36:06 PM At ease from 3:36 to 3:38 p.m. 3:38:25 PM CHAIR GIESSEL revised the motion to include the attached fiscal note to SB 29.