II

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1034

To amend the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act

of 1990 to require the Secretary of Transportation to promulgate and

review regulations to ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, that

vessels entering the Great Lakes do not spread nonindigenous aquatic

species, to require treatment of ballast water and its sediments through

the most effective and efficient techniques available, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 13, 2001

Ms. STABENOW (for herself, Mr. FITZGERALD, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. KOHL, Mr.

FEINGOLD, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. DAYTON, Mr. WELLSTONE, Mr. DEWINE,

Mr. VOINOVICH, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. BAYH and Mrs. CLINTON) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation

A BILL

To amend the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention

and Control Act of 1990 to require the Secretary of

Transportation to promulgate and review regulations to

ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, that vessels

entering the Great Lakes do not spread nonindigenous

aquatic species, to require treatment of ballast water

and its sediments through the most effective and efficient

techniques available, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Great Lakes Ecology

3 Protection Act’’.

4 SEC. 2. BALLAST WATER TREATMENT REGULATIONS.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1101(b) of the Nonindige6 nous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of

7 1990 (16 U.S.C. 4711(b)) is amended—

8 (1) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para9 graph (5); and

10 (2) by striking ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL REGULA11 TIONS.—In addition’’ and inserting the following:

12 ‘‘(3) REGULATIONS CONCERNING AQUATIC NUI13 SANCE SPECIES.—

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of

15 Transportation shall, in consultation with the

16 Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Com17 merce, the Secretary of Defense, the Adminis18 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency,

19 the Governors of States that border the Great

20 Lakes, and in accordance with this paragraph,

21 promulgate and review regulations to prevent,

22 to the maximum extent practicable, the intro23 duction and spread of aquatic nuisance species

24 in the Great Lakes.
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1 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS OF REGULATIONS.—The

2 regulations promulgated under subparagraph

3 (A)—

4 ‘‘(i) shall apply to all vessels capable

5 of discharging ballast water (including ves6 sels equipped with ballast water tank sys7 tems or other water tank systems) that

8 enter the Great Lakes after operating on

9 water outside of the Exclusive Economic

10 Zone;

11 ‘‘(ii) shall ensure, to the maximum ex12 tent practicable, that ballast water con13 taining aquatic nuisance species is not dis14 charged into the Great Lakes (including by

15 establishing the standard described in

16 clause (iii));

17 ‘‘(iii) shall include a ballast water

18 treatment standard for vessels that elect to

19 carry out ballast water management or

20 treatment that, at a minimum, requires—

21 ‘‘(I) a demonstrated 95 percent

22 volumetric exchange of ballast water;

23 or

24 ‘‘(II) a ballast treatment that de25 stroys not less than 95 percent of all
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1 animal fauna in a standard ballast

2 water intake, as approved by the Sec3 retary;

4 ‘‘(iv) shall protect the safety of each

5 vessel (including crew and passengers);

6 ‘‘(v) shall include requirements on

7 new vessel construction to ensure that ves8 sels entering service after January 1,

9 2005, minimize the transfer of organisms;

10 ‘‘(vi) shall require vessels to carry out

11 any discharge or exchange of ballast water

12 within the Great Lakes only in compliance

13 with the regulations;

14 ‘‘(vii) shall be promulgated after tak15 ing into consideration a range of vessel op16 erating conditions, from normal to ex17 treme;

18 ‘‘(viii) shall—

19 ‘‘(I) ensure that technologies and

20 practices implemented under this sec21 tion are environmentally sound treat22 ment methods for ballast water and

23 ballast sediments that prevent and

24 control infestations of aquatic nui25 sance species; and
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1 ‘‘(II) include a detailed timetable

2 for—

3 ‘‘(aa) the implementation of

4 treatment methods determined to

5 be technologically available and

6 cost-effective at the time of the

7 publication of the notice of pro8 posed rulemaking; and

9 ‘‘(bb) the development, test10 ing, evaluation, approval, and im11 plementation of additional tech12 nologically innovative treatment

13 methods;

14 ‘‘(ix) shall provide for certification by

15 the master of each vessel entering the

16 Great Lakes that the vessel is in compli17 ance with the regulations;

18 ‘‘(x) shall ensure compliance with the

19 regulations, to the maximum extent prac20 ticable, through—

21 ‘‘(I) sampling or monitoring pro22 cedures;

23 ‘‘(II) the inspection of records;
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1 ‘‘(III) the imposition of sanctions

2 in accordance with subsection (g)(1);

3 and

4 ‘‘(IV) the certification of ballast

5 water treatment vendors and vessel

6 vendors;

7 ‘‘(xi) shall be based on the best sci8 entific information available;

9 ‘‘(xii) shall not supersede or adversely

10 affect any requirement or prohibition per11 taining to the discharge of ballast water

12 into water of the United States under the

13 Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33

14 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.); and

15 ‘‘(xiii) shall include such other re16 quirements as the Secretary of Transpor17 tation considers appropriate.

18 ‘‘(C) REGULATORY SCHEDULE.—

19 ‘‘(i) NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULE20 MAKING.—

21 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Not later

22 than 120 days after the date of enact23 ment of the Great Lakes Ecology Pro24 tection Act, the Secretary of Trans25 portation shall publish, in the Federal
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1 Register and through other means de2 signed to reach persons likely to be

3 subject to or affected by the regula4 tions (including publication in local

5 newspapers and by electronic means),

6 a notice of proposed rulemaking con7 cerning the regulations proposed to be

8 promulgated under this paragraph.

9 ‘‘(II) FINAL REGULATIONS.—The

10 Secretary of Transportation shall pro11 mulgate final regulations under this

12 paragraph—

13 ‘‘(aa) with respect to the im14 plementation of treatment meth15 ods described in subparagraph

16 (B)(vii)(II)(aa), not later than

17 270 days after the date of enact18 ment of the Great Lakes Ecology

19 Protection Act; and

20 ‘‘(bb) with respect to the ad21 ditional technologically innovative

22 treatment methods described in

23 subparagraph (B)(vii)(II)(bb),

24 not later than the earlier of—
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1 ‘‘(AA) the date estab2 lished by the timetable

3 under subparagraph

4 (B)(vii)(II) for implementa5 tion of those methods; or

6 ‘‘(BB) 720 days after

7 the date of enactment of the

8 Great Lakes Ecology Protec9 tion Act.

10 ‘‘(III) REVIEW AND REVISION OF

11 REGULATIONS.—Not later than 3

12 years after the date on which final

13 regulations are promulgated under

14 this subparagraph, and every 3 years

15 thereafter, the Secretary shall review

16 and revise as necessary, the

17 regulations—

18 ‘‘(aa) to improve the effec19 tiveness of the regulations; and

20 ‘‘(bb) to incorporate better

21 management practices and bal22 last water treatment standards

23 and methods.
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1 ‘‘(IV) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—

2 The Secretary of Transportation

3 shall—

4 ‘‘(aa) provide not less than

5 120 days for public comment on

6 the proposed regulations; and

7 ‘‘(bb) provide for an effec8 tive date that is not less than 30

9 days after the date of publication

10 of the final regulations.

11 ‘‘(4) ADDITIONAL REGULATIONS.—In addition’’.

12 (b) DEFINITION OF TREATMENT METHOD.—Section

13 1003 of the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention

14 and Control Act of 1990 (16 U.S.C. 4702) is amended—

15 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (13), (14),

16 (15), (16), and (17) as paragraphs (14), (15), (16),

17 (17), and (18), respectively; and

18 (2) by inserting after paragraph (12) the fol19 lowing:

20 ‘‘(13) ‘treatment method’ means a method for

21 treatment of the contents of a ballast water tank

22 (including the sediments within the tank) to remove

23 or destroy nonindigenous organisms through—

24 ‘‘(A) filtration;
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1 ‘‘(B) the application of biocides or ultra2 violet light;

3 ‘‘(C) thermal methods; or

4 ‘‘(D) other treatment techniques that meet

5 applicable ballast water treatment standards, as

6 approved by the Secretary;’’.

7 SEC. 3. INVASIVE SPECIES AND BALLAST WATER TECH8 NOLOGIES RESEARCH GRANTS.

9 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of Com10 merce, through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad11 ministration, and in consultation with the Secretary of the

12 Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of

13 Transportation, and the Administrator of the Environ14 mental Protection Agency, is authorized to award Invasive

15 Species and Ballast Water Technologies Research Grants.

16 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—Grants awarded under sub17 section (a) may be used to—

18 (1) study the impact of invasive species on the

19 environment of the Great Lakes region; and

20 (2) develop technologies and treatment meth21 ods, including ballast water tank technology, de22 signed to destroy or remove invasive species.

23 (c) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may award

2 grants under subsection (a) to any post-secondary

3 educational institution in the United States.

4 (2) SPECIAL CONSIDERATION FOR INSTITU5 TIONS COLLABORATING WITH INDUSTRY.—In award6 ing grants under subsection (a), the Secretary shall

7 give special consideration to post-secondary edu8 cational institutions that work collaboratively with

9 members of the United States shipping industry to

10 carry out an activity for which grant funds may be

11 used under subsection (b).

12 (d) AVAILABILITY AND MARKETING OF TECH13 NOLOGY.—In awarding grants under subsection (a), the

14 Secretary shall ensure that to the greatest extent prac15 ticable, technologies and treatments developed as the re16 sult of a grant awarded under subsection (a) are made

17 commercially available.

18 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

19 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the provi20 sions of this section $100,000,000 for the period of fiscal

21 year 2002 through fiscal year 2006.

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