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[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 938 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

  1st Session
                                 S. 938

      To provide for ballast water management to prevent aquatic 
nonindigenous species from being introduced and spread into the waters 
             of the United States, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                June 16 (legislative day, June 5), 1995

  Mr. Sarbanes (for himself, Mr. Warner, Ms. Mikulski, and Mr. Robb) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
           Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
      To provide for ballast water management to prevent aquatic 
nonindigenous species from being introduced and spread into the waters 
             of the United States, and for other purposes.
    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCES.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Chesapeake Bay 
Ballast Water Management Act of 1995''.
    (b) References.--Whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal is 
expressed in terms of an amendment to or repeal of a section or other 
provision, the reference shall be considered to be made to a section or 
other provision of the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and 
Control Act of 1990 (16 U.S.C. 4701 et seq.).

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE NONINDIGENOUS AQUATIC NUISANCE PREVENTION AND 
              CONTROL ACT OF 1990.

    (a) Aquatic Nuisance Species Control Program.--Section 1101 (16 
U.S.C. 4711) is amended--
            (1) by striking the heading and inserting the following new 
        heading:

``SEC. 1101. AQUATIC NUISANCE SPECIES CONTROL PROGRAM.'';

            (2) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the following 
        new subsection:
    ``(a) Guidelines.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 2 years after the date of 
        enactment of the Ballast Water Management Act of 1995, the 
        Secretary shall issue voluntary guidelines to prevent the 
        introduction and spread of aquatic nuisance species into the 
        waters of the United States that result from the release of 
        ballast water.
            ``(2) Contents of guidelines.--The guidelines issued under 
        this subsection shall--
                    ``(A) ensure that, to the maximum extent 
                practicable, ballast water containing aquatic nuisance 
                species is not discharged into the waters of the United 
                States;
                    ``(B) take into consideration--
                            ``(i) variations in the ecological 
                        conditions of coastal waters of the United 
                        States; and
                            ``(ii) different vessel operating 
                        conditions;
                    ``(C) not jeopardize the safety of--
                            ``(i) any vessel; or
                            ``(ii) the crew and passengers of any 
                        vessel;
                    ``(D) provide for reporting by vessels concerning 
                ballast water practices; and
                    ``(E) be based on the best scientific information 
                available.'';
            (3) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) by striking the paragraph (3) added by section 
                302(b)(1) of the Water Resources Development Act of 
                1992 (106 Stat. 4839); and
                    (B) in the paragraph (3) added by section 4002 of 
                the Oceans Act of 1992 (106 Stat. 5068)--
                            (i) by striking ``issue'' and inserting 
                        ``promulgate''; and
                            (ii) by adding at the end the following: 
                        ``Subject to the requirements of this 
                        subsection, the Secretary shall, on a periodic 
                        basis, promulgate such revised regulations as 
                        are necessary to ensure the prevention of the 
                        introduction and spread of aquatic nuisance 
                        species into the Hudson River.'';
            (4) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) by striking ``subsection (b)'' and inserting 
                ``this subsection''; and
                    (B) by striking ``(c) Civil Penalties.--'' and 
                inserting the following:
            ``(4) Civil penalties.--'';
            (5) in subsection (d)--
                    (A) by striking ``subsection (b)'' and inserting 
                ``this subsection''; and
                    (B) by striking ``(d) Criminal Penalties.--'' and 
                inserting the following:
            ``(5) Criminal penalties.--'';
            (6) in subsection (e), by striking ``(e) Consultation With 
        Canada.--'' and inserting the following:
            ``(6) Consultation with canada.--'';
            (7) in subsection (b), by striking ``(b) Authority of 
        Secretary.--(1)'' and inserting the following:
    ``(d) Great Lakes.--
            ``(1) In general.--'';
            (8) in subsection (d) (as redesignated by paragraph (7) of 
        this subsection)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) by striking ``issue'' and inserting 
                        ``promulgate''; and
                            (ii) by adding at the end the following: 
                        ``Subject to the requirements of this 
                        subsection, the Secretary shall, on a periodic 
                        basis, promulgate such revised regulations as 
                        are necessary to ensure the prevention of the 
                        introduction and spread of aquatic nuisance 
                        species into the Great Lakes.'';
                    (B) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) by striking ``(2) The regulations 
                        issued under this subsection shall--'' and 
                        inserting the following:
            ``(2) Requirements for regulations.--The regulations 
        promulgated under this subsection shall--'';
                            (ii) by indenting subparagraphs (A) through 
                        (I) appropriately; and
                            (iii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 
                        ``require'' and inserting ``cover''; and
                    (C) in paragraph (6) (as redesignated by paragraph 
                (6) of this subsection), by striking ``the guidelines 
                and regulations'' and inserting ``the regulations 
                promulgated under this subsection''; and
            (9) by inserting after subsection (a) the following new 
        subsections:
    ``(b) Education and Technical Assistance.--At the same time as the 
Secretary issues voluntary guidelines under subsection (a), the 
Secretary shall implement multilingual (as defined and determined by 
the Secretary) education and technical assistance programs and other 
measures to encourage compliance with the guidelines issued under this 
subsection. To the extent practicable, in carrying out the programs 
implemented under this subsection, the Secretary shall arrange to use 
the expertise, facilities, members, or personnel of established 
agencies and organizations that have routine contact with vessels, 
including the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the 
Department of Agriculture, port administrations, and ship pilots 
associations.
    ``(c) Report to Congress.--Not later than 3 years after the 
issuance of guidelines under subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit 
to the Congress a report concerning--
            ``(1) the effectiveness of the voluntary guidelines; and
            ``(2) the need for a mandatory program to prevent the 
        spread of aquatic nuisance species through the exchange of 
        ballast water.''.
    (b) Ballast Water Control Studies.--
            (1) Heading.--The heading of section 1102 (16 U.S.C. 4712) 
        is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 1102. BALLAST WATER CONTROL STUDIES.''.

            (2) Additional studies.--Section 1102(a) (16 U.S.C. 
        4712(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
        paragraphs:
            ``(4) Ballast release practices.--
                    ``(A) Initial study.--Not later than the date of 
                issuance of the guidelines required under section 
                1101(a), the Secretary shall conduct a study to 
                determine trends in ballast water releases in the 
                Chesapeake Bay and other waters of the United States 
                that the Secretary determines to--
                            ``(i) be highly susceptible to invasion 
                        from aquatic nuisance species; and
                            ``(ii) require further study.
                    ``(B) Followup study.--Not later than 2 years after 
                the date of issuance of the guidelines required under 
                section 1101(a), the Secretary shall conduct a followup 
                study of the ballast water releases described in 
                subparagraph (A) to determine the extent of compliance 
                with the guidelines and the effectiveness of the 
                guidelines in reducing the introduction and spread of 
                aquatic nuisance species.
            ``(5) Aquatic nuisance invasions.--
                    ``(A) Initial study.--Not later than the date of 
                issuance of the guidelines required under section 
                1101(a), the Task Force shall conduct a study to 
                examine the attributes and patterns of invasions of 
                aquatic nuisance species that occur as a result of 
                ballast water releases in the Chesapeake Bay and other 
                waters of the United States that the Task Force 
                determines to--
                            ``(i) be highly susceptible to invasion 
                        from aquatic nuisance species; and
                            ``(ii) require further study.
                    ``(B) Followup study.--Not later than 2 years after 
                the date of issuance of the guidelines required under 
                section 1101(a), the Task Force shall conduct a 
                followup study of the attributes and patterns described 
                in subparagraph (A) to determine the effectiveness of 
                the guidelines in reducing the introduction and spread 
                of aquatic nuisance species.''.
    (c) Naval Ballast Water Program.--Subtitle B (16 U.S.C. 4701 et 
seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

``SEC. 1103. NAVAL BALLAST WATER PROGRAM.

    ``Subject to operational conditions, the Chief of Naval Operations 
of the Department of the Navy, in consultation with the Secretary, the 
Task Force, and the International Maritime Organization, shall 
implement a ballast water management program for the seagoing fleet of 
the Navy to limit the risk of invasion by nonindigenous species 
resulting from releases of ballast water.''.
    (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 1301(a) (16 U.S.C. 
4741(a)) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(a) Prevention of Unintentional Introductions.--There are 
authorized to be appropriated to develop and implement the provisions 
of subtitle B--
            ``(1) $500,000 to the department in which the Coast Guard 
        is operating, for the period beginning with fiscal year 1996 
        and ending with fiscal year 2000, to be used by the Secretary 
        to carry out the study under section 1102(a)(4);
            ``(2) $2,000,000 to the Task Force, for the period 
        beginning with fiscal year 1996 and ending with fiscal year 
        2000, to be used by the Director and the Under Secretary (as 
        co-chairpersons of the Task Force) to carry out the study under 
        section 1102(a)(5); and
            ``(3) $1,250,000 to the department in which the Coast Guard 
        is operating, for each of fiscal years 1996 through 2000, to be 
        used by the Secretary for the development and implementation of 
        the guidelines issued under section 1101(a) and the 
        implementation and enforcement of the regulations promulgated 
        under section 1101(d).''.
                                 <all>
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