II

104TH CONGRESS

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.

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCES.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Chesapeake Bay Ballast Water Management Act of

6 1995’’.

7 (b) REFERENCES.—Whenever in this Act an amend8 ment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment
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1 to or repeal of a section or other provision, the reference

2 shall be considered to be made to a section or other provi3 sion of the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention

4 and Control Act of 1990 (16 U.S.C. 4701 et seq.).

5 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE NONINDIGENOUS AQUATIC

6 NUISANCE PREVENTION AND CONTROL ACT

7 OF 1990.

8 (a) AQUATIC NUISANCE SPECIES CONTROL PRO9 GRAM.—Section 1101 (16 U.S.C. 4711) is amended—

10 (1) by striking the heading and inserting the

11 following new heading:

12 ‘‘SEC. 1101. AQUATIC NUISANCE SPECIES CONTROL PRO13 GRAM.’’;

14 (2) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the

15 following new subsection:

16 ‘‘(a) GUIDELINES.—

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years

18 after the date of enactment of the Ballast Water

19 Management Act of 1995, the Secretary shall issue

20 voluntary guidelines to prevent the introduction and

21 spread of aquatic nuisance species into the waters of

22 the United States that result from the release of bal23 last water.

24 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF GUIDELINES.—The guide25 lines issued under this subsection shall—
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1 ‘‘(A) ensure that, to the maximum extent

2 practicable, ballast water containing aquatic

3 nuisance species is not discharged into the wa4 ters of the United States;

5 ‘‘(B) take into consideration—

6 ‘‘(i) variations in the ecological condi7 tions of coastal waters of the United

8 States; and

9 ‘‘(ii) different vessel operating condi10 tions;

11 ‘‘(C) not jeopardize the safety of—

12 ‘‘(i) any vessel; or

13 ‘‘(ii) the crew and passengers of any

14 vessel;

15 ‘‘(D) provide for reporting by vessels con16 cerning ballast water practices; and

17 ‘‘(E) be based on the best scientific infor18 mation available.’’;

19 (3) in subsection (b)—

20 (A) by striking the paragraph (3) added by

21 section 302(b)(1) of the Water Resources De22 velopment Act of 1992 (106 Stat. 4839); and

23 (B) in the paragraph (3) added by section

24 4002 of the Oceans Act of 1992 (106 Stat.

25 5068)—
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1 (i) by striking ‘‘issue’’ and inserting

2 ‘‘promulgate’’; and

3 (ii) by adding at the end the follow4 ing: ‘‘Subject to the requirements of this

5 subsection, the Secretary shall, on a peri6 odic basis, promulgate such revised regula7 tions as are necessary to ensure the pre8 vention of the introduction and spread of

9 aquatic nuisance species into the Hudson

10 River.’’;

11 (4) in subsection (c)—

12 (A) by striking ‘‘subsection (b)’’ and in13 serting ‘‘this subsection’’; and

14 (B) by striking ‘‘(c) CIVIL PENALTIES.—’’

15 and inserting the following:

16 ‘‘(4) CIVIL PENALTIES.—’’;

17 (5) in subsection (d)—

18 (A) by striking ‘‘subsection (b)’’ and in19 serting ‘‘this subsection’’; and

20 (B) by striking ‘‘(d) CRIMINAL PEN21 ALTIES.—’’ and inserting the following:

22 ‘‘(5) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.—’’;

23 (6) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘(e) CON24 SULTATION WITH CANADA.—’’ and inserting the fol25 lowing:
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1 ‘‘(6) CONSULTATION WITH CANADA.—’’;

2 (7) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘(b) AUTHOR3 ITY OF SECRETARY.—(1)’’ and inserting the follow4 ing:

5 ‘‘(d) GREAT LAKES.—

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—’’;

7 (8) in subsection (d) (as redesignated by para8 graph (7) of this subsection)—

9 (A) in paragraph (1)—

10 (i) by striking ‘‘issue’’ and inserting

11 ‘‘promulgate’’; and

12 (ii) by adding at the end the follow13 ing: ‘‘Subject to the requirements of this

14 subsection, the Secretary shall, on a peri15 odic basis, promulgate such revised regula16 tions as are necessary to ensure the pre17 vention of the introduction and spread of

18 aquatic nuisance species into the Great

19 Lakes.’’;

20 (B) in paragraph (2)—

21 (i) by striking ‘‘(2) The regulations is22 sued under this subsection shall—’’ and in23 serting the following:
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1 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS FOR REGULATIONS.—The

2 regulations promulgated under this subsection

3 shall—’’;

4 (ii) by indenting subparagraphs (A)

5 through (I) appropriately; and

6 (iii) in subparagraph (A), by striking

7 ‘‘require’’ and inserting ‘‘cover’’; and

8 (C) in paragraph (6) (as redesignated by

9 paragraph (6) of this subsection), by striking

10 ‘‘the guidelines and regulations’’ and inserting

11 ‘‘the regulations promulgated under this sub12 section’’; and

13 (9) by inserting after subsection (a) the follow14 ing new subsections:

15 ‘‘(b) EDUCATION AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—At

16 the same time as the Secretary issues voluntary guidelines

17 under subsection (a), the Secretary shall implement multi18 lingual (as defined and determined by the Secretary) edu19 cation and technical assistance programs and other meas20 ures to encourage compliance with the guidelines issued

21 under this subsection. To the extent practicable, in carry22 ing out the programs implemented under this subsection,

23 the Secretary shall arrange to use the expertise, facilities,

24 members, or personnel of established agencies and organi25 zations that have routine contact with vessels, including
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1 the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the De2 partment of Agriculture, port administrations, and ship

3 pilots associations.

4 ‘‘(c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 3 years

5 after the issuance of guidelines under subsection (a), the

6 Secretary shall submit to the Congress a report concern7 ing—

8 ‘‘(1) the effectiveness of the voluntary guide9 lines; and

10 ‘‘(2) the need for a mandatory program to pre11 vent the spread of aquatic nuisance species through

12 the exchange of ballast water.’’.

13 (b) BALLAST WATER CONTROL STUDIES.—

14 (1) HEADING.—The heading of section 1102

15 (16 U.S.C. 4712) is amended to read as follows:

16 ‘‘SEC. 1102. BALLAST WATER CONTROL STUDIES.’’.

17 (2) ADDITIONAL STUDIES.—Section 1102(a)

18 (16 U.S.C. 4712(a)) is amended by adding at the

19 end the following new paragraphs:

20 ‘‘(4) BALLAST RELEASE PRACTICES.—

21 ‘‘(A) INITIAL STUDY.—Not later than the

22 date of issuance of the guidelines required

23 under section 1101(a), the Secretary shall con24 duct a study to determine trends in ballast

25 water releases in the Chesapeake Bay and other
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1 waters of the United States that the Secretary

2 determines to—

3 ‘‘(i) be highly susceptible to invasion

4 from aquatic nuisance species; and

5 ‘‘(ii) require further study.

6 ‘‘(B) FOLLOWUP STUDY.—Not later than

7 2 years after the date of issuance of the guide8 lines required under section 1101(a), the Sec9 retary shall conduct a followup study of the bal10 last water releases described in subparagraph

11 (A) to determine the extent of compliance with

12 the guidelines and the effectiveness of the

13 guidelines in reducing the introduction and

14 spread of aquatic nuisance species.

15 ‘‘(5) AQUATIC NUISANCE INVASIONS.—

16 ‘‘(A) INITIAL STUDY.—Not later than the

17 date of issuance of the guidelines required

18 under section 1101(a), the Task Force shall

19 conduct a study to examine the attributes and

20 patterns of invasions of aquatic nuisance spe21 cies that occur as a result of ballast water re22 leases in the Chesapeake Bay and other waters

23 of the United States that the Task Force deter24 mines to—
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1 ‘‘(i) be highly susceptible to invasion

2 from aquatic nuisance species; and

3 ‘‘(ii) require further study.

4 ‘‘(B) FOLLOWUP STUDY.—Not later than

5 2 years after the date of issuance of the guide6 lines required under section 1101(a), the Task

7 Force shall conduct a followup study of the at8 tributes and patterns described in subparagraph

9 (A) to determine the effectiveness of the guide10 lines in reducing the introduction and spread of

11 aquatic nuisance species.’’.

12 (c) NAVAL BALLAST WATER PROGRAM.—Subtitle B

13 (16 U.S.C. 4701 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end

14 the following new section:

15 ‘‘SEC. 1103. NAVAL BALLAST WATER PROGRAM.

16 ‘‘Subject to operational conditions, the Chief of Naval

17 Operations of the Department of the Navy, in consultation

18 with the Secretary, the Task Force, and the International

19 Maritime Organization, shall implement a ballast water

20 management program for the seagoing fleet of the Navy

21 to limit the risk of invasion by nonindigenous species re22 sulting from releases of ballast water.’’.

23 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section

24 1301(a) (16 U.S.C. 4741(a)) is amended to read as

25 follows:
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1 ‘‘(a) PREVENTION OF UNINTENTIONAL INTRODUC2 TIONS.—There are authorized to be appropriated to de3 velop and implement the provisions of subtitle B—

4 ‘‘(1) $500,000 to the department in which the

5 Coast Guard is operating, for the period beginning

6 with fiscal year 1996 and ending with fiscal year

7 2000, to be used by the Secretary to carry out the

8 study under section 1102(a)(4);

9 ‘‘(2) $2,000,000 to the Task Force, for the pe10 riod beginning with fiscal year 1996 and ending with

11 fiscal year 2000, to be used by the Director and the

12 Under Secretary (as co-chairpersons of the Task

13 Force) to carry out the study under section

14 1102(a)(5); and

15 ‘‘(3) $1,250,000 to the department in which the

16 Coast Guard is operating, for each of fiscal years

17 1996 through 2000, to be used by the Secretary for

18 the development and implementation of the guide19 lines issued under section 1101(a) and the imple20 mentation and enforcement of the regulations pro21 mulgated under section 1101(d).’’.

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