An Act To Protect the Environment and Natural Resources of the State by Regulating the Discharge of Certain Substances into the Environment .
Maine Legislature, Session 124, LD 1693
Committee: Natural Resources
Sponsors: FLAHERTY, ADAMS, EBERLE, HINCK, MORRISON, PENDLETON, RUSSELL
Amends: 38 MRSA §423-E

MAINE STATE LEGISLATURE 
The following document is provided by the 
LAW AND LEGISLATIVE DIGITAL LIBRARY 
at the Maine State Law and Legislative Reference Library 
http://legislature.maine.gov/lawlib 
Reproduced from scanned originals with text recognition applied 
(searchable text may contain some errors and/or omissions) 
-, 
n 
'\ 
\ 
} 
~' 
1·24th MAINE LEGISLATURE 
Legislative Document 
No. 1693 
H.P.1194 
House of Representatives, January 6,2010 
An Act To Protect the Environment and Natural Resources of the 
State by Regulating the Discharge of Certain Substances into the 
Environment 
. 
(EMERGENCY) 
Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council pursuant to Joint Rule 
203. 
Reference to the Committee on Natural Resources suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Representative FLAHERTY of Scarborough. 
'-77l~ frl· 77!tU~{ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Cosponsored by Representatives: ADAMS of Portland, EBERLE of South Portland, HINCK of 
Portland, MacDONALD of Boothbay, McCABE of Skowhegan, MORRISON of South 
Portland, PENDLETON of Scarborough, RUSSELL of Portland. 
Primed on recycled paper 
I 
Emergency preamble. Whereas, acts and resolves of the Legislature do not 
become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and 
Whereas, the unregulated discharge of ballast water from ocean-going vessels into 
the coastal waters of the State poses a significant risk to the biological, ecological and 
economic vitality of the State; and 
Whereas, in order for the Board of Environmental Protection to provisionally adopt 
major substantive rules in time for legislative review in 20 II, this legislation must take 
effect immediately; and 
Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within 
the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and" require the following legislation as 
immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, 
therefore, 
" 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 38 MRSA §423-E is enacted to read: 
IS 
§423-E. Prohibited discharges; ballast water from ocean-going vessels 
This section governs the discharge of ballast water by an ocean-going vessel on or 
after January 1, 2011." For the purposes of this section, "ocean-going vessel" means a 
vessel operating within the coastal waters of the State that is equipped with ballast tanks 
capable of taking on and discharging water for the purposes of controlling or maintaining 
the vessel's trim, draft or stability or to control stresses on the vessel. 
1. Permit required. Beginning January I, 2011, the owner or operator of an ocean-
going vessel may not discharge ballast water from that vessel into the coastal waters of 
the State without first obtaining it pennit from the department. 
2. Interim baBiast water" standards; 2011 to 2021. From January 1, 2011 to 
January 1, 2021, subject to the implementation schedule in subsection 3, the owner or 
operator of an ocean-going vessel may not discharge ballast water to the coastal waters of 
the State that contains: 
A. "Any detectable living organisms greater than 50 micrometers in minimum 
dimension; 
B. More than 0.0 I % living organisms. that are between 10 and 50 micrometers in 
minimum dimension; 
C. For living organisms that are less than 10 micrometers in minimum dimension: 
(1) More than 1,000 bacteria per 100 milliliters; 
(2) More than 10,000 viruses per 100 milliliters; and 
(3) Concentrations of microbes that constitute more than 125 colony-fonning 
units of Escherichia" coli per 100 milliliters and 32 colony-forming units of 
intestinal enterococci per 100 milliliters; and 
) 
) 
) 
n 
, 
r 
D. More than one colony-forming unit per 100 milliliters or more than one colony-
forming unit per gram of wet weight of zoological samples of toxicogenic Vibrio 
cholerae, serotypes 01 and 0139. 
3. Implementation schedule for interim ballast water standards .. The interim 
ballast water standards established in subsection 2 apply: 
A. Beginning January 1, 2011, to ocean-going vessels constructed on or after that 
date with a ballast water capacity less than or equal to 5,000 metric tons; 
B. Beginning January 1, 2013, to ocean-going vessels constructed on or after that 
date with a ballast water capacity greater than 5,000 metric tons; 
C. Beginning JanualY 1, 2015, to ocean-going vessels constructed before January 1, 
2011 with a ballast water capacity from 1,500 fo 5,000 metric tons; and 
D. Beginning January 1, 2017, to ocean-going vessels constructed before January 1, 
2011 with a ballast water capacity less than 1,500 metric tons and to ocean-going 
vessels constructed before January 1, 2013 with a ballast water capacity greater than 
5,000 metric tons. 
4. Final standards. After January 1, 2021, the owner or operator of an ocean-going 
vessel may not discharge into the coastal waters of the State any ballast water that 
contains any detectable living organisms. 
5. Penalty. A person who violates this section, or rules adopted by the board to 
implement this section, commits a civil violation and is subject to a penalty of not less 
than $1,000 and not more than $10,000 for each violation. 
6. Rules. The board shall adopt rules to implement this section. Rules adopted 
under this subsection are major substantive rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, 
subchapter 2-A. These rules must be adopted on an emergency basis in calendar year 
2010 and subsequently submitted forreview by the Legislature no later than January 14, 
2011. The rules must prescribe an annual ballast water discharge permit fee that is based 
on the ballast water capacity of vessels covered by this section and that is, in the 
aggregate, sufficient to fully fund the cost of implementing and enforcing this section. 
Emergency clause. 
In view of the emergency cited in the' preamble, this 
legislation takes effect when approved. 
SUMMARY 
This bill prohibits ocean-going vessels from discharging ballast water that contains 
any detectable living organisms into the coastal waters of the State after January 1, 202 L 
The bill defines "ocean-going vessel" as any vessel operating within the coastal waters of 
the-State that is equipped with ballast tanks capable of taking on and discharging water 
for the purposes of controlling or maintaining the vessel's trim, draft or stability or to 
control stresses on the vessel. 
The bill establishes· interim standards in effect from 
January 1, 2011 to January 1, 2021 that allow ocean-going vessels to obtain a permit from 
the Department of Environmental Protection to discharge ballast water that contains 
minimal amounts of living organisms, bacteria, viruses and microbes into the coastal 
waters of the. State. Those interim standards are incrementally applied to larger arid older 
ocean-going vessels over that 10:'yearperiod. A person who violates these provisions 
commits a civil violation and is subject to a penalty of not less than $1,000 and not more 
than $10,000 for each violation. 
The Board of Environmental Protection is· required to adopt emergency major 
substantive rules in 2010 to implement these provisions, and to subsequently submit those 
rulesto the Legislature for review no later than January 14,2011. The rules must require 
an annual. ballast water discharge permit for ocean-going vessels. The annual fee for that 
. 9 
permit must be based on the ballast water capacity of vessels covered by these provisions 
and must be, in the aggregate, sufficient to fully fund the cost of implementing and 
II 
enforcing these provisions. 
) 
) 
)