Opinion ID: 3052381
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: NANPCA, NISA, APPS, and Alaska Cruise Ship

Text: Legislation The EPA also relies on four additional statutes. They are the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990 (“NANPCA”), Pub. L. No. 101-646, 104 Stat. 4761, codified at 16 U.S.C. §§ 4701 et seq.; the National Invasive Species Act of 1996 (“NISA”), Pub. L. No. 104-332, 110 Stat. 4073 (amending NANPCA); the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (“APPS”), Pub. L. No. 96-478, 94 Stat. 2297 (1980), codified at 33 U.S.C. §§ 1901 et seq.; and a statute regulating discharges by Alaska cruise ships, enacted as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2001, Pub. L. No. 106-554, § 1(a)(4), 114 Stat. 2763, 2763A-209 (enacting Title XIV of Division B of H.R. 5666, §§ 1401-1414, as introduced Dec. 15, 2000) (see 33 U.S.C. § 1901 Note for the text of the statute). [20] NANPCA and NISA address the problem of invasive species released in ballast-water-related discharges. For example, these statutes authorize the Coast Guard to develop voluntary guidelines and regulations for a Great Lakes ballast water program. See 16 U.S.C. § 4711(a)-(b). The statutes also require national guidelines for ballast-water-related discharges of nonindigenous species, id. § 4711(c), (f)(2)(A)(ii), and establish an Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force, of which the EPA is a member, id. § 4721. Savings clauses provide that the Great Lakes regulations “shall . . . . not affect or supersede any requirements or prohibitions pertaining to the discharge of ballast water” under the CWA, and that the national guidelines “shall . . . . not affect or supercede any requirements or prohibitions pertaining to the discharge of NORTHWEST ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCATES v. EPA 9057 ballast water” under the CWA. Id. §§ 4711(b)(2)(C) and (c)(2)(J). These statutes do not demonstrate SWANCC’s “overwhelming evidence of [congressional] acquiescence” in the exemptions contained in § 122.3(a). They merely demonstrate a congressional intent to address the serious national problem of ballast water discharges of invasive species, and to do so on multiple, nonexclusive fronts. The Supreme Court recently came to similar conclusions regarding Congress’s overlapping mandates to combat greenhouse gas emissions. See Massachusetts v. EPA, 127 S. Ct. 1438, 1448-49, 146062, 1461 n.27 (2007). The APPS implemented the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships of 1973 and the Protocol of 1978 (known collectively as “MARPOL 73/78”). The APPS applies to all U.S.-flagged ships worldwide and foreign-flagged ships in the navigable waters of the United States. 33 U.S.C. § 1902(a). The six annexes to MARPOL 73/ 78 address vessel discharges of oil, noxious bulk liquid substances, harmful packaged substances, sewage, garbage, and air pollution. The APPS’s savings clause provides that “requirements of this [Act] supplement and neither amend nor repeal any other provisions of law, except as expressly provided in this [Act].” 33 U.S.C. § 1907(f). The APPS contains no indication of congressional intent to acquiesce in § 122.3(a). Finally, the Alaska cruise ship legislation authorizes the EPA to regulate sewage and graywater discharges from cruise ships in specified Alaskan waters. A savings clause provides that “[n]othing in this title shall be construed as restricting, affecting, or amending any other law or the authority of any department, instrumentality, or agency of the Unites States.” 33 U.S.C. § 1901 Note § 1411(a); see H.R. 5666, § 1411(a). This legislation, too, contains no indication of congressional intent to acquiesce in § 122.3(a). 9058 NORTHWEST ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCATES v. EPA