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HOUSE BILL NO. 217
IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE - SECOND SESSION
BY THE HOUSE RULES COMMITTEE BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR
Introduced: 1/16/24
Referred: Transportation, Resources
A BILL
FOR AN ACT ENTITLED
"An Act relating to commercial passenger vessel environmental compliance; relating to 1
commercial passenger vessel fees; establishing the wastewater infrastructure grant fund; 2
repealing the authority for citizens' suits relating to commercial passenger vessel 3
environmental compliance; and providing for an effective date." 4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 5
* Section 1. AS 46.03.460(a) is amended to read: 6
(a) The department shall regulate [THERE IS ESTABLISHED THE]
7
commercial passenger vessel discharges and environmental compliance by 8
[PROGRAM PROVIDING FOR] 9
(1) adopting regulations to carry out the purposes of AS 46.03.460 10
- 46.03.490, including regulations that establish terms and conditions of 11
commercial passenger vessel discharges; 12
(2) verifying [INDEPENDENT VERIFICATION OF] environmental 13
compliance; and 14 33-GH1493\A
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(3) monitoring and supervising [ALLOWING THE DEPARTMENT 1
TO MONITOR AND SUPERVISE DISCHARGES FROM] commercial passenger 2
vessels through a registration system. 3
* Sec. 2. AS 46.03.463 is repealed and reenacted to read: 4
Sec. 46.03.463. Prohibited discharges. (a) Except as provided in (b) of this 5
section, or under the terms of prior authorization from the department under 6
AS 46.03.100, a person may not discharge wastewater from a commercial passenger 7
vessel into the marine waters of the state. 8
(b) This section does not apply to discharges from a commercial passenger 9
vessel made to secure the safety of the commercial passenger vessel or to save life at 10
sea, if all reasonable precautions have been taken to prevent or minimize the 11
discharge. 12
* Sec. 3. AS 46.03.465(a) is amended to read: 13
(a) The owner or operator of a commercial passenger vessel shall maintain 14
daily records related to the period of operation while in the state, detailing the dates, 15
times, and locations, and the volumes and flow rates of any discharges of wastewater 16
[SEWAGE, GRAYWATER, OR OTHER WASTEWATERS] into the marine water s 17
of the state, and provide electronic copies of those records [ON A MONTHLY 18
BASIS] to the department in a manner established by the department in regulation 19
[NOT LATER THAN FIVE DAYS AFTER EACH CALENDAR MONTH OF 20
OPERATION IN STATE WATERS]. 21
* Sec. 4. AS 46.03.465(b) is amended to read: 22
(b) While a commercial passenger vessel is present in the marine waters of the 23
state, the owner or operator of the vessel shall provide an hourly report of the vessel's 24
location based on Global Positioning System technology and, if authorized to 25
discharge under AS 46.03.100, shall routinely collect [ROUTINE] samples of 26
wastewater [THE VESSEL'S TREATED SEWAGE, GRAYWATER, AND OTHER 27
WASTEWATERS] being discharged into marine waters of the state with a sampling 28
technique approved by the department. 29
* Sec. 5. AS 46.03.465(c) is amended to read: 30
(c) While a commercial passenger vessel is present in the marine waters of the 31 33-GH1493\A
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state, including while underway, the owner or operator of the vessel shall allow 1
the department, or an independent contractor retained by the department, to board 2
and 3
(1) inspect systems that collect, treat, or dispose of wastewater; 4
(2) [MAY] collect [ADDITIONAL] samples of wastewater [THE 5
VESSEL'S TREATED SEWAGE, GRAYWATER, AND OTHER 6
WASTEWATERS] being discharged into the marine waters of the state; and 7
(3) inspect systems that affect air emissions under AS 46.14. 8
* Sec. 6. AS 46.03.465(d) is amended to read: 9
(d) The owner or operator of a commercial passenger vessel required to 10
collect samples under (b) of this section shall ensure that all sampling techniques and 11
frequency of sampling events are approved by the department in a manner sufficient to 12
determine [ENSURE DEMONSTRATION OF] compliance with all discharge 13
requirements under AS 46.03.460 - 46.03.490 [AS 46.03.462]. 14
* Sec. 7. AS 46.03.465(f) is amended to read: 15
(f) If the owner or operator of a commercial passenger vessel has, when 16
complying with another state or federal law that requires [SUBSTANTIALLY 17
EQUIVALENT] information gathering, gathered information that is substantially 18
equivalent to the information required under (a), (b), or (d) of this section, the owner 19
or operator shall be considered to be in compliance with that subsection so long as the 20
information is [ALSO] provided to the department in a manner established by the 21
department in regulation. 22
* Sec. 8. AS 46.03.465(h) is amended to read: 23
(h) At the department's [ON] request, the owner or operator of a commercial 24
passenger vessel discharging wastewater [UNDER AS 46.03.462(b)] shall provide the 25
department with information relating to wastewater treatment, pollution avoidance, 26
and pollution reduction measures used on the vessel, including testing and evaluation 27
procedures and economic and technical feasibility analyses. 28
* Sec. 9. AS 46.03.480(a) is amended to read: 29
(a) Except as provided in (c) of this section, each commercial passenger 30
vessel is subject to [THERE IS IMPOSED] an environmental compliance fee of $5 31 33-GH1493\A
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per berth, determined by the number of lower berths, for [ON] each voyage 1
during which the [COMMERCIAL PASSENGER] vessel operates [OPERATING] 2
in the marine waters of the state. The department shall 3
(1) establish procedures for collection of the fee; 4
(2) reduce the fee by $1 per lower berth if the owner or operator of 5
a vessel 6
(A) installs and operates an electronic monitoring system 7
for wastewater discharges that has been approved by the department; and 8
(B) provides monitoring data to the department consistent 9
with AS 46.03.465; and 10
(3) provide a rebate to the owner or operator of a commercial 11
passenger vessel after the vessel's last voyage of the year, in an amount equivalent 12
to the vessel's total number of unoccupied lower berths that year, if the owner or 13
operator of the vessel, in a manner established by the department in regulation, 14
(A) requests a rebate; and 15
(B) provides information related to the number of 16
unoccupied lower berths of the vessel for that year. 17
* Sec. 10. AS 46.03.480(b) is repealed and reenacted to read: 18
(b) Except as provided in (c) of this section and notwithstanding (a) of this 19
section, for each voyage during which a small commercial passenger vessel operates 20
in the marine waters of the state, the vessel is only subject to an environmental 21
compliance fee of 22
(1) $75 for a commercial passenger vessel with overnight 23
accommodations for at least 50 but not more than 99 passengers for hire; 24
(2) $175 for a commercial passenger vessel with overnight 25
accommodations for at least 100 but not more than 249 passengers for hire. 26
* Sec. 11. AS 46.03.480(c) is repealed and reenacted to read: 27
(c) The commissioner of environmental conservation and the commissioner of 28
transportation and public facilities shall jointly set a fee to be imposed on all 29
commercial passenger vessels operated by the state in the marine waters of the state. 30
* Sec. 12. AS 46.03.482(c) is amended to read: 31 33-GH1493\A
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(c) The legislature may make appropriations from the fund to the department 1
[TO PAY] for 2
(1) the department's operational costs necessary to [PREPARE 3
REPORTS THAT ASSESS THE INFORMATION RECEIVED BY THE 4
DEPARTMENT FOR THE CRUISE SHIP SEASONS OF 2000, 2001, 2002, AND 5
2003 AND FOR THE DEPARTMENT'S O PERATIONAL COSTS NECESSARY 6
TO] carry out activities under AS 46.03.460 - 46.03.490 relating to commercial 7
passenger vessels; and 8
(2) the wastewater infrastructure grant fund administered by the 9
department under AS 46.03.483. 10
* Sec. 13. AS 46.03 is amended by adding a new section to read: 11
Sec. 46.03.483. Wastewater infrastructure grant fund. (a) The wastewater 12
infrastructure grant fund is established in the general fund and consists of 13
(1) money appropriated to the fund by the legislature; 14
(2) money appropriated to the fund in accordance with 15
AS 46.03.482(c); and 16
(3) earnings on the fund. 17
(b) Appropriations from the commercial passenger vessel environmental 18
compliance fund shall be deposited in a separate account within the wastewater 19
infrastructure grant fund. The department may establish other accounts within the 20
wastewater infrastructure grant fund as it considers appropriate. 21
(c) The department may expend money appropriated to the wastewater 22
infrastructure grant fund for wastewater infrastructure grants without further 23
appropriation. Money in the fund does not lapse and remains available for expenditure 24
in successive fiscal years. 25
(d) A municipality may submit an application for a wastewater infrastructure 26
grant to establish, upgrade, or improve a wastewater treatment system or facility in a 27
port community that serves commercial passenger vessels. The application must 28
include information demonstrating that 29
(1) the proposed project is a capital improvement project and not part 30
of a preventive maintenance program or regular custodial care program; 31 33-GH1493\A
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(2) the municipality 1
(A) intends to secure and maintain adequate property loss 2
insurance for the replacement cost of the proposed wastewater treatment 3
system or facility; or 4
(B) has secured and will maintain an adequate program of 5
property loss insurance for the replacement cost of the proposed wastewater 6
treatment system or facility; and 7
(3) the municipality has a preventive maintenance plan for the 8
proposed wastewater treatment system or facility and will adequately adhere to the 9
preventive maintenance plan after completion of the proposed project. 10
(e) Awards granted by the department from the separate commercial passenger 11
vessel environmental compliance account established under (b) of this section shall be 12
limited to the percentage of operations that the wastewater treatment system or facility 13
expends servicing commercial passenger vessels. 14
(f) The department may award a wastewater infrastructure grant during a 15
fiscal year for a proposed project eligible under this section based on a grant 16
application filed during the immediately preceding fiscal year before February 1. 17
(g) The department shall award grants to applicants for proposals to establish, 18
upgrade, or improve a wastewater treatment system or facility under this section. The 19
department shall award the grants based on an evaluation of how effectively each 20
proposal meets the following criteria: 21
(1) protect or improve public health; 22
(2) protect or improve water quality; 23
(3) mitigate environmental impact caused by commercial passenger 24
vessels and passengers; and 25
(4) help port communities adapt to increased demand for seasonal 26
wastewater treatment resulting from wastewater produced by commercial passenger 27
vessels and passengers. 28
(h) Nothing in this section creates a dedicated fund. 29
(i) In this section, "municipality" means a political subdivision incorporated 30
under the laws of the state that is a home rule or general law city, a home rule or 31 33-GH1493\A
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general law borough, or a unified municipality. 1
* Sec. 14. AS 46.03.490(2) is amended to read: 2
(2) "commercial passenger vessel" means a vessel that carries 3
passengers for hire except that "commercial passenger vessel" does not include a 4
vessel 5
(A) authorized to carry fewer than 50 passengers; 6
(B) that does not provide overnight accommodations for at 7
least 50 passengers for hire [, DETERMINED WITH REFERENCE TO THE 8
NUMBER OF LOWER BERTHS]; or 9
(C) operated by the United States or a foreign government; 10
* Sec. 15. AS 46.03.490(13) is amended to read: 11
(13) "small commercial passenger vessel" means a commercial 12
passenger vessel that provides overnight accommodations for 249 or fewer passengers 13
for hire [, DETERMINED WITH REFERENCE TO THE NUMBER OF LOWER 14
BERTHS]; 15
* Sec. 16. AS 46.03.490 is amended by adding a new paragraph to read: 16
(19) "wastewater" means any graywater or sewage, including any 17
graywater or sewage that is stored in or transferred to a ballast tank or other holding 18
area on the vessel that may not be customarily used for storing graywater or sewage. 19
* Sec. 17. AS 46.03.460(b), 46.03.461, 46.03.462, 46.03.465(i), 46.03.480(d), 20
46.03.480(e), 46.03.481, 46.03.490(1), 46.03.490(7), 46.03.490(10), 46.03.490(14), and 21
46.03.490(15) are repealed. 22
* Sec. 18. AS 46.03.476 is repealed. 23
* Sec. 19. AS 46.03.480(b) is repealed December 31, 2024. 24
* Sec. 20. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 25
read: 26
TRANSITION: REGULATIONS. The Department of Environmental Conservation 27
shall adopt regulations necessary to implement this Act. The regulations take effect under 28
AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act), but not before the effective date of the law 29
implemented by the regulation. 30
* Sec. 21. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 31 33-GH1493\A
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read: 1
RETROACTIVITY. Section 18 of this Act is retroactive to April 1, 2020. 2
* Sec. 22. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 3
read: 4
REVISOR'S INSTRUCTION. The revisor of statutes is requested to consider 5
changing the catch line of AS 46.03.460 from "Program established" to "Regulation of 6
commercial passenger vessel discharges and environmental compliance." 7
* Sec. 23. Sections 18, 20, and 21 of this Act take effect immediately under 8
AS 01.10.070(c). 9
* Sec. 24. Except as provided in sec. 23 of this Act, this Act takes effect January 1, 2024. 10