Posted on: Monday, September 29, 2003

EDITORIAL
Cruise industry should help in its regulation

By all accounts, the booming cruise line industry in Hawai'i is playing strictly by the rules in its agreement with the state over environmental and pollution requirements.

And that's a good thing. Because as valuable as the cruise business can be for our visitor industry, it does pose environmental risks. These huge liners are, in effect, massive floating cities that produce their own share of pollutants, sewage, garbage and the like.

Over the years, the industry has become far more skilled in dealing with these issues by installing state-of-the-art water-filtering systems. But as the industry understands, probably better than most, there can always be improvement.

So it is good that the industry appears ready to go along with stricter guidelines now being prepared by the Health Department. The guidelines involve quicker and more thorough reporting of any accidental wastewater or oil discharges and more frequent spot inspections of ships.

This process is taking place under a voluntary memorandum of understanding between the industry and the state. The alternative would be specific laws governing standards and responsibilities, an alternative we favor.

In the current system, there are no specific sanctions for violations of the rules, either deliberate or accidentally.

One thing the industry could do to stave off new laws — if it truly feels the current system is better — would be to "tax" itself a small amount to help the cash-strapped state pay for more frequent inspections.

If things are going as well as we are told, this should further increase confidence of state regulators and make the cruise option an even more appealing option for visitors.