Posted on: Thursday, February 5, 2004

EDITORIAL
Environmental law for cruise ships sensible

A legislative proposal for new environmental laws governing cruise ship operations could go a long way toward protecting and enhancing this promising new piece of our visitor industry.

The proposal comes from Democratic Rep. Brian Schatz. It would set new regulations governing the discharge of waste from cruise ships and would require automatic monitoring devices on all ships operating in Island waters.

It's not that there is no environmental regulation today. In addition to existing pollution laws, the cruise industry is controlled by a memorandum of understanding between the industry and the state. The memorandum requires self-monitoring and sets specific standards.

And because it is an agreement, not a state law, it can and does extend its reach beyond the state's marine boundaries.

Still, it is simply an agreement that can be broken without specific sanctions.

The cruise industry argues forcefully that it is in its own best interests to be as environmentally "green" as possible. In that context, there should be no harm in a law that sets specific standards and sanctions for environmental behavior.

The law need not wipe out the memorandum of understanding, which can go into areas, both geographic and scientific, that are beyond the reach of a state statute.

This is not a particularly new issue to the cruise industry. It operates under similar statutory regulation in Alaska, although the Florida cruise industry works with a memorandum of understanding.

The cruise industry is still relatively in its infancy in Hawai'i. But it will, and should, grow. It is important that the right statutory framework for this exciting new industry be put in place early in the going.