Legislator proposes cruise-line regulation
By Kelly Yamanouchi
Advertiser Staff Writer
A lawmaker plans to propose new regulation of the cruise industry's environmental practices that would prohibit discharges in state waters and require monitoring devices on cruise ships.
The attempt at tightening laws governing cruise ships comes as the industry is set to expand in the next few years with three additional 2,000-passenger ships based in Hawai'i for interisland cruises.
The proposal also comes less than a year and a half after the state struck an agreement with the cruise industry outlining limits on air and water emissions.
Cruise industry executives say the voluntary agreement, called a memorandum of understanding, protects more ocean area than would be covered under a state law.
Rep. Brian Schatz, D-25th (Makiki, Tantalus), chairman of the House committee on economic development, plans to propose legislation that would prohibit discharges into state waters of sewage, wash-water drainage, oily bilge water, solid waste, hazardous waste and medical waste.
The draft proposal also would allow the state Department of Health to monitor discharges by requiring that automated devices be installed on cruise vessels. The device would cut monitoring costs because a machine does the work, Schatz said.
Cruise companies would be required to register ships and to immediately report violations. The law also would permit state officials to inspect ships for compliance.
Schatz proposes to insert the new regulations into the state Clean Water Act, which assesses penalties of up to $25,000 for violations.
Last year, environmental regulation bills for the cruise industry did not make it out of House and Senate transportation committees, and Schatz's proposal is not part of the House majority package due out today.
But Schatz said, "I think we are getting very close to consensus.
"I think if we can achieve this compromise, it will be proof that you can be pro-cruise industry and pro-environment at the same time."
The proposal is modeled after elements of laws in Alaska and California. It would prohibit discharges as provided in California and would not impose fees for cruise ships to pay for monitoring. Alaska law regulates discharges but assesses a monitoring fee on cruise ships.
Cruise industry officials say the agreement they signed with former Gov. Ben Cayetano and renewed last year protects a wider expanse of water around the Islands than could be covered under state law.
The memorandum of understanding covers waters at least four nautical miles from shore. In some cases it reaches much farther, depending on the depth of the water.
The cruise lines also have said that they are committed to the agreement and agree with the state administration's amendments that tighten the guidelines.
"They take it very seriously," said John Hansen, president of the North West CruiseShip Association, which represents the cruise lines.
Several cruise lines have admitted violating the guidelines in the first year of the agreement. The violations included the dumping of treated sewage in waters at Penguin Bank, a protected fishing ground off the south coast of Moloka'i frequented by humpback whales.
"I think it definitely diminishes that image that they've been projecting," Sierra Club Hawai'i chapter director Jeffrey Mikulina said of the cruise lines.
"They made a promise, and they've broken it," Mikulina said. "All this boils down to is trust no longer works as effective environmental policy."
A state law would not preclude other agreements. Mikulina said he hopes that if the law is enacted, the state and cruise industry still would maintain the memorandum of understanding.
To be sure waters beyond the state's jurisdiction are protected, the Department of Health may need to apply to the federal government to prohibit waste discharge into federally protected marine areas.
Reach Kelly Yamanouchi at kyamanouchi@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 535-2470.
