BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1312|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1312
Author: O'Donnell (D)
Amended: 4/15/15 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE: 9-0, 6/9/15
AYES: Pavley, Stone, Allen, Hertzberg, Hueso, Jackson,
Monning, Vidak, Wolk
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE: 6-0, 7/1/15
AYES: Wieckowski, Bates, Hill, Jackson, Leno, Pavley
NO VOTE RECORDED: Gaines
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-0, 5/7/15 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT: Ballast water management
SOURCE: California State Lands Commission
DIGEST: This bill delays implementation of California's
performance standards for vessels that discharge ballast water
in the state, expands the State Lands Commission's (commission)
vessel inspection authority to include biofouling management,
and makes clarifying and streamlining changes to various related
code sections.
ANALYSIS: Existing law establishes the Marine Invasive Species
Act (act) (Public Resources Code (PRC) §§ 71200 et seq.) that
seeks to limit the introduction of nonindigenous species into
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state waters. The act:
1)Focuses on ballast water management, sediments from the
ballast water that may be discharged from the ship and
biofouling (i.e. when organisms attach and grow on wetted
surfaces of the vessel including, for example, the hull,
anchors, and so on).
2)Requires the commission to adopt regulations necessary to
implement the act which shall include, as appropriate,
restrictions or prohibitions on discharge of ballast water
containing nonindigenous species using "the best available
technology economically achievable", as specified.
3)Considers the size of the vessel and its voyage prior to
entering California waters in the establishment of ballast
water management requirements, as specified, among other
provisions.
4)Provides for the establishment of interim treatment standards
and their phased-in implementation - by either January 1, 2016
or January 1, 2018 - as a function of ballast water capacity
and vessel age, and the establishment of final performance
standards for the discharge of ballast water of "zero
detectable living organisms" for any size organism by 2020.
5)Further provides for regulations to be adopted governing the
use of shipboard experimental ballast water treatment systems.
If an owner of a vessel applies to install an experimental
system and is approved by the commission prior to January 1,
2016, the system shall be deemed to be in compliance with any
future treatment standard for up to five years from when the
interim treatment standards are established.
6)Requires that certain specified information be provided to the
commission regarding ballast water management information upon
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the vessel's departure from its port or place of call in the
state, and requires that the commission, in coordination with
the U.S. Coast Guard, sample ballast water and sediment from
at least 25% of arriving vessels subject to the act.
This bill delays implementation of California's performance
standards for vessels that discharge ballast water in the state,
expands the commission's vessel inspection authority to include
biofouling management, and makes clarifying and streamlining
changes to various related code sections. Specifically, this
bill:
1)Delays until January 1, 2020, the deadline for the
owner/operator of a vessel to apply for and for the commission
to approve the use an experimental ballast water treatment
system, as specified.
2)Delays from 2020 to 2026 the implementation of the final
performance standards for the discharge of ballast water of
zero detectable living organisms regardless of size.
3)Revises the phase-in for interim ballast water regulations by
deleting the weight classification system and making it apply
to all vessels for first arrival at a California port for new
vessels constructed on or after January 1, 2020, or as of
first drydocking on or after January 1, 2020, for all other
vessels.
4)Requires that the master provide information regarding the
vessel, voyage and ballast water management system, as
specified, to the commission at least 24 hours before the
vessel arrives at a California port, or, if the voyage is less
than 24 hours in total, shall report the information prior to
departing.
5)Clarifies that the commission's activities, in coordination
with the U.S. Coast Guard, of 25% of arriving vessels to
assess compliance includes sampling of biofouling, and
inspection, as specified.
6)Deletes obsolete provisions and makes additional technical and
clarifying changes to provide statutory consistency.
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Background
According to the commission, ballast water discharge and vessel
biofouling (i.e. the growth of organisms on the wetted surfaces
of the vessel) of commercial ships are significant vectors for
the introduction of invasive species in coastal environments.
Once established, invasive species can devastate native aquatic
life and costs hundreds of millions of dollars or more to
control. The most effective form of control is to prevent
introduction of the nonindigenous invasive species.
Vessel ballast water management has long been recognized as an
important method to limit the spread of invasive species.
In August 2014, the commission approved a report assessing the
availability of treatment technologies to meet the state's
performance standards for ballast water discharge. The report
reviewed several options for compliance. However, there are
currently no viable shipboard or shore-based treatment options
to meet all of California's discharge standards.
Comments
Previous delays of interim performance standards. Because of
the commission's earlier findings on the availability of
treatment technologies, the Legislature has already twice
delayed the implementation dates for ballast water interim
performance standards. In 2008, the Legislature delayed
implementation for new vessels with ballast water capacity less
than 5,000 metric tons from January 1, 2009 to January 1, 2010.
In 2013, it further delayed implementation for all vessels by an
additional two to six years (phasing in in 2016 and 2018)
depending on when the vessel was constructed and the vessel's
ballast water capacity. This bill represents an 11-year delay
from the earliest original implementation date (to 2020) and to
delay the final performance standard to 2026 (a six-year delay
from the original implementation date).
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Current status of ballast water treatment systems. In 2014, the
commission produced a report that evaluated the availability of
ballast water treatment technologies capable of meeting the
California ballast water discharge performance standards. The
report reviewed both shore-based and shipboard methods. No
shore-based treatment facilities exist in the United States.
Also, no shipboard ballast water treatment systems can currently
meet California's standards. There are multiple reasons why the
California standards cannot be met with current technology.
These include: (1) no single system can meet all of the
standards, (2) there are no appropriate protocols for the
analysis of ballast water samples and (3) there are a lack of
sampling and compliance protocols. The commission indicated
that it is working on promulgating compliance assessment
protocols which should resolve the questions about accurate
testing procedures. Industry should have years to determine how
to comply with the standards given their promulgation
(anticipated by January 1, 2017) far in advance of the proposed
effective date.
Related Legislation
AB 433 (Nation, Chapter 491, Statutes of 2003) consolidated the
law related to the management of ballast water into the act, and
revised various requirements for ballast water management
practices to minimize the release of nonindigenous species.
SB 497 (Simitian, Chapter 292, Statutes of 2006) enacted the
Coastal Ecosystems Protection Act which established the interim
and final performances standards for the discharge of ballast
water from large commercial ships. The effective date for the
interim standards was January 1, 2009, and for the final
standards was January 1, 2020, for "zero detectable living
organisms."
AB 740 (Laird, Chapter 370, Statutes of 2007) modified the act
to include the fouling of vessel hulls with microorganisms.
SB 1781 (Committee on Environmental Quality, Chapter 696,
Statutes of 2008) delayed the implementation of ballast water
performance standards for new vessels with ballast water
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capacity less than 5000 metric tons from January 1, 2009 to
January 1, 2010.
AB 248 (Lowenthal, Chapter 248, Statutes of 2009) required the
person in charge of a vessel to maintain and submit to the
commission specified information related to the vessel's ballast
water treatment system.
SB 935 (Committee on Environmental Quality, Chapter 550,
Statutes of 2012) delayed the date for which the commission must
approve a vessel operator's application to install an
experimental ballast water treatment system from January 1, 2008
to January 1, 2016. It also revised "hull fouling" to
"biofouling" and incorporated certain performance standards into
statue.
SB 814 (Committee on Natural Resources and Water, Chapter 472,
Statutes of 2013) delayed implementation of ballast water
performance standards for vessels that carry, or are capable of
carrying, ballast water into the state by two to six years,
depending on when the ship was constructed and its ballast water
capacity.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified7/14/15)
California State Lands Commission (source)
California Association of Port Authorities
California Chamber of Commerce
Cruise Lines International Association
Maersk
Pacific Merchant Shipping Association
OPPOSITION: (Verified7/14/15)
None received
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ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author, "[a]pproximately
15 percent of large vessels arriving at California ports must
discharge ballast water for operational or safety purposes.
These vessels need a method of ensuring that any discharged
ballast water is in compliance with California's performance
standards. No shore-based treatment facilities exist or are in
development in the United States, and currently available
shipboard treatment systems have not demonstrated the ability to
meet the California performance standards. This lack of options
available to the shipping industry presents a major obstacle to
the implementation of the performance standards."
"AB 1312 delays implementation of California's ballast water
performance standards until 2020 to enable further development
of treatment technologies and the adoption of regulations to
specify the methods that will be used for compliance assessment.
This delay effectively eliminates the interim performance
standards and preserves the deadline on achieving the "no
detectable living organisms" standard. This delay provides the
[commission] with time to adopt compliance assessment
regulations that will give the shipping industry clear guidance
on how to conform to these regulations."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-0, 5/7/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Chang, Chau,
Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly,
Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina
Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Holden, Irwin, Jones,
Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low,
Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin,
Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea,
Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Mark
Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams,
Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Campos, Roger Hernández, Steinorth
Prepared by:Katharine Moore / N.R. & W. / (916) 651-4116
7/15/15 15:27:52
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