Alaska state senate passes bill that lowers standards for cruise ship sewage


Skift Take

The bill's supporters claim that the new law normalizes the rules by which industries play in Alaska, but the referendum the law overturns was put in place because the cruise companies refused to play by the rules.

A bill that would change how Alaska regulates cruise ship wastewater is on its way to the governor's desk. The state Senate passed HB80 Tuesday, 15-5, following lengthy debate over whether Alaska waters and fisheries would be adequately protected. The vote had been pushed to Tuesday after several failed attempts to amend it last week. The measure passed the House, 27-10, earlier this month. The bill, proposed by Gov. Sean Parnell, would require that cruise ships discharge wastewater in a manner consistent with applicable state or federal law. It would strike the more stringent requirement that discharges meet state water quality standards at the point of discharge. The measure also would allow mixing zones where wastewater can be diluted into the water, if ships meet certain standards for treatment of discharge. Several lawmakers said they had been flooded with comments on the bill, many of those in opposition. Critics have cast HB