What laws regulate ballast water discharges?
To prevent the introduction and spread of invasive species, the State Legislature passed The Ballast Water Management for Control of Nonindigenous Species (AB 703) in 1999. It became effective in January of 2000. Under the new law, ships traveling into California ports from outside U.S. waters must either: exchange ballast water in deep mid-ocean waters beyond the U.S. 200-mile coastal zone; retain the ballast water on board while in California ports; discharge the ballast water to an approved onshore retention facility; treat the ballast water with an approved method that kills organisms; or exchange ballast water in a zone approved by the State Lands Commission. Currently, no treatment technologies, onshore retention facilities nor alternate exchange zones are approved, leaving deep-water/mid-ocean exchange or retention of ballast water as the only legal options.
