WHY IS EPA CONSIDERING WASTEWATER STANDARDS FOR CRUISE SHIPS IN ALASKA?
• In the 1990s, there was considerable concern about cruise ships discharging untreated sewage and graywater into areas that were surrounded by Alaskan waters but were beyond three miles from shore (where such discharges are not regulated). • On December 12, 2000, Congress passed HR 4577, “Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001,” which contained Title XIV, a section called “Certain Alaskan Cruise Ship Operations” (33 U.S.C. 1901 Note). • Title XIV set discharge standards for sewage and graywater from large cruise ships (those authorized to carry 500 or more passengers for hire) while operating in the Alexander Archipelago and the navigable waters of the United States in the State of Alaska and within the Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. • This law authorizes EPA to develop additional standards for these discharges in Alaska. What information is EPA collecting? • EPA sampled wastewater from four crui
