[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 32 (Monday, March 21, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[Congressional Record: March 21, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
BALLAST WATER MANAGEMENT ACT
Mr. STUDDS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 3360) to direct the Secretary of Transportation to
demonstrate on vessels ballast water management technologies and
practices, including vessel modification and design, that will prevent
aquatic nonindigenous species from being introduced and spread in the
United States waters, as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 3360
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Ballast Water Management
Act''.
SEC. 2. EVALUATION.
(a) Subsection 1102(a) of Public Law 101-646 (16 U.S.C.
4712(a)) is amended by adding the following new paragraph at
the end--
``(4) NATIONAL BALLAST WATER MANAGEMENT EVALUATION.
``(A) Subject to the availability of appropriations, the
Task Force shall contract with the Marine Board of the
National Research Council to identify and evaluate ballast
water management technologies and practices that prevent the
introduction and spread of nonindigenous species through
ballast water discharged into United States waters.
``(B) In conducting the evaluation, the Marine Board shall
consider, at a minimum, ballast water management technologies
and practices identified in the study prepared under
paragraph (3).
``(C) In conducting the evaluation, the Marine Board shall
identify, at a minimum, ballast water management technologies
and practices that--
``(1) may be retrofitted on existing vessels or
incorporated in new vessel designs;
``(2) are operationally practical;
``(3) are safe for vessel and crew;
``(4) are environmentally sound;
``(5) are cost effective;
``(6) the vessel operator can monitor; and
``(7) are effective against a broad range of nuisance
organisms.''.
(b) Subsection 1102(c) of Public Law 101-646 (16 U.S.C.
4712(c)) is amended by adding the following new paragraph at
the end--
``(3) National Ballast Water Management Evaluation
Report.--Not later than one year after the date of enactment
of the Ballast Water Management Act, the Task Force shall
submit to the appropriate Committees a report on the results
of the evaluation conducted under paragraph (4) of subsection
(a).''.
SEC. 3. NATIONAL BALLAST WATER MANAGEMENT DEMONSTRATION
PROGRAM.
(a) Section 1202 of Public Law 101-646 (16 U.S.C. 4722) is
amended by--
(1) redesignating subsection (k) as subsection (l); and
(2) inserting after subsection (j) the following--
``(k) National Ballast Water Management Demonstration
Program.
``(1) Authorization.--Following the submission of the
evaluation authorized under section 1102(a)(4) and subject to
the availability of appropriations under section 1301(e), the
Administrator of the Maritime Administration, in consultation
with the Task Force, shall conduct a national ballast water
management demonstration program to test and evaluate ballast
water management technologies and practices, including those
identified in the evaluation authorized under paragraph
1102(a)(4), to prevent the introduction and spread of
nonindigenous species through ballast water discharged into
United States waters.
``(2) Criteria.--In carrying out the demonstration program
authorized under this subsection, the Administrator of the
Maritime Administration shall use vessels that are documented
under chapter 121 of title 46, United States Code, including
vessels operating on the Great Lakes. Any necessary ballast
water management technology installation or construction on a
vessel used in the demonstration program shall be performed
by a United States shipyard or ship repair facility.
``(3) Authorities.--In conducting the demonstration program
under this subsection, the Task Force and the Administrator
of the Maritime Administration may accept donations of
property and services.''.
(b) Subsection 1202(1), as redesignated by this Act, is
amended by adding the following new paragraph at the end--
``(3) Not later than one year after the submission of the
evaluation authorized under section 1102(a)(4) and
periodically as necessary to report new findings, the
Administrator of the Maritime Administration, in consultation
with the Task Force, shall submit to the appropriate
Committees a report on the results of the demonstration
program conducted under subsection (k).''.
SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
Section 1301 of Public Law 101-646 (16 U.S.C. 4741) is
amended by adding the following new subsection at the end--
``(e) National Ballast Water Management Evaluation and
Demonstration Program.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to the Director and the Under Secretary $150,000
for fiscal year 1995 and to the Administrator of the Maritime
Administration $1,850,000 for fiscal year 1996, to remain
available until expended, to carry out the evaluation
authorized under section 1102(a)(4) and the demonstration
program authorized under section 1202(k).''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Massachusetts [Mr. Studds] will be recognized for 20 minutes, and the
gentleman from Texas [Mr. Fields] will be recognized for 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Studds].
Mr. STUDDS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
(Mr. STUDDS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. STUDDS. Mr. Speaker, the Ballast Water Management Act has a
laudable goal--stopping the spread of aquatic nuisances in the Great
Lakes and other U.S. waters. Ten years ago, no one has ever heard of
the zebra mussel, a now quite infamous aquatic pest which entered the
Great Lakes in the ballast water of vessels coming from foreign ports.
Today, we have more zebra mussels in the Great Lakes than we know what
to do with. They are clogging pipes and costing local economies
millions if not billions of dollars to control. And they are spreading
to other waterways.
Merchant Marine Subcommittee Chairman Lipinski has come up with an
innovative proposal to help stop the proliferation of these unwanted
critters by testing new vessel technologies to prevent the introduction
and dispersal of aquatic nuisances. His proposal calls upon the Marine
Board of the National Research Council to identify new technologies and
practices that can keep aquatic nuisances from being transferred via
ship ballast water. After the Marine Board completes its evaluation,
the Maritime Administration will conduct a demonstration of potentially
useful technologies identified by the Board on vessels which ply U.S.
waters.
I support Chairman Lipinski's approach and urge the bill's passage by
the House.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. FIELDS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
(Mr. FIELDS of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and
extend his remarks.)
Mr. FIELDS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3360, the
Ballast Water Management Act, authored by my friend, Chairman Lipinski
of Illinois.
I remember when the Members of the Great Lakes delegation asked us to
support their battle against the zebra mussel. We may have thought it
was a bad science fiction movie, but nonindigenous species are
certainly not a laughing matter.
In fact, economic losses from the zebra mussel, which hitchhiked its
way into the Great Lakes via ballast water, may equal $3.4 billion.
Moreover, the Office of Technology Assessment has concluded that
nonnative aquatic species are a threat to the entire Nation. After the
extensive flooding in the Midwest washed most of the Mississippi River
and its tributaries through New Orleans, I expect to see zebra mussels
and other unwanted visitors in the Gulf of Mexico any day now.
The need for further research on ballast water as a means of
spreading unwanted aquatic species is clear. Ships need ballast water
to ensure the safety of the vessel and its crew. However, over 15
million gallons of ballast water are discharged into U.S. waters every
year. Because many of these vessels drew ballast water into their tanks
in foreign ports, you can only imagine what harmful species may be
lurking there waiting to take up residence in the United States. In
addition, vessels which draw in infested U.S. waters can spread aquatic
nuisance species to other U.S. ports and to other countries.
Chairman Lipinski's bill will help stop this spread of infestation.
The bill builds on the existing work now being conducted by the
Secretary of Transportation and the Federal interagency Aquatic
Nuisance Species Task Force under the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance
Prevention and Control Act of 1990. The bill mandates an evaluation of
ballast water management technologies and practices and directs the
Administrator of the Maritime Administration to put the most promising
of these technologies and practices to the test on actual vessels so
that we can gauge their effectiveness, practicality, and cost.
Both the evaluation and demonstration program are subject to the
availability of appropriations. Given the current budget situation, and
the charge that the Federal Government merely hands out directives to
Federal agencies without providing the funding for them, I believe this
is a reasonable approach.
In closing, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``aye'' on H.R.
3360.
Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, on Saturday, March 5, I was honored to
participate in a change of command ceremony aboard the U.S.S. Canopus
[AS 34] which is a submarine tender assigned to the Kings Bay Naval
Submarine Base in my district. As Admiral Ellis, the base commander,
toured me around following the ceremony, he mentioned an activity, the
cleaning and removal of aquatic nuisance biological species--including
nonindige- nous species--from the ballast and seawater system
components of Navy ships, which I immediately thought you and our
subcommittee should hear about.
During testimony on H.R. 3360 last year, I did not hear any mention
of the apparently lengthy and exhaustive research which has been
undertaken by the U.S. Navy in the area of prevention and control of
harmful native and nonnative aquatic organisms. Yet, it would appear
that the Navy has been working on this problem for more than 7 years,
and has made significant progress in developing an effective control
methodology.
I believe this information may have an important bearing upon our
action regarding H.R. 3360. When I returned from Kings Bay, I asked my
staff to find out which firms were involved with the Navy on this
project, and I have since visited with one such contractor briefly. I
was impressed enough to suggest that they visit with the staff of the
subcommittee, and have tried to let our chairman and ranking member
know of these facts which could lead to improvements in H.R. 3360 as we
move on through the legislative process.
I have no desire to impede progress, and I wholeheartedly support the
goals embodied in H.R. 3360. However, it would appear that we might be
missing a great opportunity to make the final measure even better by
not acknowledging the ongoing efforts of the Navy and its contractors
and somehow taking advantage of the expertise to improve the cost
effectiveness and timeliness of our evaluation and demonstration
program under the bill.
Both the chairman of our subcommittee and our ranking member [Mr.
Fields] have indicated a willingness to learn more about the Navy's
research program and the technologies which have been developed. Thus,
I am certain that as H.R. 3360 moves from the House to the Senate that
we can anticipate the incorporation of language either in the bill or
in reports which would direct the task force to confer with the Navy
and its contractors in building upon their research in this important
field.
Mr. FIELDS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my
time.
Mr. STUDDS. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Studds] that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3360, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
The title of the bill was amended so as to read: ``A bill to
demonstrate ballast water management technologies, and practices on
vessels, including vessel modification and design, that will prevent
aquatic nonindigenous species from being introduced and spread in
United States waters.''
The motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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