[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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