[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 60 (Friday, May 3, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4676-S4677]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. STEVENS:
  S. 1728. A bill to require Navy compliance with shipboard solid waste 
control requirements; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation.


   the act to prevent the pollution from ships amendment act of 1996

  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, today I am introducing legislation at the 
request of the Department of Defense [DOD] to amend the act to prevent 
pollution from ships to bring Navy operations in line with the 
International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution by Ships--the 
MARPOL Convention.
  I ask for unanimous consent that the following summary of the bill 
and background information provided by the DOD be printed in the 
Record.
  I ask for unanimous consent that the bill be printed in full in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                S. 1728

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. NAVY COMPLIANCE WITH SHIPBOARD SOLID WASTE CONTROL 
                   REQUIREMENTS.

       Section 3(c) of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (33 
     U.S.C. 1902(c)) is amended to read as follows:
       ``(c) Discharges in Special Areas.--
       ``(1) Not later than December 31, 2000, all surface ships 
     owned or operated by the Department of the Navy, and not 
     later than December 31, 2008, all submersibles owned or 
     operated by the Department of the Navy, shall comply with the 
     special area requirements of Regulation 5 of Annex V to the 
     Convention, except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3) of 
     this subsection.
       ``(2) Vessels owned or operated by the Department of the 
     Navy for which the Secretary of the Navy determines that, due 
     to a uniquely military design, construction, manning or 
     operating requirements, full compliance with paragraph (1) 
     would not be technologically feasible, or would impair the 
     vessel's operations or operational capability, are authorized 
     to discharge non-plastic and non-floating garbage consisting 
     of--
       ``(A) a slurry of seawater, paper, cardboard and food 
     waste, provided such slurry is discharged not less than three 
     nautical miles from the nearest land and is capable of 
     passing through a screen with openings of no greater than 12 
     millimeters; and
       ``(B) metal and glass garbage that has been shredded and 
     bagged to ensure negative buoyancy and is discharged not less 
     than twelve nautical miles from the nearest land.
       ``(3) Not later than December 31, 2000, the Secretary of 
     the Navy shall publish in the Federal Register--
       ``(A) a list of those vessels planned to be decommissioned 
     between January 1, 2001, and December 31, 2005; and
       ``(B) standards to ensure, so far as reasonable and 
     practicable, without impairing the operations or operational 
     capabilities of such vessels, that such vessels act in a 
     manner that is consistent with the special area requirements 
     of Regulation 5 of Annex V.
       ``(4) Notwithstanding paragraphs (2) and (3) of this 
     section, it shall be the goal of the Department of the Navy 
     to achieve eventual full compliance with Annex V as part of 
     the Department's ongoing development of environmentally sound 
     ships.''.
                                                                    ____


                            Summary of Bill

       The purpose of this bill is to amend section 1902(c) of the 
     Act to Prevent the Pollution from Ships (33 U.S.C. 1901 et 
     seq.).
       The MARPOL Convention requires party states to adopt 
     measures requiring their warships to comply with garbage 
     discharge restrictions to the extent reasonable and 
     practicable. The Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, 
     however, established a no-discharge requirement (except food 
     waste) in special areas for all public vessels. The proposed 
     bill would allow U.S. Navy surface warships to discharge 
     pulped and shredded non-hazardous, non-plastic, non-solid 
     floating waste in special areas, consistent with the MARPOL 
     Convention, while reaffirming the U.S. commitment to 
     achieving eventual full compliance by all public vessels.
       Paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) of section 1902(c) are 
     eliminated. These paragraphs pertain to the one-time 
     submission to Congress by the Secretary of the Navy of a plan 
     for special area compliance by Navy Ships. The plan will have 
     been submitted by November 1996, after which time the 
     statutory language requiring such plan will be surplusage.
       Paragraph (1) of section 1902(c) is amended to reiterate 
     the special area compliance deadlines of the current 
     paragraph (December 31, 2000 for surface ships; December 31, 
     2008 for submersibles), but to allow exceptions as delineated 
     in new paragraphs (c)(2) and (c)(3).
       For ships that the Secretary of the Navy determines that, 
     due to the uniquely military characteristics, compliance 
     would not be technologically feasible, or would impair the 
     vessel's operations or operational capability, new paragraph 
     (c)(2) authorizes the discharge within in-effect MARPOL Annex 
     V special areas of non-hazardous, non-plastic, non-floating 
     garbage consisting of either:
       a. A slurry of seawater, paper, cardboard and food waste 
     that is capable of passing through a screen with openings of 
     12 millimeters (about \1/2\ inch); or
       b. Metal and glass garbage that has been shredded and 
     bagged to ensure negative buoyancy.
       Discharges of pulped biodegradable material (paper and 
     cardboard) would be authorized no closer than three nautical 
     miles from shore and discharges of shredded non-biodegradable 
     material (glass/metal) would be authorized no closer than 12 
     nautical miles from shore.
       New Section (c)(3)(b) ensures that Navy vessels which are 
     to be decommissioned within 5 years, and for which 
     installation of solid waste processing equipment would 
     therefore not be cost effective, will comply with special 
     areas requirements of Annex V as far as is reasonable and 
     practicable, without impairing the operations or 
     operational capabilities.
       New Section (c)(4) sets a goal for the Department of the 
     Navy to achieve eventual full compliance with Annex V as part 
     of the Department's ongoing development of environmentally 
     sound ships.


                               background

       The FY94 DoD Authorization Act required the Secretary of 
     the Navy to submit to Congress by November 1996 a plan for 
     compliance by Department of Navy ships with the special area 
     provisions of the MARPOL Convention. Accordingly, the Under 
     Secretary of the Navy formed an executive steering committee 
     to oversee development of the plan. The Navy has conducted a 
     thorough analysis of technologies and management practices 
     for special area compliance. The major findings include the 
     following:
       a. Full compliance with U.S. law could be achieved through 
     installation of incinerators, at a fleet-wide cost of about 
     $1.2 billion. Incinerator installation would significantly 
     degrade operations due to displacement of existing ship 
     systems and addition of significant weight. Incineration may 
     be regulated in the future by a new annex to MARPOL thus 
     adding uncertainty to acceptability of shipboard 
     incineration.
       b. Full compliance with U.S. law could be achieved through 
     garbage compaction and retrograde for shore disposal, at a 
     fleet-wide cost of over $1.1 billion. Retention and 
     retrograde presents a host of operational and habitability 
     problems. Associated costs include the modification of ships 
     to accommodate both waste processing (compaction) and storage 
     space, additional Combat Logistics Force ships for garbage 
     collection, increased time and maintenance for underway 
     replenishment/garbage off-loads, and disposal costs in 
     foreign ports. Another consideration is the uncertain fate of 
     garbage in foreign ports and limited landfill space in many 
     countries.
       c. The National Academy of Science completed a shipboard 
     waste technology assessment for the Navy. Other possible 
     technologies, such as plasma arc pyrolysis and super critical 
     water oxidation, are not yet developed sufficiently for 
     shipboard application.
       d. Full compliance with MARPOL, but not existing U.S. law, 
     could be achieved through use of pulpers and shredders in 
     special areas,

[[Page S4677]]

     at a fleet-wide cost of about $300 million. Installation of 
     pulpers and shredders would actually enhance operational 
     capability, by enabling discharge of pulped garbage from 
     inside the ship during heavy weather and flight operations, 
     when unprocessed garbage discharges are currently prohibited. 
     Use of pulpers and shredders worldwide (not just in special 
     areas) would virtually eliminate the possibility of shipboard 
     waste wash-up on beaches and shorelines. Fate and effects 
     studies commissioned by the Navy with the collaboration of 
     Scripps Institute, NOAA, and the University of Georgia 
     indicate that pulper and shredder discharges, in the types 
     and amounts predicted from Navy vessels, would not result in 
     significant impacts to the marine environment. An Environment 
     Impact Statement is also being completed. In accordance with 
     CEQ regulations, a Legislative EIS will be available within 
     30 days of the legislative proposal.
       Accordingly, the Navy has identified the use of pulpers and 
     shredders as the preferred method for special area shipboard 
     waste management for its larger, ocean-going vessels. 
     Smaller, coastal vessels would retain and retrograde waste, 
     since at-sea time is limited. The pulper-shredder approach is 
     environmentally benign and entirely consistent with U.S. 
     obligations under international law. This amendment to the 
     Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships would authorize the use 
     of the pulper-shredder approach for solid waste discharges 
     under U.S. law. This approach would reduce the need for shore 
     based reception facilities and would enable the five 
     designated but not in-effect special areas to more quickly 
     come into effect.

                          ____________________