I found a list of laws and regulations set in place by the US government. These Laws set pollution standards enforced by criminal penalties for the EEZ zone (Exculusive Economic Zone), which extends 200 miles from all USA shorelines. This ties into my last post and shows how there are laws set in place but like I previous stated these fines are enforced with not very threatening penalties. Also it is extends only 200 miles away from the shoreline. If a cruise travels into international waters all these laws are meaningless.
• Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980
(CERCLA) regulates hazardous waste disposal on all commercial vessels
operating in U.S. waters. CERCLA imposes civil liability and mandates recovery
for damages to natural resources and for pollution clean-up costs incurred by
federal and state governments.
• Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90) imposes liability and criminal penalties for
illegal discharge of oil into U.S. waters.
• Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972, also known as the Clean Water Act,
imposes liability and criminal penalties for the illegal discharge of oil,
wastewater, sewage, and other toxic and hazardous substances into U.S.
waterways.
Resources Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) establishes a federal and state
permit system for hazardous waste management. Transporters of such waste must
meet certain treatment, storage, and disposal regulations.
• Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships incorporates the provisions of an international
convention (MARPOL 73/78) into U.S. law (U.S.C. 1901-1911). This act
regulates the discharge of harmful substances or effluents.
Under these domestic laws, the following discharge standards apply to cruise ships:
• Plastics cannot be discharged anywhere.
• Food waste cannot be discharged within three miles of the shore. Between three
and twelve miles only food ground to less than one inch in size can be discharged.
Beyond twelve miles food discharge is permitted without restrictions.
• Hazardous substances can be discharged within three miles of the shore as long
as they do not exceed the “amounts allowable by law.” Cruise ship regulation is
unclear under RCRA.
Gray water (i.e., shower/sink drain water) can be discharged anywhere in the
ocean.
• Non-plastic trash cannot be discharged within three miles of the shore. Between
three and twelve miles trash must be ground to pieces one inch or less in size.
From twelve to twenty-five miles out from shore, discharge is permitted except
for dunnage (i.e., floatable packaging material), and beyond twenty-five miles all
trash discharge is permitted.
Sewage may be discharged within three miles of the shore only after it has been
treated in a marine sanitation device approved by the Coast Guard. Beyond three
miles untreated sewage may be discharged.
• Oil can be discharged within twelve miles of the shore only after the vessel is
underway and the oil has been processed through an oily water separator,
resulting in an effluent that does not exceed 15 parts per million (ppm) and does
not cause a visible sheen.
http://www.publicpolicy.umd.edu/files.php/faculty/fetter/students/Benis.pdf
Here is the dilemma; the average North American cruise is said to last 6.7 days. According to statistics a cruise that long will spend only 54% of its time in US regulated waters, or 3.6 days. The other 3.1 days will be spend in international waters which there are standards set for water pollution, but they are next to impossible to enforce and are more morally correct standards for companies to follow than actual laws. Unless it is on an international scale there will be next to no attention, if it even gets noticed at all. Only short cruises that last 2-3 days, will spend their entire trip in US waters. These are usually the smaller ships so there would be less garbage anyways. Once the trips last between 9-17 days the time spend in US waters lowers to 20% and any cruises longer than 18 days spend only 10% in these waters. That means they are in international waters for approximately 80% of the time where there pollution dumping goes unnoticed. For these traveling cities this can be a goliath amount. Still even the times spent in the US waters with a huge coastline spanning from almost Alaska to Mexico (excluding Canada, which has their own coast guards and laws) keeping an eye on all these ships for illegal activities is quite the task. Spanning out that watch out to the rest of the oceans would be like trying to scan the entire sky for incoming asteroids. It’s simply a task too big.
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