Prosperity Alaska EFFICIENTREGULATIONANDSOUNDSCIENCE

Efficient Regulation and Sound Science

House Bill 80 Passed!

				Some votes in the Alaska Legislature are close calls upon which reasonable people may disagree. Others are “no-brainers.” A recent vote on cruise ship wastewater regulations fell into the latter category. As such, it revealed which Alaska legislators are most deeply beholden to the extreme environmental lobby. House Bill 80, which passed both houses of the Alaska Legislature early in the 2013 session, will change state law such that the cruise industry is treated the same as other dischargers of wastewater, such as municipalities and seafood processors. Prior to the law being enacted, the cruise industry had been singled out with discriminatory rules that were simply unattainable. However, the new law will still require the cruise industry to meet stringent state and federal water quality standards that apply to all dischargers. Further, with the advanced wastewater treatment systems now in use by the cruise industry, discharges from large cruise ships are now of much higher quality than those of most other dischargers such as municipalities, fishing vessels and seafood processors. Reasonable legislators see these gains in cruise ship water quality as very compelling. They recognize the significance of what the industry has accomplished through large investments in advanced technology. On the facts, it is an impressive win for both the environment and the cruise industry.
Cruise ships share Alaska's waterways.

Champions for Efficient Regulation
Click on names to e-mail a note of thanks for the good job they did on HB80 and encouraging them to keep up the good work.
		Governor Sean Parnell The departments of Environmental Conservation and Fish & Game relied on sound science and the assembly of a highly qualified Science Advisory Panel to address inefficiency and unfairness in Alaska’s regulation of cruise ship discharges.
		Senator Cathy Giessel Led the way on the Senate floor and in committee hearings.
		Senator Lesil McGuire Performed well in the Senate floor debate, pointing out the existence of EPA oversight and the sound science behind mixing zones.		Anchorage blogger Ivan Moore used the term "Enviro Whackjobbery" to describe opposition to House Bill 80. More...
		Senator Peter Micciche Performed well in the Senate floor debate, highlighting that many Alaska municipalities struggle to meet EPA wastewater discharge quality standards and often operate under EPA waivers.		But for those legislators who see environmental regulations not only as a means to protect the environment, but also as a means to single out and harass certain industries, the improvements were not enough. Consequently, they proposed numerous unfriendly amendments to HB80 and then voted against the entire bill. Even the recommendations of a highly qualified Science Advisory Panel (SAP) created solely to study this issue failed to convince these legislators. Meeting over a two-and-one-half year period, the panel did extensive research on the availability and feasibility of further advances in treatment technology.
		Representative Dan Saddler Led the way on the House floor debate and committee meetings.
		Representative Craig Johnson Helped clarify in committee that cruise ship discharges are now much cleaner than those permitted for fishing vessels and other dischargers.		More Information
				Science Advisory Panel Web Page
				Science Advisory Panel Members and Qualifications
				Preliminary Report of Science Advisory Pannel
				HB80 Legislative Record
				.The SAP concluded, among other things, that: The SAP concluded, among other things, that: The Advanced Wastewater Treatment Systems in use on discharging cruise ships are “significantly more effective than most municipal systems.” There is “little additional environmental benefit to be gained by further work” to improve water quality with regard to ammonia, copper, zinc and nickel at the point of discharge. A ship traveling at 6 knots (the minimum speed at which wastewater must be discharged) would disperse these compounds to insignificant levels within a matter of seconds. Luckily for Alaskans, science and reason prevailed at the end of the legislative day. Efforts to wrap the bill with industry-hobbling, red-tape-producing amendments all failed resoundingly, both in the House and the Senate. The bill then passed the House on a final vote of 27-10 and the Senate by 15-5. Stringent but efficient environmental regulation prevailed and the way is now clear for the cruise industry to contribute new jobs and income to Alaskans. Finally, it should be noted that the victory was bi-partisan. Four House Democrats from rural Alaska joined with all House Republicans except Paul Seaton in voting YES. In the Senate, Democrat Lyman Hoffman voted YES and Democrat Dennis Egan changed his vote to YES on the final reconsideration after initially voting NO. All Senate Republicans voted YES. - Scott Hawkins and Francy Bennett
These Legislators Voted Against HB80
Click on the legislators’ names below to e-mail a message expressing your disappointment their opposition to HB80. Encourage them to take more balanced positions in the future.
	Representative Harriet Drummond		Representative Paul Seaton
	Representative Les Gara		Representative Chris Tuck
	Representative Max Gruenberg		Senator Jonny Ellis
	Representative David Guttenberg		Senator Hollis French
	Representative Andy Josephson		Senator Berta Gardner
	Representative Scott Kawasaki		Senator Donny Olson
	Representative Jonathan Kreiss- Tomkins		Senator Bill Wielechowski

The Alaska Prosperity Project

We Need You On Our Team!

The Alaska Prosperity Project

Election Center

Speak Out!

Weigh in on the most important policy issues facing Alaska.

Action Center

Know Your Elected Officials