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Abstract
Courtney,
Aaron. "Multijurisdictional
Regulation of Cruise Ship Discharges," Natural Resources &
Environment, 2004, 19:1 (Summer), 50 -
56
Current
standards under federal and international law
applicable to three of the major types of cruise ship discharges to
waters off
the coastal US are critiqued: graywater,
sewage
or blackwater, and ballast water. Under
EPA
regulations, ordinary as well as nonroutine
graywater discharges are exempt from the
National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit requirements. The Clean
Water Act
also exempts blackwater discharges from
NPDES permit
requirements; MARPOL 73/78 is not applicable to blackwater.
In response to intense public criticism, cruise ship discharges are in
the
midst of a regulatory metamorphosis, as regulators are now moving
toward
imposing operational and end-of-pipe standards on graywater
and blackwater discharges.
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