Stronger EPA Rules for Cruise Ship Water Quality

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a federal regulation for stronger water quality protection in California waters by banning all sewage discharges from large cruise ships and other large ocean-going vessels off Calfornia's 1,100 mile long coast. This No Discharge Zone (“NDZ”) will go into effect in March 2012 and will also protect surrounding major islands off the California coast. Recognizing the potential benefit to human health and water quality, Surfrider Foundation, along with Friends of the Earth and several other ocean conservation organizations, have pushed for these rules for years. The regulation will prevent more than 20 million gallons of vessel sewage from entering the state's coastal waters every year by regulating large passenger vessels and large oceangoing vessels over 300 gross tons in California marine waters up to three miles off the coast.