No more dumping in California waters

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The ban will apply along California's entire 1,624-mile coastline from the Mexican border to the border with Oregon, and within 3 miles of the shore.  It will include major islands and tidally influenced bays, estuaries and rivers. This amounts to 5,222 square miles of water.

The EPA said the rule will prohibit the discharge of approximately 20.4 million gallons of treated vessel sewage currently allowed in state marine waters each year, or about 80 percent of the treated sewage discharged.

The bulk of the vessel sewage not covered by the proposed rule is generated by recreational vessels that are required to use harbor pumpout stations throughout the state, although pumpout stations are limited and not always available. Other vessels not covered by the rule, mostly smaller fishing boats, are currently required to treat sewage before discharging with approved marine sanitation devices. 

"The clear waters of the Pacific are central to California's economic and ecological vitality. Stopping 20 million gallons of sewage from entering California's coastal waters and bays protects people and wildlife from dangerous pathogens," said EPA Regional Administrator Jared Blumenfeld.

According to the EPA, of the 434 California beaches monitored in 2009, 40 percent experienced advisories for exceeding water quality standards for pathogens. Advisories were issued for all 50 Los Angeles County beaches, over 85 percent of San Francisco beaches, and 75 percent of San Diego beaches

Keever explained that the initiative to ban sewage discharged in California waters began in 2003, when a Crystal Cruises vessel entered Monterrey Bay.

"The ship's captain promised the city that it would not discharge sewage in the bay," Keever said. "But after the ship had departed, the city found out that the ship had indeed discharged sewage in Monterrey Bay."

When Crystal Cruises officials were confronted, they responded that the captain may have broken a promise, but he had not broken any law.

California citizens and officials decided it was time to provide the necessary laws. The state passed several laws prohibiting sewage discharge in its waters, culminating with the California Clean Coast Act of 2005.

"The law banned the discharge of both untreated and treated sewage in our waters," Keever said. "We have been told by the cruise lines and the big ships that they have respected the law."

Yet advisories continued to be issued for unclean California beaches.

Keever explained that treated sewage is nearly as bad as untreated sewage.

"The sanitation equipment is often so dismally old and out-of-date that it hardly makes a difference," she said.

 "This is a winner all around," said California State Senator Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, who authored the state law prohibiting coastal dumping and petitioning the federal government for EPA authorization. "The Environmental Protection Agency's 'No Discharge Zone' protects our coastal economy, our environment and our public health."

The California rule will be by far the largest geographical dumping ban the EPA has issued. There are sewage discharge bans in other states covering sections of coastline. The relatively small coastlines of New Hampshire and Rhode Island are protected by an EPA rule.