Cruise Ships/Floating Cities Cruise Ship Pollution: Background, Laws and Regulations Key Issues Updated June 14, 2007 GAO CRS Report for Congress Cruise ships carrying several thousand passengers and crew have been compared to "floating cities," in part because the volume of wastes produced and requiring disposal is greater than that of many small cities on land. During a typical one-week voyage, a large cruise ship (with 3,000 passengers and crew) is estimated to generate 210,000 gallons of sewage; 1 million gallons of graywater (wastewater from sinks, showers, and laundries); more than 130 gallons of hazardous wastes; 8 tons of solid waste; and 25,000 gallons of oily bilge water. Cruise Ship Pollution  2007 GAO Report In 2000, a coalition of 53 environmental advocacy groups petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to take regulatory action to address pollution by cruise ships. The petition called for an investigation of wastewater, oil, and solid waste discharges from cruise ships. In response, EPA agreed to study cruise ship discharges and waste management approaches. As part of that effort, in 2000 EPA issued a background document with preliminary information and recommendations for further assessment through data collection and public information hearings. The agency reportedly is developing a cruise ship discharge assessment report that may be released in the fall of 2007, but it has not made a final decision on the environmental groups’ original petition, which has been pending for seven years. In May 2007 the groups sued EPA, seeking to compel the agency to act on the petition. In 2000, Congress enacted legislation restricting cruise ship discharges in U.S. navigable waters within the state of Alaska. As of January 2005, passenger ships (which include cruise ships and ferries) composed about 12% of the world shipping fleet.1 The cruise industry is a significant and growing contributor to the U.S. economy, providing more than $32 billion in total benefits annually and generating more than 330,000 U.S. jobs, but also making the environmental impacts of its activities an issue to many. Since 1980, the average annual growth rate in the number of cruise passengers worldwide has been 8.4%, and in 2005, cruises hosted an estimated 11.5 million passengers. Cruises are especially popular in the United States. In 2005, U.S. ports handled 8.6 million cruise embarkations (75% of global passengers), 6.3% more than in 2004. The worldwide cruise ship fleet consists of more than 230 ships, and the majority are foreignflagged, with Liberia and Panama being the most popular flag countries.3 Foreignflag cruise vessels owned by six companies account for nearly 95% of passenger ships operating in U.S. waters. Each year, the industry adds new ships to the total fleet (12 new cruise ships debuted in 2004 and 4 more in 2005), vessels that are bigger, more elaborate and luxurious, and that carry larger numbers of passengers and crew. California enacted three bills in 2004. One bars cruise ships from discharging treated wastewater while in the state’s waters (Calif. A.B. 2672). Another prohbits vessels from releasing graywater (Calif. A.B. 2093), and the third measure prevents cruise ships from operating waste incinerators (Calif. A.B. 471). Additionally, in 2003 California enacted a law that bans passenger ships from discharging sewage sludge and oil bilge water (Calif. A.B. 121), as well as a bill that prohibits vessels from discharging hazardous wastes from photo-processing and dry cleaning operations into state waters (Calif. A.B. 906). Another measure was enacted in 2006: California S.B. 497 requires the state to adopt ballast water performance standards by January 2008 and sets specific deadlines for the removal of different types of species from ballast water, mandating that ship operators remove invasive species (including bacteria) by the year 2020.