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Letter to Mr. Benjamin Grumbles, Assistant Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Date: Sept. 15, 2006
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Environment


Letter to Mr. Benjamin Grumbles, Assistant Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

September 15, 2006
Mr. Benjamin Grumbles
Assistant Administrator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water (4101M)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20460

Dear Assistant Administrator Grumbles:

I am writing to request a status update from the Office of Water on the cruise ship pollution assessment report that your agency began developing in 2000. The Cruise Ship White Paper released by the EPA in August 2000 concluded that we need a more thorough assessment of cruise ship waste streams, an analysis of the effectiveness of existing programs and identification of options for better management of cruise ship waste. To date, this assessment report has not been released.

The information that the assessment report will provide on cruise ship wastewater discharges and other pollution sources is urgently needed. As the cruise line industry continues its rapid growth, it is critically important to understand whether the appropriate laws and practices are in place to ensure that our coastal waters are protected from pollution.

I introduced the Clean Cruise Ship Act in both this Congress and the last Congress in order to address the cruise ship pollution problem. It is a reasonable bill that would protect coastal waters from needless discharge of sewage, graywater and other wastewater discharges from cruise ships. While I am strongly committed to this legislation, I would consider revisiting the language based on the findings of the assessment report if it provides new information that is not currently in the public record.

In addition, I would be open to receiving a briefing on the US EPA's recent work on cruise ship wastewater in Alaska and learning more about your efforts on cruise ship pollution in general.

I would like to know why the assessment report has not been completed, and whether the EPA has set a firm deadline for its completion. Please feel free to contact my staff if you have any questions. I appreciate your attention to this issue and look forward to your response to this inquiry.

Sincerely,
Richard Durbin
United States Senator

http://durbin.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=263117&&

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