SECTIONS 71200-71202 - California Statutes

PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE

SECTION 71200-71202

71200. Unless the context otherwise requires, the following
definitions govern the construction of this division:
(a) "Ballast tank" means a tank or hold on a vessel used for
carrying ballast water, whether or not the tank or hold was designed
for that purpose.
(b) "Ballast water" means water and suspended matter taken on
board a vessel to control or maintain trim, draft, stability, or
stresses of the vessel, without regard to the manner in which it is
carried.
(c) "Board" means the State Water Resources Control Board.
(d) "Coastal waters" means estuarine and ocean waters within 200
nautical miles of land or less than 2,000 meters (6,560 feet, 1,093
fathoms) deep, and rivers, lakes, or other water bodies navigably
connected to the ocean.
(e) "Commission" means the State Lands Commission.
(f) "EEZ" means exclusive economic zone, which extends from the
baseline of the territorial sea of the United States seaward 200
nautical miles.
(g) "Exchange" means to replace the water in a ballast tank using
either of the following methods:
(1) "Flow through exchange," which means to flush out ballast
water by pumping three full volumes of mid-ocean water through the
tank, continuously displacing water from the tank, to minimize the
number of original coastal organisms remaining in the tank.
(2) "Empty/refill exchange," which means to pump out, until the
tank is empty or as close to 100 percent empty as is safe to do so,
the ballast water taken on in ports, or estuarine or territorial
waters, then to refill the tank with mid-ocean waters.
(h) "Hull fouling" means the attachment or association of marine
organisms to the submerged portion of a vessel or its appurtenances,
including, but not limited to, sea chests, propellers, anchors, and
associated chains.
(i) "Mid-ocean waters" means waters that are more than 200
nautical miles from land and at least 2,000 meters (6,560 feet, 1,093
fathoms) deep.
(j) "Nonindigenous species" means any species, including, but not
limited to, the seeds, eggs, spores, or other biological material
capable of reproducing that species, or any other viable biological
material that enters an ecosystem beyond its historic range,
including any of those organisms transferred from one country into
another.
(k) "Pacific Coast Region" means all coastal waters on the Pacific
Coast of North America east of 154 degrees W longitude and north of
25 degrees N latitude, exclusive of the Gulf of California. The
commission may modify these boundaries through regulation if the
proponent for the boundary modification presents substantial
scientific evidence that the proposed modification is equally or more
effective at preventing the introduction of nonindigenous species
through vessel vectors as the boundaries described herein.
(l) "Person" means an individual, trust, firm, joint stock
company, business concern, or corporation, including, but not limited
to, a government corporation, partnership, limited liability
company, or association. "Person" also means a city, county, city and
county, district, commission, the state, or a department, agency, or
political subdivision of the state, an interstate body, or the
United States and its agencies and instrumentalities, to the extent
permitted by law.
(m) "Sediments" means matter settled out of ballast water within a
vessel.
(n) "Submerged portion of a vessel" means all parts of a vessel's
hull and structures that are submerged in water when the vessel is
loaded to the deepest permissible legal draft.
(o) "Waters of the state" means surface waters, including saline
waters, that are within the boundaries of the state.
(p) "Vessel" means a vessel of 300 gross registered tons or more.
(q) "Voyage" means any transit by a vessel destined for a
California port or place from a port or place outside of the coastal
waters of the state.

71201. (a) This division applies to all vessels, United States and
foreign, carrying, or capable of carrying, ballast water into the
coastal waters of the state after operating outside of the coastal
waters of the state, except those vessels described in Section 71202.
(b) This division applies to all ballast water and associated
sediments taken on a vessel, and to all hull fouling.
(c) This division may be known, and may be cited, as the "Marine
Invasive Species Act."
(d) The Legislature finds and declares that the purpose of this
division is to move the state expeditiously toward elimination of the
discharge of nonindigenous species into the waters of the state or
into waters that may impact the waters of the state, based on the
best available technology economically achievable. This division
shall be implemented in accordance with this intent, except as
expressly provided by this division.

71201.5. This division does not authorize the discharge of oil,
noxious liquids, or other pollutants, in a manner prohibited by
state, federal, or international laws or regulations. Ballast water
carried in any tank containing a residue of oil, noxious liquid
substances, or any other pollutant shall be discharged in accordance
with the applicable requirements.

71201.7. The commission shall adopt regulations necessary to
implement this division, pursuant to Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government
Code.

71202. This division does not apply to any of the following
vessels:
(a) A vessel of the armed forces, as defined in paragraph (14) of
subsection (a) of Section 1322 of Title 33 of the United States Code
that is subject to the "Uniform National Discharge Standards for
Vessels of the Armed Forces" pursuant to subsection (n) of Section
1322 of Title 33 of the United States Code.
(b) A vessel in innocent passage, which is a foreign vessel merely
traversing the territorial sea of the United States and not entering
or departing a United States port, or not navigating the internal
waters of the United States, and that does not discharge ballast
water into the waters of the state, or into waters that may impact
waters of the state.