We are so close to having a national ballast law, we can smell it, taste it and the aroma is so appetizing. Yesterday, the US House passed the first ever national bill that will protect our fresh waters from ballast discharges when it voted 395 to 7 in favor of the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2007.

The last year has seen Great Lakes States initiating their own ad hoc ballast bills in a desperate attempt to stop an impending “invasional meltdown” that would put the lakes on an irreversible trek toward ecological disaster, but now an answer is so near, so tantalizing, so taunting.

“This bill contains the strong, national protections that people, businesses and cities have been seeking for years,” said Cameron Davis, president of the Alliance for the Great Lakes and co-chair of the Healing our Waters Coalition.

When Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.) became chairman of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure he promised to get us strong ballast water legislation. At our HOW conference last September, we heard loud and clear from the leadership to the grassroots that we need a national ballast water law and we need it yesterday to halt the evil zebra and quagga mussels and the progress of 185 other invasive species dedicated to destroying the lakes.

“It has been touch and go throughout the process as we worked out several issues to make the bill as strong as possible, and it isn’t perfect but it is a giant step forward,” said Jeff Skelding,national campaign director for HOW, “Illinois Congressman Mark Kirk was really helpful on the floor yesterday – bringing up an amendment that will address the spread of viruses affecting the fish in the Lakes.”

Another Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) and fellow democrat from Wisconsin, Ron Kind, joined forces to offer amendments requiring public disclosure of ballast water management reports each month and require NOBOB ships to treat ballast water.

“Our amendments will put a big ‘Do Not Enter’ sign up for invasive species. It’s time to end the
threat of invaders like Asian carp, VHS, and sea lampreys for good,” stated Emanuel.

“By including our amendments in the bill, we have been able to strengthen our defenses against invasives, as well as the public’s ability to monitor the shipping industry’s actions,” stated Kind.

Ships use ballast water to steady them on surface water, but ocean going vessels harbor species that are not native to fresh water and when they discharge their salty ballast water they also infect the lakes with dangerous microorganisms. But this House approved bill would mitigate the effects by:

-Establishing a ballast water treatment standard;
-Requiring treatment technology on board commercial vessels in 2009 using an interim standard that grows more aggressive by 2012.
-Setting a national goal that ballast water discharged into all US waters will contain no living organisms by 2015.

All eyes are now on the U.S. Senate to pass the Coast Guard Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (S.1892). The two bills must then be reconciled in conference before heading to President Bush’s desk to be signed into law.

“We need the Senate and President to complete what the House started and finally shut the door on invasive species introduced through ballast water discharge,” said Andy Buchsbaum, regional executive director of the National Wildlife Federation’s Great Lakes office. “If this effort sinks, all of our nation’s great waters will suffer devastating and irreversible damage.”

The185 invasive species in the Great Lakes cost citizens, businesses and cities hundreds of millions of dollars per year. A new invasive species is discovered, on average, every 28 weeks.

The No. 1 pathway for invasive species like the zebra mussel to enter the Great Lakes is through ballast water discharge from ocean-going vessels. Such ships have introduced more than 70 percent of the non-native invaders since the St. Lawrence Seaway opened in 1959.

“Scientists say that invasive species are the worst problem for the Great Lakes, our national parks, and many of our nation’s waters, and that ballast water discharges are the biggest source,” said Tom Kiernan, president of the National Parks Conservation Association and co-chair of the Coalition.

Thank you to the Great Lakes lawmakers who made this happen and thank you to the entire US House. What a triumph! Now the onus is on the US Senate and President to return this nation’s waters to a healthy state.

Related posts:

• Calling All Great Lakes US Senators
• Ballast Bill Looks Good With, Alas, Two Notable Exceptions
• Coalition Applauds U.S. House for Passing Strong Invasive Species Bill
• Ballast Battle Lines Drawn
• Doyle’s War