Alaska's cruise ship initiative and the Commercial Passenger Vessel Environmental Compliance Program

Wastewater and air pollution violations and fines imposed on some cruise ships operating in Alaska in the 1990s coupled with the increase in the number and size of cruise ships traveling to Alaska raised public concerns about cruise ship waste management practices. In December 1999, the ADEC asked the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Southeast Alaska communities to join industry representatives, Tribes, environmental groups and concerned Alaskans in a public discussion about cruise ship waste practices. This effort became known as the Alaska Cruise Ship Initiative (ACSI). Voluntary sampling in 2000 identified non-functioning marine sanitation devices and numerous wastewater samples with high levels of fecal coliform bacteria. Due to the efforts of the ACSI and the 2000 sampling, Alaska enacted a groundbreaking law in June 2001 that regulates cruise ship wastewater discharges in state waters. The law established the Commercial Passenger Vessel Environmental Compliance (CPVEC) Program within the ADEC.