National Aquatic Invasive Species Act of 2003
June 17, 2003
I
want to thank Chairman Crapo and Ranking Member Graham for holding today’s
hearing on S. 525, the National Aquatic Invasive Species Act, that Senator
Collins and I as well as 16 other Senators introduced in the Senate and
Representatives Gilchrest and Ehlers introduced in the House. The purpose of this bill is to reauthorize
the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act and to take a
more comprehensive approach towards addressing aquatic nuisance species to
protect the nation’s waters. This bill
deals with the prevention of new introductions, the screening of new aquatic
organisms coming into the country, the rapid response to new invasions, and the
research to implement the provisions of this bill.
The
problem of aquatic invasive species is a very real one to coastal and inland
waterways. More than 6,500
non-indigenous invasive species have been introduced into the United States and
have become established, self-sustaining populations since the days of
colonization. These species –
microorganisms, pathogens, plants, fish
and animals – typically encounter few, if any, natural enemies in their new
environments. The result are often
ecologically and economically disastrous.
Some
of my colleagues may remember that back in the late eighties, the zebra mussel
was released into the Great Lakes through ballast water. The Great Lakes still have zebra mussels,
and now, 20 states–as far West as Idaho–are fighting to control them. Zebra mussels have changed the dynamics of
the Great Lakes. They have decimated
native mussels, allowed toxins to reenter into the food chain, and may be
responsible for creating hypoxic conditions or a “Dead Zone” in Lake Erie. Many
of our beaches are littered by zebra mussel shells, and it is estimated that electrical generation, water treatment,
and industrial facilities spend tens of millions of dollars every year
combating the zebra mussel.
The
legislation before you is needed now.
It’s needed to provide direction to the U.S. negotiators at the
International Maritime Organization, to create a national ballast water
standard rather than the patchwork of state efforts, and most importantly to
move a ballast water management program forward.
The
best effort that we have against invasive species is prevention. While the U.S. Coast Guard has the authority
under existing law to significantly increase the nation’s efforts to prevent
the introduction of aquatic invasive species through the largest pathway of
introduction–ballast water–there has been very little progress to move towards
technology that is as effective as ballast water exchange. By requiring the Coast Guard and EPA to set
interim and final ballast water management standards, this legislation allows
ballast water technology to develop to a known standard. This bill requires the Coast Guard to set an
interim standard that would require ships entering a U.S. port from outside the
Exclusive Economic Zone to either use ballast water exchange or use technology
that reduces the number of living organisms in ballast tanks by 95%.
This
interim standard in this bill is not intended to be implemented for the long
run, and it is not perfect. However, a
final standard is difficult to set today or in the near future because of the
limited research that has been conducted on how clean or sterile ballast water
discharge should be and what is the
best expression of a standard. Rather
than wait many more years before taking action to stop new introductions, I
believe that an imperfect but clear and achievable interim standard for
treatment technology is the right approach. This interim standard will lead to
the use of ballast treatments that are more protective of our waters than the
default method of ballast water exchange provides, and it can be implemented in
the very near future. Further, the bill
provides the Coast Guard with the flexibility to promulgate the interim
standard using a size-based standard or by whatever parameters the Coast Guard
determines appropriate.
There
are many other important provisions of the bill designed to prevent and respond
to invasive species. All in all, the bill would cost between $160 million and
$170 million each year. This is a lot
of money, but it is a critical investment.
However, compared to the estimated $137 billion annual cost of invasive
species, the cost of this bill is minimal. As those of us facing the havoc
caused by invasive species know, the ecological and economic damage that
invasive species can cause is high.