(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 biofouling.
(c) This division may be known, and may be cited, as the “Marine Invasive Species Act.”
(d) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1) 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.
(2) The federal Vessel Incidental Discharge Act, which was enacted on December 4, 2018, preserves the rights of states to petition the federal government to review any standard of performance, regulation, or policy if new information exists that could result in a change to that standard, regulation, or policy.
(3) Nothing restricts the authority of California to respond to an aquatic invasive species emergency in its waters using California’s police powers.
(4) The Legislature strongly and unequivocally objects to any loss of state authority to regulate vessel discharges in California waters.
(Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 443, Sec. 2. (AB 912) Effective January 1, 2020.)