(a) On or before January 1, 2005, the commission shall adopt regulations governing ballast water management practices for vessels arriving at a California port or place from a port or place within the Pacific Coast Region. The commission shall consider vessel design and voyage duration in developing these regulations. The regulations shall be based on the best available technology economically achievable and shall be designed to protect the waters of the state. The regulations shall include, as appropriate, restrictions or prohibitions on discharge of ballast water containing nonindigenous species into areas in and outside estuaries and into ocean areas shown to have a capacity to retain organisms.
(b) Subject to Section 71203, and commencing no later than July 1, 2005, the master, operator, or person in charge of a vessel arriving at a California port or place from a port or place within the Pacific Coast Region shall comply with these regulations.
(Added by Stats. 2003, Ch. 491, Sec. 10. Effective January 1, 2004.)