PORT OF SEATTLE
MEMORANDUM 
COMMISSION AGENDA            Item No.     7a
Date of Meeting   February 14, 2012

DATE:   February 6, 2012 
TO:     Tay Yoshitani, Chief Executive Officer
FROM:   Stephanie Jones Stebbins, Director Seaport Environmental and Planning
Michael McLaughlin, Director, Cruise and Maritime Operations
SUBJECT: Briefing on the Proposed Amendments to Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) on Cruise Operations in Washington State

SYNOPSIS:
No action is requested. This is a briefing in anticipation of a March 6, 2012, Commission
meeting agenda item to establish the Port's position on proposed MOU amendments as described
below.
BACKGROUND OF THE MOU AND PROPOSED AMENDMENTS:
The Cruise Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is a voluntary agreement between three
signatories: the Port of Seattle, the Washington State Department of Ecology and the North West
and Canada Cruise Association. Interest in establishing the MOU started during the rapid
growth of the cruise ship business in Washington in the last decade. Several bodies of law
already govern waste management aspects of cruise ship operation. Nevertheless, the parties
decided to create the MOU that goes beyond other existing environmental regulatory
requirements. The original MOU was signed in 2004.
Since the original MOU signing in 2004, the agreement has been amended five times to reflect
advances in wastewater treatment technology and higher standards for environmental
stewardship. Recently, the MOU parties established policies to define a process for the
consideration of proposed MOU amendments offered by non-parties. The policies dictate that
such amendments can only be considered and adopted once every three years starting in 2012.

COMMISSION AGENDA
Tay Yoshitani, Chief Executive Officer
February 6, 2012
Page 2 of 3
The policies further establish a three-phase process for each individual review cycle. The phases
are:
a 21-day solicitation of amendment proposals,
a 45-day evaluation of proposals against established criteria, and
a 30-day public comment period for those amendment proposals found by at least one
MOU party to meet the established criteria.
The respective staff of each MOU signatory have been working together to follow the prescribed
process. At the time of the Commission presentation, the process will have just completed the
third phase of review, the public comment period. Public comments are being accepted on
proposed amendments submitted jointly by Friends of the Earth, Puget Soundkeeper Alliance,
and People for Puget Sound. The wording of the proposal amendments is as follows:
1)  Ban the discharge of gray water and black water in MOU waters.
2)  Ban the continuous discharge of gray water and sewage (black water), limiting to
only discharge while the ship is greater than 1 mile offshore and traveling at least 6
knots or more.
The original proposal included three amendments; however, the third proposed amendment was
determined not to meet the criteria for moving forward. The public comment period for the
remaining two amendments listed above will close on February 13, 2012. Staff has taken
various actions to notify the public of the public comment period, including notices on the Port
and Department of Ecology websites. The amendment process prescribes that the next step is for
each party to adopt a position on each of the amendments that advanced to public comment in
the third phase of review. As a result, the March 6 Port Commission meeting is the designated
forum for the Port to determine its position with a formal vote of the Commission. In order to be
adopted into the MOU, all three parties must unanimously support the amendment.
Port staff has been evaluating these amendments. Much of the proposal letter (attached) and
supporting data (referenced EPA study) focus on practices already prohibited by the MOU, such
as discharges by Type 2 Marine Sanitation Devices and untreated discharges of gray water and
black water. None of these discharges are permitted by the MOU. For instance, the letter
states: "Effluent discharges from MSDs often also exceed secondary treatment standards for
land-based domestic sewage." We would agree, which is why the MOU already bans these
discharges and has since its inception. We are happy to note that many of the concerns raised by
the amendment proponents are already addressed by the current MOU.
In addition, the proposal letter also makes reference to treated discharge from Advanced
Wastewater Treatment systems, which is allowed by the current MOU, following an approval
process by the Department of Ecology. Specifically, footnote number five in the letter references
the potential for higher ammonia concentrations in treated discharge from Advanced Wastewater
Treatment systems versus land based treatment systems.

COMMISSION AGENDA
Tay Yoshitani, Chief Executive Officer
February 6, 2012
Page 3 of 3
OTHER DOCUMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS BRIEFING:
Letter dated November 21, 2011, submitted jointly by Friends of the Earth, Puget
Soundkeeper Alliance, and People for Puget Sound.

PREVIOUS COMMISSION ACTIONS OR BRIEFINGS:
On April 13, 2004, the Commission authorized the execution of an MOU governing
environmental management practices of cruise ships using Port facilities.
On June 27, 2006, the Commission was briefed on Cruise Operations water quality MOU
On October 27, 2009, staff briefing on Cruise MOU, Commission received public
comment regarding briefing on Cruise MOU.
On April 6, 2010, the Commission was briefed on three proposed amendments to the
MOU and the need for an agreed procedure for the amendment process.
On November, 2, 2010, the Commission was briefed on the Cruise MOU, proposed
options for an MOU amendment process.