U.S. EPA to Establish Nation’s Largest Coastal No-Sewage Zone/ EPA to sign rule preventing large ships from discharging 20 million gallons of sewage along California’s 1,624 mile coastline
"U.S. EPA’s Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Jared Blumenfeld will today announce details of the Agency’s proposal to ban all sewage discharges from large cruise ships and most other large ocean-going ships to the marine waters along California’s entire coastline. This will establish the largest coastal ‘No Discharge Zone’ in the United States and is expected to eliminate millions of gallons of sewage that large ships discharge every year into local waters.
“California’s coastal waters are a unique national treasure. The clear waters of the Pacific are central to California’s economic and ecological vitality. Stopping 20 million gallons of sewage from entering California’s coastal waters and bays protects people and wildlife from dangerous pathogens,” said Regional Administrator Jared Blumenfeld.

This action will strengthen protection for 5,222 square miles of California’s ports and coastal waters, extending from the border with Mexico to Oregon and the waters surrounding major islands. Today’s action proposes a new federal regulation to establish the sewage discharge ban..."