SF 65

1st Engrossment - 85th Legislature (2007 - 2008) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A resolution
memorializing the President and Congress and others to protect the Great Lakes from
aquatic invasive species.

WHEREAS, the Great Lakes are a tremendous value to Minnesota as an environmental and
economic resource, both as the world's largest body of fresh water and as a crucial international
shipping channel; and

WHEREAS, aquatic invasive species, including the recent introduction of the fish killing
VHS virus, have caused significant damage to native environments and industrial operations in
the Great Lakes and around the world; and

WHEREAS, Minnesota's Lake Superior ports provide Minnesota farmers, miners, and
manufacturers with access to foreign markets through the Great Lakes/Saint Lawrence Seaway,
with nearly 41.7 million metric tons of maritime cargo through the Port of Duluth-Superior in
exchange for approximately 35.4 million metric tons of untreated ballast water in 2005; and

WHEREAS, current federal laws and enforcement governing the introduction of aquatic
invasive species into United States waters via ballast water of ocean-going and Great Lakes
ships and other sources are inadequate; and

WHEREAS, because of the detrimental effects of imposing regional restrictions on an
international shipping channel, there is a need for uniform federal regulation and control; and

WHEREAS, there is currently no nationally accepted standard for drinking and treated
waste ballast water quality nor any approved ballast treatment technologies available to ship
operators; NOW, THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota:

That the Minnesota Legislature has a great concern for the protection of its environmental
and economic resources now imminently threatened by the VHS fish killing viruses invading
Lake St. Clair, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario;

That the Minnesota Legislature urges the United States Congress to acknowledge the
national urgency of this problem and move quickly to enact federal legislation to establish a
strong ballast water regulatory program sufficient to prohibit further VHS virus infestations and
prevent future introduction of aquatic invasive species into all United States waters by requiring
disinfection and sterilization of all ballast water;

That the Minnesota Legislature declares its support for the efforts of the United States
federal agencies, including the United States Geological Survey, the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Coast
Guard, Canadian government agencies, and the International Maritime Organization to put in
place an international ballast water treatment and regulatory program for the Great Lakes and
connecting channels; and

That the Minnesota Legislature declares its support for a revised "Great Ships Initiative,"
applicable to Great Lakes monitoring and enforcement of aquatic invasive species prohibition
and prevention efforts, a research and development project funded jointly by the Indiana Port
Commission and other Great Lakes ports, the U. S. Department of Transportation, the National
Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and other federal agencies with the revised goals of accelerating
and improving existing applicable disinfection technology and the development of monitoring
methods for disease and other invasive organisms and availability of ballast water treatment
technology.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota is
directed to prepare copies of this memorial and transmit them to the President of the United
States, the President and the Secretary of the United States Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk
of the United States House of Representatives, Minnesota's Senators and Representatives in
Congress, federal agencies that regulate maritime transportation, the Great Lakes Commission,
and the International Joint Commission, United States-Canada.