Senate committee hears contested bill to limit heavy fuel oil discharges in Alaska waters; scientists and industry debate costs and regulatory overlap

Summary

Senate Bill 253 would restrict heavy fuel oil (HFO) discharges and limit scrubber washwater in Alaska's most-used inside waters. Sponsor Sen. Jesse Kiel and scientists cited ecological risks from PAHs and metals; industry groups warned the bill may duplicate international and federal frameworks and urged a risk‑assessment approach.

Senate Bill 253 drew extended testimony on March 9 as the Senate Resources Committee heard arguments over whether Alaska should restrict heavy fuel oil use and scrubber washwater discharges in certain state waters.

Sponsor Sen. Jesse Kiel said the bill targets the ‘‘most important, most heavily used waters’’ where discharges from exhaust gas cleaning systems (scrubbers) and burning heavy fuel oil could harm fisheries and coastal communities. Kiel explained the bill is not a blanket ban: it exempts vessels in innocent passage and ships that call only once in an Alaska port, and allows an exemption if a vessel captures scrubber washwater and offloads it shore‑side outside Alaska.

Kiel told the committee that heavy fuel oil contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), soot (black carbon), and metals such as arsenic, cadmium, chromium and copper. He said scrubbers can move those contaminants from air to water, potentially harming early…

Senate committee hears contested bill to limit heavy fuel oil discharges in Alaska waters; scientists and industry debate costs and regulatory overlap

Summary

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