House Bill 134, which would amend a wastewater discharge provision in the cruise ship law that voters approved in 2006, moved out of the Community and Regional Affairs Committee earlier this month on a 5-2 vote.
Rep. John Harris, R-Valdez, along with 10 legislators, introduced an amendment to the 2006 initiative that would allow the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) to do its job when it issues permits to cruise ships for discharge of treated wastewater. The amendment eliminates the words "at the point of discharge." This change gives the ADEC the ability to set policy and enforcement provisions as they do for other industrial users and coastal communities, said Rep. Harris. "It does not diminish wastewater discharge standards - it simply gives the DEC more tools to implement the standards."
Without the change in the language, many of the ships that travel to Alaska will be unable to meet water quality standards for ammonia and some trace...
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By Phil Reimer
With the recent announcement that Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas is pulling out of the Alaska market in 2010, will other cruise lines do the same?
Travel agents are telling me that the sales numbers for Alaska compared to last year at this time are down, but Royal Caribbean is not blaming its pullout on the softening travel market. It is blaming the high cost of business in Alaska. The major cruise lines that serve this market have complained about high costs over the years, but Royal Caribbean is the first line to pull out a ship because of them.
The company singled out high head taxes charged for each passenger, high local taxes and fees, corporate taxes, gaming taxes and the cost...
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The national recession will catch up with Alaska in 2009, with job losses in most major economic sectors except government, economists told Juneau's business community Thursday.
"Alaska is going to join the rest of the nation in recession in 2009, that's the bottom line," said Pat Burden, president of the Anchorage consulting firm Northern Economics.
Along with the shrinking economy, 3,400 jobs, or about six-tenths of a percent statewide, will be lost, Burden said, bucking a 20-plus year trend of economic growth in Alaska.
Burden said the cruise industry appears to be responding as it did after 9/11 by slashing prices to keep its ships full and workers working, but said the passengers that do come are...
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