R9K-Discuss- Police And Code Placement Of Dye Tablets Into Moored Vessels -TobiE MIAMIBEACH
OFFICE OF lHE MAYOR AND COMMISSION
MEMORANDUM
TO: Jimmy Morales, City Manager
FROM: Ed Tobin, Commissioner
DATE: May 14h ,2014
SUBJECT: Agenda item for May 21"t , 2014 City Commission Meeting
Please place on the May 21't ,2014 City Commission a discussion regarding police and
code placement of dye tablets into the moored vessels as part of the marine sanitation
program.
Attached please find a memo from May 6, 2010 regarding this item.
lf you have any questions please do not hesitate to call our office.
Best Regards,
Dessiree Kane
on behatf of Commissioner Ed Tobin
We a.e confiilled la proudng excellent ptb,c sdrvrcd ond s{)' r,, k) orl 1.\4. rrv6. wtrit. ond ploy n ou! vibtohl uop,cnl hjs,rJ,lc ccynr,rn,ty
Asenda n"- RI K
Date S'21-ltl
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OFFICE OF THE CIIY ATTORNEY
JOSE SMITH, CITY ATTORNEY
TO:Mayor Matti Herrera Bower
Members of the City Commission
Jorge Gonzalez, City Man
FROM: Jose Smith, City Atto
SUBJECT: Dye Tablet Placeme ir Vessel's Marine Sanitation Devices
Requested by Commissioner Ed Tobin
May 6, 2010
MEMORANDUM
DATE:
Boats with installed toilets must be equipped with "rnarine sanitation devices" that
either treat and discharge sewage into the water or hold untreated sewage until it is
removed. Under the Clean Water Act, the EPA has set standards of perforrnance for
marine sanitation devices 10 prevent the discharge of untreated or inadequately treated
sewage from vessels into navigable lvaters. The U.S. Coast Guard is to provide
certification of design, installation, operation, and material of marine sanitation devices.
Three types of marine sanitation devices are certified by the Coast Guard: Types
I and ll treat sewage, typically through maceration and chlorination, and then release it
through the hull into the water.' Releases can be controlled by Y-valves that allow
through-hull discharges when in an opened position. ln those waters where both
treated and untreated sewage is prohibited, Y-valves must be closed and secured, fhe
Type lll marine sanitation devices are holding tanks that store but do not treat sewage.
Type lll devices can also be retrofitted with Y-valves that can permit release of
untreated sewage through the hull wher in an opened position. ln addition, boats with
Type I and Type ll devices may also have holding tanks installed, The treatment
standards for marine sanitation devices were promulgated by the EPA in'1972 and
1976.
Many boaters, particularly those with smaller recreational vessels, rely on
portable toilets, which are not installed in the vessel, to slore sewage onboard. The
contents of portable toilets are generally emptied into dump stations, which are
designed to receive the waste and allow Soaters to rinse out the portable toliet.
' Iype I marine sanitation devices rnay be used on recreational boats 65 feet long or
less, whlle the more complex Type ll devices may be used on any size boat but must be used
on larger boats equipped with installed toilel iaciliiies.
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Despite the inherent difficulties in enforcing discharge prohibitions, an
enforcement presence is important because it encourages boater compliance. Under
the EPA regulations, the Coast Guard generally limits its enforcement of the no-
discharge prohibitions to the three federally designated no-discharge zones.
Accordingly, the Coast Guard does not enforce the prohibitions in the vast majority of
no-discharge zones, which are designated by states, The State of Florida can also
enforce discharge prohibitions under the Clean Water Act, and the Siate of Florida has
prohibited the discharge of raw sewage vrithin the navigable waters of its jurisdiction.
Florida Statute Section 327.53(4) states
(4) (a) Raw sewage shall not be discharged from any vessel, including
houseboats, or any floating structure in Florida waters The
operator of any vessel which is plumbed so that a toilet rnay be
flushed directly into the water or so that a holding tank may be
emptied into the water shall, while the vessel is on the waters of the
state, set the valve or other mechanism directing the sewage so as
to prevent direct discharge and lock or otherwise secure the valve
so as to prevent resetting.
(b)All waste from Type lll marine sanitation devices shall be disposed
in an approved sewage pumpout faciiity.
(c) All waste from portable toilets shall be disposed in an approved
waste reception facility,
Further, Section 327,56(1) of the Florida Statules states:
(1)No otficer shall board any vessel to make a safety or marlne
saniiation equipment inspection if the owner or operator is not
aboard. When the owner or operator is aboard, an officer mav
board a vessel with consent or when the officer has probable
cause or knowledqe to believe that a violation of a orovision of this
chapter has occurred or is occurrinq, An officer may board a
vessel when the operator refuses or is unable to display the safety
or marine sanitation equipmerrt required by law, if requested to do
so by a law enforcement officer, or when the safety or marine
sanitation equipment to be inspected !s permanently installed and
is not visible for inspection unless the officer boards the vessel.
Emphasis added.
ln light of the practical enforcement challenges, law enforcement olficials have
relied on various methods to enforce the ban against discharges in no-discharge zones,
The enforcement methods include (1) inspecting boat equipment 1o ensure that Y-
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valves have been closed to prevent sewage discharges, (2) placing dye tablets in boat
toilets, and (3) patrolling wateruay$ ano issuing citations for identified illegal discharges.
The penalties for lllegal discharges in the areas we reviewed included fines and
prohibiting violators from boating in the no-dischatge zone.
Dye tablets have helped law enforcement officials deiect illegal discharges and
prosecute violators in some areas, For example, Avalon Harbor, a no-discharge zone
off Catalina lsland, California, uses a dye tablet program to enforce the ban against
vessel sewage discharges. Avalon harbormaster officials place a dye tablet in each
toilet of every boat that enters the harbor. The tablet dyes the waste in the holding lank,
producing a lime green color. lf a boater discharges the tank contents into the water,
the bright green dye appears in the water and clearly marks the identity and locaiion of
the illegal discharge. The dye plume remains visible in the water for approximately 15
to 20 minutes. According to an Avalon Harbor official, they have identified about 450
violators since the program's inception in 1988. The official said that Avalon has
authority to assess monetary penalties of up to $500.00 for sewage discharges but
typically assesses penal{ies of less than $300.00. He said they have also prohibited
violalors from using the harbor for one year, noting that the possibility of being barred
from the harbor is actually a greater deterrent than fines-
Alternatively, some states have used dye tablets as part of inspections to detect
leaks in the marine sanitation systems on vessels in no-discharge zones, Officials
place a dye tablet in a boat's toilet and identify any leaks in the marine sanitation
system by observing whether the dye is released into the water. The administration of
this prograrn is more focused upon the detection of leaks within the marine sanitation
system, as opposed to the enforcement against those individuals who illegally discharge
sewage.
While dye tablets can help the City of Miami Beach link violators to illegal
discharges, they are a resource-intensive method. The dye tablets themselves are
inexpensive, but the Miami Beach Police Department must have officers to distribute
them, and then monitor the waters for dye releases. Furthermore, other law
enforcement agencies through the State of Florida poini out that dye tablets
effective in all waterways because in some areas the dye does not show up
dissipates too quickly to be effective.
The typical consequence for an illegal discharge of raw sewage is monetary
penalties which can potentially range from several hundred dollars to several thousand
dollars.' Various Florida law enforcement officials further pointed out the challenge of
issuing tickets for illegal discharges because of the difficulties in detecting violations,
We found that at least one staie has issued ticxets with monetary penalties to boaters
for violating the sewage discharge ban in a no-discharge zone,' However, reliable data
' The penalties in some states are linked to statutes that generally prohibit the
discharge of pollutants, not just sewage, into waterways,
are nol
well or
that
J
Other state offjcials reported they have issued tickets for illegal sewage
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that indicating the frequency of tickets issued for illegal sewage discharges in no-
discharge zones is not available in many of the states that we considered. Further, one
state official explained'that such data might not identify all sewage discharge citations
because in some cases local authorities can also issue tickets.
Entorcement of discharge prohibitions in the City of Miami Beach is inherently
difficult. lllegal discharges from boats rnay be made unden/vater - through the hull, as
with Type land ll marine sanitation devices and Type lll holding tanks retrofitted with Y-
valves - making it difficult to link evidence of sewage discharges to the violators.
Moreover, sewage discharges may rapidly dissipate in ihe water before evidence of
violations can be obtained.
CONCLUSION
ln conclusion, while the City of Miami Beach could enact an ordinance creating a
dye tablet prograrn, the prompt dissipation of the dye is a serious impediment to the
City's enforcement against those who illegally discharge sewage. Essentially, the City's
Marine Patrol Unit would be required to observe a vessel constanlly, after the
placement of the dye tablet, in order to observe a boater discharging the sewage. For
those reasohs, the United States Coast Guard, Miami-Dade Police Department, Florida
Wildlife Commission and the Florida Dapartment of Environment Protection do not
utilize or place any dye tablets to detect the illegal discharge of sewage, and
acknowledge that such enforcement methods are unljkely to catch the illegal djscharge
of sewage in the City of Miami Beach waterways.
Fr\atlolBOKAVV€mos\Dye Tabl€ts ln V€ss6ls.docl
dlscharges, bul could not confirm the number
discharge zones. Also, local officials repoded
discharges in no-discharge zones.
illegal discharg6s ln no-
tickets for illegal sewage
of cilations issued for
that they have issued
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