CHAPTER 1. Findings and Declarations [72400. - 72401.]

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC 1.

in effect

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 72400. Section 72400.

The Legislature finds and declares both of the following: (a) California is home to four of the 13 national marine sanctuaries. These areas support some of the world’s most diverse marine ecosystems and are home to numerous mammals, seabirds, fish, invertebrates, and plants. (b) The protection and enhancement of the quality of the marine waters of the state and marine sanctuaries, and the protection of public health and the environment, requires that the release from large passenger vessels and oceangoing ships of hazardous waste, other waste, sewage sludge, and oily bilgewater, into the marine waters of the state and marine sanctuaries, and the release of graywater by large passenger ships into the marine waters of the state, should be prohibited.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 72401. Section 72401.

The Legislature finds and declares both of the following: (a) To protect and enhance the quality of the marine waters of the state all of the following should be prohibited: (1) The release of graywater or sewage by a large passenger vessel into the marine waters of the state or a marine sanctuary. (2) The release of hazardous waste, other waste, sewage sludge, or oily bilgewater by a large passenger vessel or oceangoing ship into the marine waters of the state or a marine sanctuary. (3) The release of graywater or sewage by an oceangoing ship into the marine waters of the state or a marine sanctuary. (b) In response to an application from the State of California pursuant to this division, beginning March 2012, the United States Environmental Protection Agency prohibited the discharge of all sewage from large passenger vessels and large oceangoing ships, and created a No Discharge Zone along California’s 1,624-mile coastline from Mexico to Oregon and surrounding islands, the largest No Discharge Zone in the nation.

Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026