<P> Pursuant to a state law in Alaska, greywater must be treated prior to discharge into that state's waters . </P> <P> Cruise ship discharges of solid waste are governed by two laws . Title I of the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act makes it illegal to transport garbage from the United States for the purpose of dumping it into ocean waters without a permit or to dump material from outside the U.S. into U.S. waters . Beyond U.S. waters, no MPRSA permit is required for a cruise ship to discharge solid waste . The routine discharge of effluent incidental to the propulsion of vessels is explicitly exempted from the definition of dumping in the MPRSA. 28 </P> <P> The Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships prohibits the discharge of all garbage within 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) of shore, certain types of garbage within 12 nautical miles (22 km) offshore, and plastic anywhere . It applies to all vessels operating in U.S. navigable waters and the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). </P> <P> The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) is the primary federal law that governs hazardous waste management . The owner or operator of a cruise ship may be a generator and / or a transporter of hazardous waste, and thus subject to RCRA rules . Issues that the cruise ship industry may face relating to RCRA include ensuring that hazardous waste is identified at the point at which it is considered generated; ensuring that parties are properly identified as generators, storers, treaters, or disposers; and determining the applicability of RCRA requirements to each . Hazardous waste generated onboard cruise ships are stored onboard until the wastes can be offloaded for recycling or disposal in accordance with RCRA . </P>

Where does waste on a cruise ship go