The Durbin Bill would codify discharge standards and give them teeth by supplying federal punishments for violations. Facets of the proposed law include a moratorium on ships discharging any waste, treated or untreated, within 12 miles of U.S. shores (versus the current 3-mile boundary law), installation of advanced, on-board wastewater treatment systems, and regular inspections of discharge operations and equipment. Any monitoring now comes at the agreement of the cruise lines. The bill would aim to reduce levels of fecal coliform and chlorine in sewage and gray water discharged beyond 12 miles, with the goal of eliminating pollutants from sewage and gray water by 2015. It would also implement whistleblower protection for employees who report their employers' noncompliance.

While the Durbin Bill represents a huge step at the federal level, it still doesn't address an aspect of the problem many say is critical to South Florida and the entire Caribbean basin: removal of harmful nutrients from wastewater.

DeeVon Quirolo, Executive Director of Reef Relief in Key West, explains:

"'State of the art treatment' of wastewater doesn't usually include nutrient-removal. Corals need clear, clean nutrient-free waters to thrive, so it's those nutrients that are most important to take out. The nutrient removal stipulation didn't make it into the Durbin Bill. It's a local application that would benefit the Caribbean basin far more than the rest of U.S. territorial waters."

In Key West, Reef Relief and other organizations are working with the cruise industry and the city to hold ships accountable to the terms of an existing no-discharge zone that currently applies to smaller, private boats. The goal is to reduce levels of nutrient loading in Keys waters and other coral reef ports ships visit in the Caribbean.

"The ultimate solution," Quirolo says, "would be for ships to install onboard treatment systems that eliminate pollution and nutrients and prepare the sewage for proper disposal."

Quirolo and members of other ocean advocacy groups are optimistic that the introduction of the Durbin Bill marks a turning point in the regulation of the cruise industry. Environmental groups are rallying behind the bill for what promises to be a long, hard fight to get the bill out of House committees and up for a vote on its way to passage into law.

"It could take years, and we're prepared for that fight," says Dana DuBose, Cruise Pollution Campaign Director for Oceana, one of 30 environmental groups in a coalition supporting the bill. "Public pressure will help move the legislation through the House and Senate."

Cruise line revenues have been rising steadily in recent years, and the major companies are adding to their fleets and expanding to new, often smaller ports. The industry brings tens of millions of dollars to South Florida, though no exact figure was available from the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association, whose spokespeople were tight-lipped in response to questions. In Key West alone, where port calls by cruise ships have spiked in the last few years, cruise ships bring "a significant portion of the city's operating budget," says Dennis Grote, Budget Analyst for the City of Key West. In addition, each of the roughly one million cruise passengers who visit Key West this year spend a little cash at local businesses.

The battle to get cruise lines to clean up their act is rife with irony. Fines, limited as they are now, can cost companies more money over time than the installation of advanced wastewater treatment systems. So why wouldn't companies voluntarily install those systems to help protect the number one asset they sell to their customers-the beauty of the seas?