For the purpose of this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

(1) DEPARTMENT. The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

(2) DISCHARGE. Includes, but is not limited to, any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, or dumping in state waters.

(3) MARINA. Any entity required to have a business license which is located on any waters of this state and which moors, docks, stores, or anchors vessels for periods of seven consecutive calendar days or longer for a fee.

(4) MARINE SANITATION DEVICE. Any equipment for installation on board a vessel, or a floating or over-the-water residence, which is designated to receive, retain, treat, or discharge sewage, and any process to treat such sewage except that marine sanitation device shall not be interpreted to include portable toilets of any type.

(5) RECREATIONAL VESSEL. Every description of watercraft or other artificial contrivance used primarily as a means of recreational transportation on the waters of this state. Such term shall exclude, without limitation, commercial watercraft such as a tow boat or commercial passenger carrying vessels.

(6) RESIDENCE BOAT. Any structure used primarily for habitation located on any waters in the state, floating or supported totally or partially on pilings.

(7) SEWAGE. Human body wastes and the wastes from toilets and other receptacles intended to receive or retain body wastes, but does not include by-catch or bait discharge by fishermen, galley water, bath and shower water, or bilge water.

The department shall be the agency of the state responsible for regulating recreational vessel and residence boat sewage discharges. The department is authorized to adopt rules and regulations or orders designed to control and regulate the discharge of sewage from recreational vessels and residence boats into the waters of this state.

(a) Discharge of untreated sewage is prohibited in all waters of this state.

(b) Recreational vessels with no installed marine sanitation device or approved sewage disposal system and residence boats are prohibited from discharging sewage in all state waters. Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter to the contrary, this chapter shall not be construed as prohibiting the disposal of sewage by a vessel or residence boat into a sewage disposal system constructed and operated according to law and approved by the Department of Public Health.

Every recreational vessel and residence boat owner, operator, and occupant shall comply with United States Coast Guard or other federal laws and regulations pertaining to marine sanitation devices and with United States Environmental Protection Agency or other federal laws and regulations pertaining to areas in which the discharge of sewage, treated or untreated, is prohibited.

An owner, operator, employee, or agent of a marina which does not provide a pump-out station or other approved means of properly disposing of sewage from recreational vessels, shall not, except in the case of safety emergency, permit a recreational vessel with a Type III marine sanitation device to moor, anchor, dock, or be stored at the marina. The department may, in cooperation with the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, Department of Public Health, and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, establish by regulation in accordance with the Alabama Administrative Procedure Act, a program for financial assistance to marina facilities for the establishment of pump-out stations or other approved means of disposing of sewage from such vessels.

Every recreational vessel required to be registered in Alabama or residence boat on the waters of this state having a marine sanitation device installed on board shall be inspected annually by the department in the county where the recreational vessel or residence boat is domiciled or located to assure that the recreational vessel or residence boat is in compliance with this chapter and department rules. When a recreational vessel or residence boat meets the requirements of the department, an annual inspection decal will be issued. This decal shall be placed on the port side of the hull of each recreational vessel and shall be placed on the residence boat in a position to be clearly visible from the water. The department may, at the request of a recreational vessel or residence boat owner and as part of an ongoing public educational program, conduct courtesy inspections of recreational vessels and residence boats for compliance with this chapter and may, in its sole discretion, provide warning citations under such circumstances as it deems appropriate. The department may, at the end of five years from October 1, 2003, establish by regulation, a reasonable fee not to exceed fifty dollars ($50) for the conduct of any mandatory annual inspections pertaining to this chapter, which fees shall be credited to the State Water Safety Fund.

The department is hereby authorized to undertake and to enlist the support and cooperation of all agencies, political subdivisions, and organizations in the conduct of a public education program designed to inform the public of the undesirability of depositing untreated sewage, trash, litter, and other materials in the waters of this state and of the penalties provided by this chapter for such action, and to use funds provided by the Legislature for this purpose. The department is further authorized to utilize all means of communication in the conduct of this program.

(a) Marine police officers or any duly sworn peace officer of the state may board and inspect a recreational vessel or residence boat for compliance with this chapter and department rules at any time if there is probable cause to believe that a violation of this chapter or department rules has occurred.

(b) Any person who violates this chapter or any rule adopted by the department pursuant to this chapter shall be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor and fined not less than one hundred dollars ($100) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each violation; provided, however, that first-time offenders of any provision of this chapter or of any rule adopted pursuant to this chapter shall be given a warning citation providing a 90-day opportunity to comply with the provision, and in the event of the failure of the offender to comply within the 90-day period, the offender shall be cited for violating the provision.

All fines paid or collected under this chapter shall be paid to the account of the State Water Safety Fund.