Rep. Chris Tuck, from Midtown, proposed an amendment requiring the DEC to post monthly reports on-line of the waste dumped by cruise ships in Alaska waters. Violations would also be posted.

"This is not an undue burden," added Rep. Paul Seaton, R-Homer. "I've supported the people's right to know."

But Saddler opposed the amendment, saying it would amount to "looking over the shoulders of these professionals" at the DEC and lead to "harassment" of ship operators and owners, whose names would also be posted.

The amendment failed 24-11, with Republicans Seaton, Shelley Hughes of Palmer and Bill Stoltze of Chugiak voting with Democrats.

Rep. Les Gara, from downtown Anchorage, said he disagreed that mixing zones were a solution, but tried to amend the bill to keep the zones two or more miles from the coast. Citing scientific studies that say salmon are disrupted by even tiny amounts of dissolved copper, Gara said he didn't want to trade the cruise industry for the fishing industry.

"We don't hold our ferries to this standard," said Rep. Craig Johnson, a Republican who represents Oceanview and Bayshore in Anchorage.

Replied Gara: "There's pollution out there, so it's OK to have more? I don't agree with that, not if we're going to maintain the greatest wild fisheries in the world."

Gara's amendment failed 25-11, with no Republicans supporting it.

Finally, freshman Rep. Andrew Josephson, from the University district in Anchorage, proposed keeping the initiative standards but delaying their implementation until 2020, giving technology more time to catch up. Republicans Seaton, Lindsey Holmes of Anchorage and Cathy Munoz of Juneau supported the amendment, but it failed 24-12.

The final vote followed soon afterward, but not before freshman Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, D-Sitka, expressed concern about "the velocity through which this bill has passed this House."

But Rep. Charisse Millett, a Republican representing the Lower Hillside in Anchorage, urged the Legislature to not be harder on the cruise industry than on fishing vessels.

"Let's not take one industry and penalize them for doing business in Alaska," she said.

Only one Republican, Seaton, voted against the bill, while Bush Democrats in the Republican caucus supported it.