the maritime industries to follow the certain practices and use certain technologies in order to prevent invasions, but these procedures can be seen as too costly and time-consuming, and there are disagreements about which to adopt. Additionally, some strategies for releasing ballast water call for doing so in open waters, far away from ports, but that can be dangerous work when ocean and weather conditions are poor. Researchers are still working out best practices for releasing or treating ballast water, as it is an undeniably complicated issue. In 2004, the World Ocean Council attempted to develop and implement regulations on ballast water through the Ballast Water Management Convention (a unit of the International Maritime Organization), but the convention was never fully accepted by the necessary 30 nations and the issue remains unresolved. Currently, regulating ballast water is more of a national, not international, endeavor. Policy The NISA legislation was sponsored by U.S. House Representative Steve LaTourette on 28 September 1996, and it became Public Law No. 104-332 (H.R. 4283) on October 26, 1996. The law was primarily a reaction to the escalating threat of invasive species in the Great Lakes area and other parts of the United States. Its purpose is stated as: "To provide for ballast water management to prevent the introduction and spread of nonindigenous species into the waters of the United States, and for other purposes." NISA has a fairly broad approach to its goal. It authorizes the government to produce guidelines for how to guard against the introduction and dispersal of invasive species, regulations for vessel operations and crew safety, and education and training programs to promote compliance. Funding is also set aside for research on environmentally sound methods to control the spread of invasive species, and ecological surveys were ordered for certain environmentally sensitive regions of the country. Finally, it establishes the National Ballast Information Clearinghouse to provide data about ballasting practices and compliance with guidelines. The breadth of NISA touches multiple levels of government, from federal to local, because the spatial scale of dealing with invasive species ranges from large to small. Although the language of NISA mainly refers to the role of the federal government, local governments are certainly affected as well. History NISA is a reauthorization of NANPCA (Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990). NANPCA was enacted when zebra mussels started to become a serious problem in the Great