Clean Boating Act of 2008

L

localboy

New member
Anyone heard about it?

I received a free sub to Motor Boating magazine and it mentioned a court decision which changes the interpretation of an EPA reg re: the discharge of pollutants from commercial ships ballast tanks (good).

However, it seems a U.S. District Court decision altered the interpretation of the law and as a result it now covers "recreational boats" too. :? Meaning: yet another Federal or state permit would be required for [even] recreational boats to exempt them from this court decision. The apparent interpretation said that bilge water, engine cooling water and even deck run-off from rec boats would/could now be considered "pollution". :? :?

Two senators (Boxer of CA. and Nelson of FL) sponsored the above named bill to restore the exemption for recreational boaters. Per the column, this law needs to be passed by September of '08. The article obviously encouraged rec boat owners to contact their senators/reps in WA. DC.

I'm gonna do more research, but right now I don't have the time.
 
First posting on Google: apparently true.

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chair, Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) introduced a bill, S. 2766, The Clean Boating Act of 2008, in March of this year. The legislation would restore the EPA exemption for recreational boats. Last May, Boating Caucus Co-Chairmen Representative Candice Miller (R-MI) and Representative Gene Taylor (D-MS) introduced H. R. 2550, The Recreational Boating Act of 2007 in the House of Representatives. The language of H.R. 2550 and the language of S.2667 will be the same in the final version.

Passage of the Clean Boating Act of 2008 by Congress would reestablish the exemption for America’s recreational boaters. Congressional action is needed prior to a looming deadline for permit applications that would apply to all recreational and fishing boats, including charter boats.

For thirty-five years, the Environmental Protection Agency has exempted recreational boaters from the regulations that protected aquatic resources from pollutants and invasive species transported in the ballast water of commercial vessels. In 2006, a federal judge overturned the exemption. If not corrected by legislation, boaters would be required to obtain onerous Federal or State permits for normal incidental discharges such as bilge water, deck runoff and engine cooling water. Boaters could also face oppressive fines for non-compliance. The ruling goes into effect on September 30 of this year, unleashing not only a layer of new regulations from the EPA, but creating a new bureaucracy to deal with 18-million boaters applying for the permits.

If you own a boat - whether you fish or not - the time to contract your congressmen is NOW!

Wednesday April 16, 2008

Govt link: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:S.2766:
 
This has been going on for about a year. Most of us have already contacted our congressman. I have talked personally to mine, who is one of the sponsers of the bill to exempt pleasure vessels. The bill will pass, not a problem.
 
thataway":3rtcwkpv said:
This has been going on for about a year. Most of us have already contacted our congressman. I have talked personally to mine, who is one of the sponsers of the bill to exempt pleasure vessels. The bill will pass, not a problem.
Click to expand...

We were alerted to this several months ago by BoatUS. I mailed my elected representatives. Even though it may seem that common sense should insure the bill passes, I have doubts about how common that sense may be in Washington. It's worth the time to write or e-mail to let your opinion be known.
 
Thanks, James. Since I'm a lurker/wanna-be owner and have been out of the marine industry for so long I have a lot of catching up to do. :oops:

I intend on e-mailing my opinion to all my elected reps/senators, but like you said common sense and elected officials...we'll see. My main concern was that it get ignored or forgotten, then suddenly all boat owners have to cough up yet more $$ to enjoy our [future] boats. I understand it's not called "taxing" but "revenue generation" by the politicians, and "climate change" gives them an excuse. :roll:
 
Hopefully we would all comply as we did with the "mandatory" Coast Guard registration and sticker of years past: revolt, don't get one, don't send money, do nothing at all and they quickly backed down and rescinded legislation. Time for civil disobedience with some of this stuff.
 
A good friend of mine made the "C" etc sticker a profitable item. She designed a sticker which appeared to be almost identical, except there was a "ghost" image of a screw thu the middle of the "C"/"D" etc....

Take care,

Bob
 
This isn't good. And when you are driving down the highway and wonder why it takes so long to repair or replace highways, this is a good example. Government red tape applies to all phases of our life and work, and it is getting worse. Doesn't look like you can get out on the boat and hide from it anymore.
 
Back
Top