July 23, 2007

Dear BoatUS Member,

For 34 years the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has exempted discharges from recreational boats from the Clean Water Act permit system. Regretfully, a recent court ruling cancelled this permit exemption. EPA is required by the court decision to develop and implement by September 30, 2008 a national permit system for ALL vessels in the United States for a variety of normal operational discharges.

We have been working behind the scenes with other boating organizations to get the exemption reinstated for recreational boats. Fortunately, the Recreational Boating Act of 2007 (H.R. 2550) has been introduced by Representatives Gene Taylor (D-Miss) and Candice Miller (R-Mich) which would protect recreational boats from being swept into this unnecessary and expensive permitting system.

It is critically important that H.R. 2550 be passed and your support is essential. Please contact your Congressman and Senators TODAY and ask that they co-sponsor or support H.R. 2550.

If the permit system becomes a reality, you will be required to pay for a state permit for each of your boats. EPA will be monitoring your deck runoff, grey water, bilge water, engine cooling water, and the use of copper bottom paints.

The original lawsuit that led to this court decision sought to address ballast water discharges from large ocean-going ships, which can introduce damaging aquatic invasive species into U.S. waters. Keeping our waterways clean and preventing the spread of invasive species is of utmost importance to the future of boating. But taking a complex permitting system designed for industrial dischargers and applying it to recreational boats will not yield significant environmental benefits and it will come at a very high cost. Requiring recreational boaters to purchase a permit would not prevent the spread of invasive species.

BoatUS has been a leader in educating boaters about Clean Boating practices for more than a decade. Our nonprofit Foundation has funded local education projects on invasive species prevention, helped develop voluntary Clean Marina programs, and authored much of the country's Clean Boating outreach. These positive education efforts are making a difference.

Please ask your elected federal representatives to support H.R. 2550. It is common-sense legislation. As you send your emails to your Members of Congress, please copy BoatUS at GovtAffairs@BoatUS.com . We’d also like to ask you to send a copy of your correspondence to the EPA, so they can see how this will affect citizens. However, please know that if you choose to send it to EPA, it will become a part of the public record. EPA’s email is ow-docket@epa.gov , and your email needs to have a subject line with Docket ID No. OW-2007-0483.

For More Information:

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Forward this Action Alert to your friends, your fishing and boat club, your marina neighbors, and your local press!

Thank you for your help.

Sincerely,

Margaret Podlich

BoatUS Government Affairs
GovtAffairs@BoatUS.com
703-461-2864 or 703-461-2878 x8363


*****

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© 2007 Boat Owners Association of The United States
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Based on the increasing schools of finless browns near the Disappearing Island on any given weekend, it might be time to limit overboard discharges in near-coastal waters. However, banning gunnel hunching whilst offshore would be downright unconstitutional.

Based on the increasing schools of finless browns near the Disappearing Island on any given weekend, it might be time to limit overboard discharges in near-coastal waters. However, banning gunnel hunching whilst offshore would be downright unconstitutional.

It goes far beyond that, it would be a paper nightmare for any rec boater to comply with and keep boating.

Oh, I agree.

If motorhomes don't have a permit, why should boats? I hope common sense prevails and the inshore turd-fest can be controlled without creating a bunch of unnecessary paperwork.

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t181/sailfish313/thesandbar5.jpg

This is the kind of atmosphere we see every weekend in Ponce although this pic is from the Keys.

"If the permit system becomes a reality, you will be required to pay for a state permit for each of your boats. EPA will be monitoring your deck runoff, grey water, bilge water, engine cooling water, and the use of copper bottom paints. "

You dont have to have a potty on board to be hasseled, "deck runoff!, bilge water?! engine cooling water!?

After having to dive in someone's black water discharge one day I cant say I'm not somewhat supportive of this legislation :banghead:

Some of the between the lines to this legislation:
Exhaust discharge is a HUGE problem. Any unburnt diesel in a closed system or an imperfect return system (none are perfect) ends up in the sea either as pure oil or soot. I remember some legislators wanting to nail the larger diesel rec. yachts for this, as they're the main cause of the issues near-shore.

To this I agree with the legislators; boaters need to be held more accountable for what comes out of these big diesels (generators included).

Have any of you been to places like St Barth's French West Indies where everyone has to run on generator? The pollution along the shoreline is terrible.

If your maintenance isnt kept up, there's nothing currently in the books to hold you accountable for the fuel you spit into the sea while running (docked is another issue I believe). Some kind of permit system would at least make people more sensitive to the issue, although I dont believe they could effectively enforce it.

Also, I've seen MANY people using environmentally harmful agents on their boats and then simply washing them overboard (deck discharge). You'd be surprised how many different cleaning agents are really very bad for the sea.

As of now, much of the legislation is left to the local goverments. Like in Nantucket harbor you have a LOT of rules regarding this... even to the effect of which soaps are allowed to be used, etc. (deck runoff). I've been in harbors where they dont allow generators to be ran overnight either. I totally agreed with what they were trying to do, which is protect a sensitive environment... whether it be clambeds or a beautiful reef. :thumbup:

Either way... something has to be done. Doing nothing is the wrong route. Being environmentally sensitive as I hope most of us spearos are I'm sure we cant simply just try to kill legislation such as this because it's a hassle. Let's find a better way if we must.