For Immediate Release
Tuesday, May 29, 2007Congress Kicks Off Boating Season with Legislation to Preserve Recreational Boating
Bill Would Save Boaters from New Regulations and Unnecessary Permits
Washington, DC
As the nation’s 73 million recreational boaters celebrated the start of the 2007 boating season this past Memorial Day weekend, Congress took action to preserve recreational boating as we know it. Last week, Representatives Gene Taylor (D-Miss.) and Candice Miller (R-Mich.) introduced legislation to prevent commercial shipping regulations from expanding and burdening family boaters. Unless Congress passes this legislation, boaters could spend future Memorial Day weekends waiting in long lines to pay for expensive new permits.
In 1973, the EPA recognized that it would be costly and unnecessary to subject recreational boaters to the complex Clean Water Act permitting requirements designed for large point source polluters (such as cruise ships, cargo ships, and supertankers) and issued those boaters an exemption. A September 2006 U.S. District Court ruling nullified the EPA’s regulation exempting such things as engine cooling water, bilge water, gray water, and even common deck runoff that occur during the normal operation of recreational boats and directed the EPA to rewrite the regulation by September 2008. The newly-introduced legislation, the Recreational Boating Act of 2007 (H.R. 2550), would enshrine into law the 34-year old exemption for recreational boats.
“The EPA recognized that everyday family boats were not the intended focus of the permitting rules adopted at that time to protect the environment from large pollution sources,” said Monita Fontaine, Vice President and Senior Counsel of the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), the nation’s largest recreational boating industry trade association.
“Unfortunately, overturning this exemption has unintentionally tossed recreational boats into the same category as these commercial ships. While minimizing the exchange of ballast water from one international port to another is very important in reducing the risk of aquatic invasive species, it is equally important not to sweep small recreational boats into the same regulatory scheme. It was clearly never the intention of the law, or the EPA, to treat your day-boater the same as these large ocean-going ships,” Fontaine said.
“If left unfixed, boaters will face onerous permitting regulations that increase the cost and lessen the enjoyment of boating for a regulation really intended to regulate and control a ballast water tank that their boats don’t even have,” said NMMA President Thom Dammrich.
“Moreover, vessels are already well-regulated under the Clean Vessel Act, the Oil Pollution Act, and the Clean Water Act. There isn’t a need for an additional layer of permitting and regulation for recreational boats,” Dammrich said. “The legislation introduced by Reps. Taylor and Miller is straightforward and responsible, and we applaud them for taking the initiative to protect the nation’s boaters from an unwarranted permitting scheme. Now it’s time for Congress to act before the September 2008 deadline and pass this bill.”
The court ruling was guided by the larger issue of halting commercial shipping from introducing foreign aquatic invasive species into U.S. waters by ballast water discharges from supertankers and cargo ships. Large ocean-going ships use ballast water for stability, taking on water to weigh the vessel down. It is not uncommon for one of these ships to take on water from the Caspian Sea, cross the Atlantic Ocean, and discharge the ballast water when entering the Great Lakes. It’s estimated that some 10,000 invasive species travel the oceans this way.
NMMA has been a strong supporter of measures to halt the introduction and spread of aquatic invasive species. NMMA has partnered with the U.S. Federal Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Coast Guard in the “Stop Aquatic Hitchhikers!™” campaign. NMMA also partners with the BoatU.S. Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water to actively fund clean water grants designed to educate boaters on issues such as petroleum pollution prevention, pumpout education and littering prevention.
“Boaters don’t like these harmful creatures – they ruin our environment, destroy native fish populations, and even cause harm to boats by fouling propellers, burrowing into our boat hulls, and burning out engines from clogged water pipes. We want to see this issue addressed, and we will continue to take collaborative steps to protect our nation’s aquatic resources that make boating so enjoyable,” Fontaine said.
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