support S. 2766, The Clean Boating Act of 2008

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For those of you who fish off boats, use them for recreation, may buy one in the future or just want to right a wrong in a well meaning but poorly written, all encompassing court ruling, please read the following and contact both senators in your state. If this court ruling passes it could cost $300 to $800.00+ for an EPA permit to fish out of a boat. This is not just for boaters in Minnesota but for every vessel in the U.S.

Background

In 1999, environmental groups filed a lawsuit against the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in an attempt to control the spread of aquatic nuisance species by mandating the treatment of ballast water in large commercial ocean going ships.

The court's decision, issued in fall 2006, mandated that EPA is required to develop an operational discharge permit for every vessel in the U.S. by 9/30/2008. Vessels include boats, ships, dinghies, and everything in between.

EPA is currently drafting that permit system. If national legislation is not passed, we expect that you will need to apply for a permit for each of your boats, renew it every 5 years, and potentially get a separate permit for every state where you operate the boat. With this impending permit deadline about six months away, the urgency to pass this legislation is strong.

In the last year, there have been several federal bills introduced to try to help keep recreational boats out of this permit system. Until last week HR 2550 and S. 2067 "The Recreational Boating Act of 2007" have been our best option to date. These are the bills that we've supported for nearly a year. Last fall, Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Bill Nelson (D-FL) committed to fixing this issue for recreational boaters. As a result, S. 2766 "The Clean Boating Act of 2008" was formally introduced on March 13, 2008.


SUPPORT S. 2766, THE CLEAN BOATING ACT OF 2008

Did you know that a recent court ruling about pollution being dumped from commercial ship ballast water will also require all recreational boats to get permits by September, 2008—despite the fact that 99% of recreational boats do not have ballast tanks?

Boats and ships are different, and shouldn’t be treated the same. These costly permits—intended for commercial ships and supertankers that have brought harmful invasive water species into U.S. waters—are being developed right now to tax your boat’s engine cooling water, bilge water, and even deck runoff. This will seriously impact boating participation unless Congress acts quickly.
It's not an exaggeration to say that it will take an act of Congress to fix this problem before boaters across the country will be required to wait in DMV-style lines for multiple, complex, costly permits.

This link will get you to a email so you can send a message to your senator to support S. 2766

http://www.boatblue.org/takeaction.aspx

Close to the bottom of the page it’ll state “Find your officials” put in your zip code to get to the officials in your state. Click one of the two senators and it will take you to that senators home page Once you get to the senator’s home page info, click on “E-mail Contact via ‘Web Form’ “ Under the “Contact Information” . This will put you on a page to ether send a pre written email to support S. 2766 or the option to write your own . In all it take around 5 minutes

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UPDATE

Action Alert: EPA Discharge Permit Requirement for Recreational Boats

April 14, 2008

Thanks to lots of help we now have co-sponsors on the new S. 2766 "The Clean Boating Act of 2008".

Please take a look at this list below to view current co-sponsors. If you don't see your two Federal Senators Click here to send an email http://www.boatblue.org/takeaction.aspx or Click here http://www.boatus.com/gov/Senator_Listing.pdf for phone numbers to call. We really need volume right now!

Current Co-sponsors of S. 2766
Sen Boxer, Barbara [CA] Sen Burr, Richard [NC]
Sen Cardin, Benjamin L. [MD] Sen Chambliss, Saxby [GA]
Sen Cochran, Thad [MS] Sen Collins, Susan M. [ME]
Sen Craig, Larry E. [ID] Sen Crapo, Mike [ID]
Sen Dole, Elizabeth [NC] Sen Feinstein, Dianne [CA]
Sen Isakson, Johnny [GA] Sen Levin, Carl [MI]

Sen Mikulski, Barbara A. [MD] Sen Nelson, Bill [FL]
Sen Snowe, Olympia J. [ME] Sen Reed, Jack [RI]
Sen Vitter, David [LA] Sen Stabenow, Debbie [MI]
Sen Whitehouse, Sheldon [RI] Sen Voinovich, George V. [OH]

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Update May 15th 2008

http://www.boatblue.org/news.aspx?id=17345

"Remember, this bill does not weaken any existing environmental laws restricting the overboard discharge of oil, fuel, garbage or sewage," Boat U.S. Vice President of Government Affairs Margaret Podlich said. "S. 2766 recognizes the fact that normal operational discharges from recreational boats, such as engine cooling water or deck runoff from rain, should not be viewed under the Clean Water Act as being similar to a commercial ship's ballast water."

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UPDATE: Wednesday, July 23, 2008 Contact: Kelly Kaylor (kkaylor@nmma.org)

RECREATIONAL BOATING INDUSTRY HAILS CONGRESSIONAL PASSAGE OF CLEAN BOATING ACT

Bill prevents imminent, unprecedented EPA regulations on boaters and protects water resources

July 23, 2008—Yesterday, the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) hailed the passage of H.R. 5949/S. 2766, the Clean Boating Act of 2008, in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Passage of this legislation, which has been the top legislative priority for NMMA during the 110th Congress, will permanently and fully restore a longstanding, commonsense regulation that excludes recreational boaters and anglers from the federal and state permitting requirements under the Clean Water Act designed for land-based industrial facilities and ocean-going commercial ships.

Introduced by Senators Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) in the Senate and by Representatives Steve LaTourette (R-Ohio) and Candice Miller (R-Mich.) in the House, the Clean Boating Act of 2008 will prevent federal and state permitting of water-based, non-polluting incidental discharges that occur in the normal operation of a recreational boat, such as weather deck run-off and engine coolant water.

“The Senate and House have acted swiftly, and we appreciate the bipartisan nature of their action to protect the recreational marine industry, the American boating public and our natural resources. This is an historic victory for our 1,700 members and for boaters across the nation who just love being out on the water unencumbered by unnecessary government red tape and significant legal jeopardy,” said Scott Gudes, NMMA vice president of government relations. “Congress has acted decisively to keep boating fun, safe and simple.”

This new regulation, set to become law on October 1, 2008 if Congress had not acted, was the result of an overbroad federal court decision in a case focused on commercial ship ballast water. The unintended consequence of the decision would have meant that recreational boaters and other vessel operators would be required to follow a multitude of new rules and regulations and been exposed to fines (up to $32,500 per day, per violation) and citizen lawsuits.

“Both the House and Senate have sent a positive message to the nation’s 73 million boaters through the passage of these critical pieces of legislation” noted NMMA president, Thom Dammrich. “After a long road on Capitol Hill, the bill is now ready for the President’s signature into law. We encourage the President to act fast in signing this bill to stave off unprecedented and unnecessary new regulations on America’s boaters and anglers.”

Passage of the Clean Boating Act, a genuine bipartisan, good-government bill, was made possible by a large number of committed legislators on both sides of the political aisle. NMMA extends its special thanks to Senators Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and all of the 39 cosponsors of the bill in the Senate. In the House, Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee James Oberstar (D-Minn.), Ranking Member John Mica (R-Fla.), Representatives Steve LaTourette (R-Ohio), Candice Miller (R-Mich.), Gene Taylor (D-Miss.) and all the many cosponsors of the bill are to be thanked and congratulated for their hard work and skillful leadership.

At the same time it passed the Clean Boating Act, Congress also passed H.R. 6556/S. 3278, legislation to provide a moratorium on permitting for commercial vessel discharges until the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) completes a review of certain incidental discharges. This legislation was the product of extensive negotiations between Senators Murkowski, Boxer, Nelson and Murray as well as Representatives Oberstar, Taylor and others. NMMA congratulates these Members of Congress on achieving this consensus measure to provide relief for commercial craft.

NMMA and BoatU.S., along with more than 60 partners in the Boat Blue Coalition, led the charge to attain passage of the Clean Boating Act of 2008[/b]