Clean Boating Act of 2008 passes

http://www.boatus.com/gov/alert_0308.asp

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.

President signs Clean Boating Act

Boating Industry
Friday August 1, 2008

WASHINGTON — In what the National Marine Manufacturers Association called "a significant victory for the recreational marine industry and the American boating and angling public," President Bush signed into law the Clean Boating Act of 2008 this week.

The Act protects the more than 17 million recreational boats throughout the U.S. from "unprecedented and unnecessary federal regulations," NMMA said in a press release.

Congress passed the Clean Boating Act on July 22.

"The recreational marine industry and boaters throughout the U.S. can now rest easy and go boating without a federal or state permit, heavy penalties and absurd legal jeopardy," said Scott Gudes, NMMA vice president of Government Relations. "We applaud President Bush and Congress for their bipartisan efforts to reverse the unintended and potentially devastating consequences of an overbroad federal court decision."

Introduced by Senators Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), and Representatives Steve LaTourette (R-Ohio) and Candice Miller (R-Mich.), the Clean Boating Act permanently and fully restores a regulation that excludes recreational boaters and anglers from the Clean Water Act federal and state permitting system designed for land-based industrial facilities, like sewage treatment plants.

Without legislative relief, the Environmental Protection Agency was set to implement new permitting regulations for boaters by Oct. 1.

"This is welcome news for all recreational marine manufacturers across the country," said Thom Dammrich, NMMA president. "NMMA raised the alarm on this misguided court decision nearly two years ago, and we are thrilled that Congress and the President have prevented the bureaucratic nightmare that was set to become law."

"NMMA thanks all of its partners in the Boat Blue Coalition, including BoatU.S.," added Gudes. "Passage of this legislation is a testament to what is possible when our community joins forces and speaks with one voice before key decision-makers."