Congressmen Alerted on Clean Boating Act of 2008

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 re establish 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!