MSD Bill Floated

Boat/US Magazine, Sept, 2000

When the state of Rhode Island declared all of its waters a "no discharge" or, as some call it, a "no treatment" zone in 1998, cruising boaters with onboard marine sanitation devices were perplexed. What was the purpose in spending $700 for an onboard treatment device certified by the U.S. Coast Guard when a state could simply prohibit you from using it whether you were in a harbor or three miles offshore?

It didn't make sense to a number of boat owners, including BoatU.S. National Advisory Council member Chuck Husick. Husick has waged a pitched battle of sorts these past few years trying to convince anyone who would listen that the effluent from today's properly operating marine sanitation devices (MSD) is cleaner than that discharged by most onshore sewage treatment facilities.

It also didn't make much sense to Rep. Jim Saxton (R-NJ), a blue water sailor and BoatU.S. member who also happens to chair the Fisheries, Conservation, Wildlife and Oceans Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Saxton, whose environmental credentials are beyond reproach, recently introduced a bill, H.R. 4917, that would upgrade the 20-year-old MSD standards, reduce the allowable fecal coliform count from 1,000 per 100 milliliters to 10 per 100 milliliters and allow those who purchased such technologically advanced devices to be exempt from a state's "no treatment" zone.

"As a boat owner, I have firsthand knowledge of the problem and this is a very practical solution to a complex issue," said Saxton in introducing the bill. "Setting new standards will recognize existing technological advances and spur further innovation to a level of onboard waste treatment far superior to that envisioned by the Clean Water Act of 1972."

"BoatU.S. strongly supports the Saxton initiative," said Government Affairs Director Michael Sciulla, who has been working closely with Husick and Saxton over the past year on the legislative solution.