Bill exempting boaters from EPA permits makes headway

Boat/US Magazine, Nov, 2007

Efforts to restore a common-sense exemption for recreational boats from onerous federal permitting requirements aimed at stopping the invasion of aquatic nuisance species moved a significant step closer to being resolved by Congress on Sept. 27.

Thanks to the summer-long work of a coalition of boating interests on Capitol Hill, including BoatU.S., a key committee chairman agreed to support legislation that would exempt recreational boats from clean-water laws aimed at oceangoing ships. A September 2006 court decision applied that law to every vessel in the country, regardless of size or use, even though recreational boats had been exempt for more than 30 years.

In a hearing on legislation to protect U.S. waters from continued invasion by harmful aquatic plants and animals through controls on ballast water discharges from commercial vessels, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, agreed that recreational boats should not be included in the bill.

At the urging of Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), who insisted that the ballast water bill under discussion be amended to exempt recreational boats, Boxer agreed that "recreational boating and sport fishing should continue as they always have."

Boxer went on to assure Nelson and the committee that she will work to reinstate the exemption for recreational boats through separate legislation before the court-imposed September 2008 deadline.

"I've committed with Senator Nelson to make sure we fix this before that time," she said. "We are going to make sure that individual boaters do not need permits."

With that assurance, Nelson withdrew his amendment and the focus now shifts to separate exemption bills moving in both houses of Congress.

A lot of the credit for the breakthrough goes to BoatU.S. members who contacted their representatives in Congress over the summer, urging support for H.R. 2550, the Recreational Boating Act of 2008, which would provide the exemption for recreational boats. Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL) introduced a companion bill, S. 2067, in late September.

If this legislation does not pass, and court appeals are not successful, millions of small boat owners will be required to have discharge permits for each boat owned, possibly as soon as Oct. 1, 2008.

While working to reinstate the exemption by law, BoatU.S. also has called upon boaters to send comments to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency concerning the permit system the agency is now developing, pursuant to the U.S. District Court order.

As reported in the last few issues of BoatU.S. Magazine, the court required the Environmental Protection Agency to develop and implement a permit system for "normal operational discharges" for every vessel in this country and included engine-cooling water, bilge water, gray water and common deck runoff.

To stay informed on this and other legislative matters, please send your current e-mail address to BoatU.S. at Membership@BoatUS.com. For the latest developments visit BoatUS.com/gov.