Action Alert: EPA Discharge Permit Requirement for Recreational Boats

May 1, 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 or Click here for phone numbers to call. We really need volume right now!

Current Co-sponsors of S. 2766

Sen Bayh, Evan [IN]	Sen Bond, Christopher S. [MO]
Sen Boxer, Barbara [CA]	Sen Brown, Sherrod [OH]
Sen Burr, Richard [NC]	Sen Cardin, Benjamin L. [MD]
Sen Carper, Thomas R. [DE	Sen Chambliss, Saxby [GA]
Sen Cochran, Thad [MS]	Sen Coleman, Norm [MN]
Sen Collins, Susan M. [ME]	Sen Corker, Bob [TN]
Sen Craig, Larry E. [ID]	Sen Crapo, Mike [ID]
Sen Dodd, Christopher J. [CT]	Sen Dole, Elizabeth [NC]
Sen Feinstein, Dianne [CA]	Sen Isakson, Johnny [GA]
Sen Kohl, Herb [WI]	Sen Landrieu, Mary L. [LA]
Sen Levin, Carl [MI]	Sen Mikulski, Barbara A. [MD]
Sen Nelson, BIll [FL]	Sen Reed, Jack [RI]
Sen Snowe, Olympia J. [ME]	Sen Specter, Arlen [PA]
Sen Stabenow, Debbie [MI]	Sen Vitter, David [LA]
Sen Voinovich, George V. [OH]	Sen Whitehouse, Sheldon [RI]
Sen Wicker, Roger F. [MS]

Background:
For 34 years the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has exempted discharges from recreational boats from the Clean Water Act permit system. Regretfully, a fall 2006 U.S. District Court ruling cancelled this permit exemption. EPA is now required by the court decision to develop and implement by September 30, 2008 a national permit system for ALL vessels in the United States for a variety of normal operational discharges.

The original lawsuit that led to this court decision sought to address ballast water discharges from large ocean-going ships, which can introduce damaging aquatic invasive species into U.S. waters. Keeping our waterways clean and preventing the spread of invasive species is of utmost importance to the future of boating. But taking a complex permitting system designed for industrial dischargers and applying it to recreational boats will not yield significant environmental benefits and it will come at a very high cost. Requiring recreational boaters to purchase a permit would not prevent the spread of invasive species.

If the permit system becomes a reality, you will be required to pay for a state permit for each of your boats. EPA will be potentially monitoring your deck runoff, grey water, bilge water, engine cooling water, and the use of copper bottom paints.

It is important to note that there are already federal laws restricting the overboard discharge of oil, fuel, garbage and sewage. The proposed legislation will not alter any of these existing restrictions.

March 19, 2008

NEW SPRING INFORMATION FOR BOATERS AND ANGLERS!

We have a new bill, S. 2766, "The Clean Boating Act of 2008", that we need your help to support.  This bill will provide a permanent exemption for recreational boaters, anglers, and charter boats, from the looming EPA discharge permit requirement.

Over the last 8 months or so, many people have taken the time to support S. 2067 or H.R. 2550 "The Recreational Boating Act of 2007".  This new bill, S. 2766 has the best chance of gaining widespread political support from both Democrats and Republicans.  It includes all the former contents of S. 2067 and H.R. 2550 as well as a provision to exempt charter boats from the permit and to required EPA and the U.S. Coast Guard to determine reasonable and practical management practices for discharges.

We urge every boater, anger, and boat owner to click on the following links to learn more about this new legislation.  Please take a few minutes and let your federal Senators and Congressmen know about the importance of boating in your life, and ask them to co-sponsor or support this new legislation.  Remember that if we don't get legislation passed, we all need to get EPA permits to operate our boats effective 9/30/08!

Click here to see our 3/19/08 press release

Click here for more information:

• Background
• What's the timing?
• Why a new bill?
• What are the differences in the bills?
• What's S. 2766 include?
• View S. 2766
• Speaking Points

November 28, 2007:

Action Needed:

We need your help to push Congress to pass legislation "The Recreational Boating Act of 2007" (H.R. 2550/S. 2067) that will reinstate the permit exemption for recreational boats.

Please contact your Congressman and Senators TODAY and ask that they co-sponsor or support H.R. 2550 and S. 2067.

Click here to see today's Action Alert and send an email to your Members of Congress.
Click here for a sample email letter. (Word Document)
Click here for Frequently Asked Questions

Click Federal Alert Page for more information.

News: Collier County, FL Anchoring Court Decision

November 1 - A recent Collier County, FL, court decision that found a restrictive Marco Island recreational boat anchoring ordinance in violation of state law could help lead to a statewide solution to Florida’s patchwork of local anchoring laws.

The Marco Island ordinance restricted recreational boaters to a maximum 12-hour anchoring period when located within 300 feet of a seawall, and maximum six-day anchoring period anywhere beyond that distance. Collier County Judge Rob Crown’s October 26 th decision said that the Marco Island ordinance was “an unlawful regulation of publicly owned sovereign waterways in violation of Florida law.”   Click here to read BoatU.S. Press Release.

October 8, 2007

Update:  EPA Discharge Permit: Where are we now?

For the last several months, BoatUS has been working to fight the developing EPA discharge permit for “normal operational discharges”, including grey water, deck wash, and engine cooling water from all vessels. Unless there is a change in the court decision, or legislation is passed, this permit system will require that boaters in the U.S. apply and pay for a discharge permit for each of their boats to operate after September 30, 2007.

The House bill, HR 2550, continues to gather co-sponsors (now numbering 55). Please visit http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:HR02550:@@@P to see the list of current cosponsors of this bill. If your Representative is not listed, we encourage you to contact them and ask that they co-sponsor the bill. The bill has been sent to the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, but a hearing (and vote) have not yet been scheduled.

Meanwhile on the Senate side, there have been a few developments. Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL) introduced S. 2067, which is basically the same as HR 2550. Last week at an unrelated Senate Commerce Committee hearing, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) agreed to work on a legislative solution so that recreational boats would not need a permit. This is great news for recreational boaters, but we still have much work to do. We expect to hear in the next few weeks where all this Senate activity sorts out and we’ll let you know on this webpage.