Behind
the Buoy
Richard Schwartz Publisher Emeritus
Michael G. Sciulla Editor & Publisher
November 2007
The U.S. Coast Guard, which has been
toying this past year with the idea of requiring recreational boaters to be
licensed in the name of "national
security", has apparently changed course.
Those attending the annual
meeting of the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators in
September report hearing Rear Admiral David Pekoske say in a speech that
the Coast Guard was no longer advocating operator licensing. Pekoske is the
Coast Guard¹s Assistant Commandant for Operations.
Since the Commandant
of the Coast Guard, Adm. Thad Allen, first opened this "licensing" can
of worms late last year, sparking a national debate that spread over the
airwaves, the Internet and the pages of this magazine, we thought we should
obtain written confirmation of the Coast Guard's position before letting
our guard down, so to speak.
Specifically, we asked Adm. Pekoske if the Coast
Guard was still pursuing a national boater¹s license or a separate boater¹s
ID. In an October 2nd e-mail to BoatUS President Nancy Michelman,
Adm. Pekoske said, "The Coast Guard proposal now includes:
A form of government-issued photo identification ‹ not a new identification card ‹ that verifies the identity of the boat operator. This identification could be a photo identification card issued by a state (such as a motor vehicle driver¹s license). We do not propose issuing a federal boater identification card.
The Coast Guard is seeking legislative authority to enter into the rulemaking process to establish minimum education standards and an implementation timetable, among other items, necessary to bring boat operator education into force nationally.
Satisfactory completion of a NASBLA-approved boat operator course or written equivalency examination that meets certain minimum national standards of boat operator education.
Fostering reciprocity between the States and Territories on acceptance of course/exam completion."
So, there you have the Coast Guard¹s
plan. Our nearly year-long campaign to convince the powers-that-be that boaters
should not be required to obtain a separate license so that the government
had another means of identifying who is on the water is no longer on the
agenda.
Our argument that such a system would be costly to develop, take
years to implement and would not result in a demonstrable improvement in
national security was persuasive. So, too, was the thought that the already
overburdened Coast Guard did not need a new bureaucratic task to add to their
many missions.
Instead, the Coast Guard will now turn its attention to developing
and implementing a national and uniform program to educate boat operators,
a task that has traditionally been undertaken by the states.
What this will
mean to the average boat owner is that some time in the not-too-distant future,
a new boater will not simply be able to buy a boat and go boating. He or
she will have to take a course or pass an equivalency exam before taking
to the water.
This is something that a majority of experienced boaters have
advocated for years. In survey after survey, BoatUS members have agreed
that such an approach to improving safety on our waters should be mandatory.
With 88% of BoatU.S. members having more than 10 years of boating experience
under their belt, it is obvious that the vast majority of BoatU.S. members
are concerned with the way boats are operated by many of those with whom
we share our waterways.
Whether mandatory education by itself will have an
appreciable impact on boating safety is open to debate. For the time being,
though, it appears that a new course has been set. The devil, however, is always
in the details.
As this new journey gets underway, you can be sure that BoatUS will be there
at every step of the debate to ensure that what comes of this process makes
sense. It's what we do.
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