HomeCourt Ruling Poses Serious Threat to Boating
Support S. 2766, the Clean Boating Act of 2008
Did you know that a recent court ruling about pollution being dumped from commercial ship ballast water will also require all recreational boats to get permits by September, 2008—despite the fact that 99% of recreational boats do not have ballast tanks?
Boats and ships are different, and shouldn’t be treated the same. These costly permits—intended for commercial ships and supertankers that have brought harmful invasive water species into U.S. waters—are being developed right now to tax your boat’s engine cooling water, bilge water, and even deck runoff. This will seriously impact boating participation unless Congress acts quickly.
It's not an exaggeration to say that it will take an act of Congress to fix this problem before boaters across the country will be required to wait in DMV-style lines for multiple, complex, costly permits.
Click here to watch Thom Dammrich, President of the National Marine Manufacturers Association, explain this issue in an interview with BoatTest.com's Jeff Hammond.
Legislative Relief: The Clean Boating Act of 2008
Fortunately, there is simple, commonsense legislation in Congress that would solve this problem for recreational boaters. Senators Barbara Boxer of California and Bill Nelson of Florida have introduced the “Clean Boating Act of 2008.” The Clean Boating Act permanently and fully restores the regulation that has existed for 35 years distinguishing between recreational boats and land-based industrial facilities and ocean-going commercial ships, cruise ships and supertankers.
In September 2007, Senator Barbara Boxer, who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, publically pledged to her colleague Senator Bill Nelson and her boating and fishing constituents in California that she would pass legislation to restore the previous regulation for recreational boats.
The “Clean Boating Act of 2008” recognizes that water-based, incidental discharges from recreational boats, which are operated on average 31 days a year, are totally distinct from commercial ship discharges. To help protect the health of the nation’s waterways on which recreational boaters and anglers depend, the bill also pursues whether reasonable best management practices need to be put into place for some recreational boat discharges.
Click here to tell your Members of Congress to support S. 2766, the Clean Boating Act
Click here to read S. 2766, the Clean Boating Act of 2008.
Click here to read a policy brief on the bill by the NMMA.
Click here to read NMMA’s press release on the Clean Boating Act of 2008.
Click here for a set of Talking Points on S. 2766, the Clean Boating Act of 2008.
Click here to read and Environmental Agency Fact Sheet on the problem.
Other legislation to help solve this problem has also been introduced by Representatives Gene Taylor of Mississippi and Candice Miller of Michigan. Their legislation has the support of over 70 Members of the House of Representatives of both parties. Senator Mel Martinez of Florida has also helped lead the way on solving this problem for boaters with legislation in the Senate.
ACT NOW
Recreational Boaters, Anglers, and Boating Industry Executives and Employees Must Contact Senators Today
With only 6 months until the permit deadline, it is now time for Congress to pass legislation to protect recreational boating. The nation’s 73 million boaters need to tell their elected U.S. officials—and keep telling them—to pass the Clean Boating Act TODAY. Get involved to protect boating.
Contact your elected officials today and tell them to do the right thing. Tell Congress to pass the Clean Boating Act of 2008.
Current Cosponsors of S. 2766, the Clean Boating Act of 2008
Click here for a map of all the cosponsors of S. 2766.
Senator Bill Nelson (D-Florida)
Senator Barbara Boxer (D-California)
Senator Richard Burr (R-North Carolina)
Senator David Vitter (R-Louisiana)
Senator Ben Cardin (D-Maryland)
Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-Maryland)
Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine)
Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine)
Senator Johnny Isakson (R-Georgia)
Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-Georgia)
Senator Thad Cochran (R-Mississippi)
Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho)
Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho)
Senator Jack Reed (D-Rhode Island)
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island)
Senator Carl Levin (D-Michigan)
Senator George Voinovich (R-Ohio)
Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan)
Senator Elizabeth Dole (R-North Carolina)
Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California)
Senator Evan Bayh (D-Indiana)
Senator Bob Corker (R-Tennessee)
Senator Herb Kohl (D-Wisconsin)
Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pennsylvania)
Senator Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi)
Senator Mary Landrieu (D-Louisiana)
Senator Norm Coleman (R-Minnesota)
Senator Tom Carper (D-Delaware)
Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Connecticut)
Senator Kit Bond (R-Missouri)
Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio)
