The Problem

In September 2006 a U.S. District Court ruling nullified EPA regulation 40 CFR 122.3(a) under the Clean Water Act exempting effluent discharges incidental to the normal operation of vessels, including recreational boats.

The ruling resulted from a lawsuit brought by environmentalists and states to halt the introduction in U.S. waters of invasive species through commercial ballast water. Included under the exemption for recreational boats are:

• Engine cooling water
• Gray water
• Bilge water
• Deck runoff

The court ruled EPA didn’t have the authority to enact this exemption.

The Impact: New Regulations For You!

Under the court order, EPA will have to devise new regulations and establish permit requirements for the normal discharge of every recreational boat by September 2008

EPA has already started working on a rulemaking project in order to meet the court deadline.

The EPA and the states will have to create a new and unprecedented enforcement and permit regime, leading to many questions:

• Who has jurisdiction?
• What of boats titled in one state, but docked in another?
• Will there be different permits? Will states honor each other’s permit?
• Who funds this? (Nation’s water infrastructure and boating programs are already woefully underfunded)

The Impact Will Ripple Across Boating...

Family boaters will encounter new fees and bureaucratic red tape in trying to obtain a permit before they can even leave the dock.

There will be a chilling effect on sales as boating becomes more arduous and encumbered by DMV-style processes for permitting eating up consumers’ time and money…and trying their patience.

Every boater becomes a target for a lawsuit: The Clean Water Act lets citizens and environmentalists act as citizen attrneys general, to bring suit against violators.

The Facts: Today's Boats Are Clean And Adequately Regulated

Boating is clean and adequately regulated by an array of federal and state regulations now.  Forcing boaters to obtain costly permits for water-based, incidental discharges makes no sense and will have negligible environmental impact.

Section 312 of the Clean Water Act established federal standards of performance for marine sanitation devices and required a state to demonstrate that there are adequate pump-out facilities prior to EPA approval of black water no discharge zones.

Oil pollution (Including fuel, oil, sludge, oil refuse, and oil mixed with wastes) is regulated by the Oil Pollution Act (OPA) and discharge is already prohibited.  The OPA prohibits the discharge of oil, holding a boater responsible for the results of any oil spills and liable for removal costs and damages.

Click here for a Fact Sheet on the Clean Vessel Act.

Click here for a Fact Sheet on the Oil Pollution control laws.

Click here for a Fact Sheet on Garbage Disposal laws.