Maryland Proposed No Discharge Zone effective 6/1/10

[ronbo1]

Chesapeake Bay "No Discharge Zone" Proposal

Maryland Senate Bill 513:
➥ http://mlis.state.md.us/2010rs/bills/sb/sb0513f.pdf

[JohnRPollard]

I find this baffling. It appears to be completely redundant. The Chesapeake Bay already is a no-discharge zone.

That's at a quick glance. Has anyone else studied this carefully? How does this proposal differ from existing law?

I wish they'd focus their efforts on enforcing existing rules, and addressing the serious problem of storm run-off from municipal sewage treatment.

[SVAuspicious]

Originally Posted by JohnRPollard

I find this baffling. It appears to be completely redundant. The Chesapeake Bay already is a no-discharge zone.

Nope. Only Herring Bay is an NDZ. The rest of the Bay is like most of the rest of the US -- no discharge of UNTREATED waste. You can use a Lectra/SAN or similar Type I or II MDS anywhere else in the Bay.

[JohnRPollard]

Originally Posted by SVAuspicious

Nope. Only Herring Bay is an NDZ. The rest of the Bay is like most of the rest of the US -- no discharge of UNTREATED waste. You can use a Lectra/SAN or similar Type I or II MDS anywhere else in the Bay.

Okay, thanks.

Semantics are important, I suppose. What I meant is that Ches Bay is no-discharge for the vast majority of boaters who do not have a sewage treatment system, because no place on the Bay meets the 3-mile off-shore requirement for discharge of untreated sewage. Holding tanks and pump-outs are fact of life on the Bay.

But that is, strictly speaking, different from the term "No-Discharge Zone", as this legislation contemplates.

Reading this again, it seems they are targeting the discharge of treated sewage from Type 1 and 2 MSDs. Very few recreational vessels have these, so there would be little or no impact on most of us (except to discourage folks from investing in the treatment systems ).

If I'm reading this correctly, it would seem to affect larger vessels with treatment systems (cruiseships?) rather than most sailors? Or am I missing something?

[ronbo1]

The NDZ proposal would prohibit the operation of MSD Type 1 (and Type II - larger boats) like Lectra-Sans which reduce pathogen levels to better than modern sewage plants.

From Marine Trades Association of Maryland:
"...Under current law, it is illegal to discharge raw sewage from a vessel in Maryland. The change to a bay wide no discharge zone would strive to stop treated sewage from boats from being discharged in the Bay. MTAM estimates that of the more than 200,000 registered vessels in Maryland there are about 4,500 that currently have sanitation devices that treat to current EPA standards then discharge waste. We further estimate that about half of those boats have a combination system that includes a holding tank. From that estimate, the amount contributed to the total annual Bay nutrient load would be about .00034 or three thousands of 1% of the annual nutrient load to the Bay..."

[JohnRPollard]

Originally Posted by ronbo1

From Marine Trades Association of Maryland:
"...From that estimate, the amount contributed to the total annual Bay nutrient load would be about .00034 or three thousands of 1% of the annual nutrient load to the Bay..."

Talk about misplaced priorities!!

These kinds of initiatives explain in large part why the Bay never gets cleaned up.

[sailingdog]

They have trouble enforcing the current law on the 95% of the boaters it applies to. Exactly how much success do you think they'll have enforcing an even stricter standard on more boats... the LEOs don't have the people or the presence to do this...and there are more important issues that they should be concerned with—like all the idiot drunk boaters that are out any given weekend.

[scottyt]

if you all read closer this law also gives the right to any LEO to do a inspection to make sure you boat is legal. if they have the right to enforce in the area they can now do inspections, ie no warrant to enter your boat, like the coast guard has. this means the baltimore city marine police unit can enter my boat with no warrant to "inspect" my toilet even when tied up in a marina.

it might be my tinfoils is too tight but i think this was written for 2 reasons:
one now any leo besides the CG can now enter boats
two i bet its to try to get some sort of money, ie they can now apply for fed money for enforcement of epa rules

(G) THE FOLLOWING OFFICERS HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO ENFORCE 12 THIS SECTION AND TO INSPECT ANY VESSEL SUBJECT TO THIS SECTION: 13
(1) NATURAL RESOURCES POLICE; 14
(2) ANY SWORN STATE OR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER 15 WITH JURISDICTION TO ENFORCE THE LAWS IN THE COUNTY OR MUNICIPALITY 16 IN WHICH THE MARINA OR VESSEL IS LOCATED; AND 17
(3) UNITED STATES COAST GUARD PERSONNEL

[scottyt]

just read some more it also now allows any LEO to write a citation with a penalty of up to 10,000 bucks. so if your y valve is not secured it can cost you 10 grand, and the city police can right this ticket. so i also think this is for revenue generation

[wind_magic]

I think they should just charge a fine of 20k$us for anyone who looks at the Bay, and 5k$us for anyone who thinks about it.