Clean Water Act Signed Into Law

[btrayfors]

The following email provides great news for all boaters:

Dear BoatU.S. Member,

Thanks to some great teamwork, the threat of a new EPA discharge permit for all your boats is gone!

On Tuesday night, President Bush signed into law "The Clean Boating Act of 2008," which gives recreational boats a permanent exemption for the court imposed EPA discharge permit.

I thank each of you for helping create this victory for boating. Every time we asked for your help, you were there to push the legislation further down the path towards successful passage. You contacted your Members of Congress and helped them understand the importance of boating in your life. And Congress heard the loud voices of tens of thousands of boaters! Nice work!

Enjoy the rest of the summer on the water!

Margaret Podlich
Vice President of Government Affairs
BoatU.S.
Govtaffairs@boatus.com
_________________


Bill

[Moonfish]

Hal-uh-Lou-ya! Another grass roots (kelp roots?) success story.

[Sapperwhite]

You mean CLEAN BOATING act

Thanks to everyone who wrote in to your reps and helped get this done. To everyone else who sat there and picked your nose while you waited for the next episode of American Idol, you're welcome .

White House Press Release

[btrayfors]

Yes, thanks. I fixed the title.

Bill

[arrghigotaboat]

Hi, any of you read the Boating Act of 2008? My read is that it only delays implementation of the 2007 rules and that EPA still has to regulate recreational boaters. From what I've read, these rules are likely to be similar to those that were scheduled to be implemented in Sept 2008. What is you guys take on this?

[Whampoa]

Well the Clean Boating Act is favorable for us from the standpoint of the exemption from the requirement for permits but it did add wording like that found in the Clean Water Act, requiring action by the "Administrator" and other agencies relative to the types of runoff from our boats that might be practically managed and the development of practices and standards for that management that we will likely be required to comply with.

The Clean Boating Act specifies the time periods for these activities by the "Administrator" and it looks like it will be a few years till we see and must comply with whatever they come up with. If you haven't read the Clean Boating Act as well as the full Clean Water Act you should. It will give you a better idea how things might follow now that the Clean Boating Act has been passed.

We will still want to stay tuned to the ongoing activities by the "Administrator" and other involved agencies relative to the development of the list of "incidental discharges", the management practices defined for those discharges and the performance standards related to the management practices.

While the Clean Boating Act bill exempts recreational vessels from, as I read the bill, both federal and state permit reqs., the prohibitions discussed in the later paragraphs are worth paying attention to where a boat owner/operator is not in compliance with the established practices and standards.

In my mind that is where the still unanswered question related to penalties/fines for non-compliance or however they characterize any sort of violation becomes a potentially significant issue.

Regards, John

[JamesSkok]

If you read the legislation as passed it seems to leave the door open for state regulatory intervention on this. Did I mis-read it?

[Whampoa]

I spoke with Regulatory Affairs folks at BoatUS about this before the Act was passed and came away with an understanding that the exemption was from both Federal or State permits.

I'm not a lawyer and didn't stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night , but it seems to me the wording in the act is consistent with that understanding.

Excerpted from the text of the passed ACT:

This Act may be cited as the `Clean Boating Act of 2008'.
SEC. 2. DISCHARGES INCIDENTAL TO THE NORMAL OPERATION OF
RECREATIONAL VESSELS.
Section 402 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C.
1342) is amended by adding at the end the following:
`(r) Discharges Incidental to the Normal Operation of Recreational
Vessels- No permit shall be required under this Act by the
Administrator (or a State, in the case of a permit program approved
under subsection (b)) for the discharge of any graywater, bilge water,
cooling water, weather deck runoff, oil water separator effluent, or
effluent from properly functioning marine engines, or any other
discharge that is incidental to the normal operation of a vessel, if the

discharge is from a recreational vessel.'.