Deadline!! September 30, 2008.

[Ed Schenck]

Is this old news, something that I missed here? Today I received an e-mail from Boat US. Here is a summary:"We need your help now to pass NEW federal legislation in the Senate that would provide a permanent exemption for recreational boats from the upcoming EPA discharge permit requirement. Remember that if we don't get legislation passed, we all need to get EPA permits to operate our boats effective 9/30/08! We appreciate the time that many of you have already taken to let your Senators or Representatives know your support of S. 2067 or HR 2550 "The Recreational Boating Act of 2007." Now there is a new Senate Bill #2766 "The Clean Boating Act of 2008", which is more politically viable, and our best chance to eliminate the permit requirement before it comes in effect on September 30, 2008. Please pick up the phone or email today and ask your Senators to sponsor and vote YES for S 2766. Although Congress is on recess this week and next, we need their staff to hear from us so that this bill can move as soon as the Senators are back in Washington. Remember to contact both of your Senators."The Related Link will take you to the detail. Scroll down to find a draft letter and access to your senators.P.S. I used the website and it automatically sends the e-mail to the right senators and sends a copy to your e-mail. Pretty slick.

 

[Joseph Shirley]

Wow! I was totally unaware

I hope everyone who reads this does it.

 

[Boat n Bus]

Good call

Thanks Ed. That legislation is super important and the website you link to makes it really easy.

 

[Ed Schenck]

Deadline update!!

Hey guys, I have edited/updated the post since you originaly read it. Better link with a comment. Thanks.

 

[Benny17441]

Don't worry nothing happens fast in a sailboat.

NC

 

[Ed Schenck]

Senator responded!

One of my senators, Brown from Ohio, responded the same day. Unfortunately he was very noncommittal. It was probably a "form" answer, it was long and detailed to show he understood the issue. And ended with "I will continue to monitor this issue in the months ahead and will keep your thoughts in mind as legislation regarding this issue moves before the Senate." Not sure if that is a good sign or not.

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

Ed

I received an almost identical reply from Sen Kennedy, junior about which I asked for clarification on his position - apparently he has none since no reply has been received.Not suprised but I had at least hoped it would get someone's attention.This is one of those times where we definitiely need more people to be concerned.

 

[Brian D]

Thank you for posting this.

I went to the link and sent out two letters to my Senators.

 

[Jerry10776]

Sent my

response - hope this passes. I can still remember dealing with the state EPA in my former life (when I had a job) and it ain't much fun. Permitting millions of boats and inspecting them to assure compliance will be a nightmare - they don't have the staff now to handle their current duties. Would (Could?) they only inspect while the boat is in the water? That would limit their inspection time frame by 50% up here in the thawing north.For you that think common sense will prevail - remember this is congress we're talking about. Send in your response!!

 

[Tom Monroe]

It worked quite nicely

I followed the process and it worked quite neatly. Interestingly, it is automatically sent to my two senators based on my personal data entered, asking them to support S. 2766.I received the following response from one of my senators, saying that it was a HOUSE bill and that a companion SENATE bill had not been introduced. At least the guy had a staff member getting back to me the next day !!!Tom MonroeCarlyle Lake(meanwhile, the midwest rains and winter snows have our lake rapidly rising to a predicted 6 ft above flood stage. Hmmmm )************************************************Thank you for writing to advise me of your support for H.R. 2550, the Recreational Boating Act of 2007. I appreciate hearing from you. This bill would exempt recreational boaters from commercial shipping discharge permits. It is critically important for the protection of aquatic ecosystems that we maintain strong regulations governing the discharge of ballast water into areas such as Lake Michigan. Invasive species or diseases introduced into our Great Lakes by foreign vessels have created many problems - - the zebra mussel, to name an example. I share your concerns, however, about the unintended consequences that changes in the interpretation of commercial shipping discharge permit requirements pose for the recreational boating industry. While a companion bill to H.R. 2550 has not been introduced in the Senate, you can be sure I will remember your concerns should this bill be considered by the Senate. Thank you again for contacting me. Please stay in touch.

 

[higgs]

Phone call

I called both my Senators, but being in NY state, probably only one of them will be there for the vote.

 

[sand sailor]

i did it

 

[Ed Schenck]

Deadline Update.

Hey Sailors!! Are we all on board with this now? Please take Jerry's comment to heart: "For you that think common sense will prevail - remember this is congress we're talking about. Send in your response!!"

 

[Blake]

A Plug for BoatUS

Boat US has been keeping it's members informed on this issue for over a year now. Access to there members only website and a magazine are a couple of the benifits of membership. I became a member when I bought my sailboat in 2004. I have no other affiliation with them, but I think they provide many services of interest to recreational boaters, not the least of which is informing us of important pending legislation, and even lobbying congress on our behalf.

 

[T37 Phil]

Old news?

It is my understanding that this legislation did pass and that it was overturned by a federal judge in California. The result is that we are now back to square one; permits will be required for recreational boaters. Can anyone confirm that information? The original post may in fact be old news. What is the current situation regarding efforts to exempt recreational boaters?

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

not old news Phil

the current situation is as described in the original post. The Circuit Court decision to which you refer (approx 1 year ago) is precisely what caused the problem and only passage of the proposed legislation will avert the problems so by all means, follow the advice provided here.

 

[Margaret]

Info on impending EPA Permit

Thank you all for taking action this spring to help pass this important new legislation S. 2766. A few points of clarification:1. Last year, we had House Bill 2550 and Senate Bill 2076 (which are still alive). When your Senator writes you back and says we have a House bill, they are referring to last years legislation, not the Senate Bill 2766 which was introduced on 3/13/08 (and which we think is the most politically viable bill).2. BoatU.S. and the National Marine Manufacturers Association, along with 30+ other boating and angling groups are now supporting Senate Bill 2766, and working in Congress to gather support. 3. If you get a response from your Senator that is anything but neutral, it would be valuable for us to see it. Please send it to govtaffairs@boatus.com By seeing their response we can customize our approach to each of them to try to get them onboard.4. For more information please visit www.boatus.com/gov and to take immediate action go to www.boatblue.org 5. Please remember that if we don't pass federal legislation, each of us will need to get an EPA permit to legally operate our boats by 9/30/08. Margaret PodlichVP Government Affairs, BoatU.S.

 

[Ed Schenck]

Alan, you missed this?

Not a problem but wondering how to keep the thread current so that we do not continue to have multiple postings of the same topic. I guess one of us will have to remember to "touch" it every now and again. Too important to allow it to "roll off".

 

[Brian D]

Wonder if Phil...

Has a way to "sticky" the thread to the top of the page?

 

[Ed Schenck]

Deadline "sticky" note.

No Brian, no way to make it "Stick". Already asked Phil. Just have to keep throwing in a little update like this. And hope people are paying attention. Or maybe they don't understand how this will impact us??!!