Citizens and boaters in particular need to contact their U.S. Senators, asking them to co-sponsor S. 2766, the Clean Boating Act of 2008. Introduced earlier this month by Senate Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., S. 2766 is similar to the Recreational Boating Act of 2007, which is pending in the House and Senate. The bill would permanently restore a longstanding exemption for recreational boaters from federal and state permitting requirements under the Clean Water Act. The issue stems from a September 2006 U.S. District Court ruling that ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to regulate ballast water discharges and mandated a deadline of September 2008 to put it in place. “Congress has only six months to correct a terrible wrong imposed on recreational boating by a Federal District judge that would require every boat owner to obtain a yearly federal or state permit to operate every boat owned in every state the boat operates in,” MRAA said in its Dealer Alert. “The cost could go to $2,000 per boat, per state.” These permits would apply to deck runoff, bilge water, engine cooling water and any other water-based operational discharge from a recreational boat. The fines based on citizen suits range up to $32,000 per day, according to the MRAA. The EPA is already writing the required new federal rule, which is set to go operational on Oct. 1.
