Tuna sailors, please make note of the attached as you may not be aware
of this possibly impactful legislation. I never pass along anything of
a political nature however in this case I believe it is a situation that
should interest all recreational boaters, even the most apolitical, and
inspire us to take action.
Read on.
Steve Hyland
X-Seawhippet
________________________________
There is an extreme risk that the EPA will enable a requirement that all
recreational boaters in the U.S. be required to obtain a permit from the
U.S. EPA to discharge bilge water or even rain water off their decks.
This effectively means boaters will not be able to use their boat
without the permit!
This issue arose from a law intended to keep invasive species like zebra
mussels from being discharged by cargo ships and cruise liners. Though
the original intent was excellent, all vessels were treated the same,
and hence the pending unintended permitting requirement. If the
unintended requirement for all pleasure boats to get a permit
regulations are not modified, the impact on pleasure boating appears to
be very, very significant.
A new bill has been introduced in the Senate by Senators Barbara Boxer
(D-Calif.) and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) to fix the problem of pleasure boats
having to get the permits as the ships are required to do. The bill
needs several co-sponsors in order to be taken up by the full Senate.
This bill has nothing to do with regulations about discharge of marine
toilets or fuel which is prohibited.
You can help U.S. Boaters avoid this potentially huge hassle by:
1. downloading the appropriate attached letter
2. adding a bit of information
3. printing and signing the letter(s)
4. mailing to your senators.
There is a letter attached for California residents.
PS: If you want to delve deeper go to http://www.boatblue.org/. This
site put together by NMMA.
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