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NMMA Action Alert: Help Stop Federal Boat Permitting   


Urge Your Senators to Cosponsor S. 2766, the Clean Boating Act of 2008

March 17, 2008  

 

The Threat to Recreational Boating. Unless Congress acts soon, every recreational boater in the country will have to obtain a federal or state permit in order to operate their boat. This means yearly fees, bureaucratic red tape, confusing and potentially state-by-state regulations, citizen suits and $32,000 per day penalties for non-compliance. These permits would apply to deck run-off, bilge water, engine cooling water and any other water-based, operational discharge from a recreational boat. The Environmental Protection Agency, due to a sweeping court order, is already writing this unprecedented new regulation on boaters.

The Clean Boating Act of 2008. Senators Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) have just introduced S. 2766, the Clean Boating Act of 2008. S. 2766 would fully and permanently restore a 35-year permit exemption for recreational boat incidental discharges, such as weather deck run-off and engine coolant water, and works to protect the health of the nation's waterways by pursuing whether or not reasonable and practicable best management practices need to be put into place for some incidental discharges. This important bill preserves recreational boating and the boating industry, taking a balanced approached that recognizes that pleasure boat discharges are completely different from land-based industrial facilities and commercial ships.

What You Can Do Today to Protect Boating. NMMA strongly urges all its members and all boating industry employees to contact their Senators and tell them to co-sponsor S. 2766, the Clean Boating Act of 2008. You can quickly and easily send a letter to your Senators by visiting www.boatblue.org. Once, there, simply type in your zip code and click send. This is the most significant threat facing the boating industry today, and we need your help to solve it. Take 5 minutes to tell Congress to support S. 2766.

 

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT YOUR SENATORS!

 
 

Contact Mat Dunn (mdunn@nmma.org; 202-737-9760)

or

Dylan Jones (djones@nmma.org; 202-737-9776) so we can follow up with your Senators.

Letting our Senators in Washington know that we are against Federal Discharge Permits for our recreational vessels has never been easier, thanks to NMMA and the Boat Blue Coalition.

Here is all it takes:

Visit www.boatblue.org/takeaction.aspx
Focus on the left half of the site
Ignore "Find your Official" at the right half
Scroll to the bottom until you reach "Featured Alert, Support the Clean Boating Act 2008"
Click on "Take Action"
Scroll to the bottom and
a) Use their letter or composed your own
b) Send via email - not snail mail or it will never get there
Fill in your "Sender Information"
Click on "Send Message"
The message will be sent and you will get an immediate acknowledgment of that fact.

IT'S REAL SIMPLE! PLEASE ACT NOW!

Army Corps and Coast Guard Kick Off Barrier Safety Campaign

March 27, 2008 – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Coast Guard will begin a campaign April 1st to
advise boaters how to safely transit over the electric fish barrier in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal near
Romeoville, IL. A portion of the canal near the barrier system has been a Regulated Navigation Area for passage
of vessels since 2005.

Click Here to Read the whole Press Release    

Click Here to Read the Barrier Warning Flyer    
Click Here to See the Fish Barrier Hazzard Area Map    

 

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR BOATERS IN ILLINOIS

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING

 

The status of Senate Bill 142 which if enacted, would mandate that 1" wide retroreflective tape be applied to both sides of the hull of all watercraft registered in Illinois, is a s follows:

1. The bill is setting in the House (after passage in the Senate)awaiting a first reading.

2. So far, the bill does not have a sponsor and has not been assigned to a committee.

3. The legislature is on its Easter break and will return on 4/29/03.

4. For this legislation to be acted on, it must be assigned to a committee by 5/1/03 or the bill will die this session.

5. It appears that action in the house this session is most unlikely unless some legislator attaches it as an amendment to another bill.

6. It continues to be important that you communicate your objections to this bill to your state representative.  The easiest way to do so is to log on th NMMA web site http://capwiz.com/nmma/issues/alert/?alertid=1864486 Here all you do is enter your 9 digit zip code and an e-mail letter will be sent to your representative, either in your own words, or easier yet, you can use the letter prepared by NMMA.

 

Fred W. Poppe
Vice President
BoatersPAC

 

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Legislation as passed in the Illinois Senate

 

Section 5. The Boat Registration & Safety Act is amended by adding Section 4-2.1 as follows:

(625 ILCS 45/4-2.1 new)

Sec. 4.2.1. Reflective Material required

(a) Any watercraft requiring numbering by this State must be equipped with reflective material, such as reflective tape, at least one inch wide, on each side of the watercraft, and visible when watercraft is in the water.

(b) The department shall adopt rules for implementing this section.

 

 

I assume "Department" means the Department of Natural Resources.

What was the Cause of this legislation?

Third hand information indicates that the sponsor, State Senator Larry Wollard,acted in response of a friend who had a 12 year old daughter who took his small boat without permission, ran out of gas, and got stranded.  They had trouble finding her at night and the father said that the boat would have shown up from a much greater distance with spotlights if it had reflective material on it.  

 

To bad the girl did not take a boat from a stranger.  Then she would be liable for prosecution; instead innocent, responsible boat owners are being punished.

 

Write and/or call your State Representative NOW.  This bill is moving fast. We can stop it in the house!  Your State Representative district is shown on you voter's registration card.

At www.legis.Sate.il.us/house <http://www.legis.Sate.il.us/house>  you can get his local and Springfield office address and telephone number.

 

The bill was proposed to allow search and rescue teams to better locate stranded boats, however in NMMA's opinion it is an unsightly, ineffective proposition that would do little to enhance safety on the waterways. This bill already has passed the Senate and we need vocal opposition from boaters to stop it in the House. NMMA opposes this legislation and asks that you weigh in with your objections. Please voice your opposition to this unnecessary regulation by copying this link into your browser: http://capwiz.com/nmma/issues/alert/?alertid=1864486. Enter your area code and it will create a form with a proposed letter that can be emailed to your state Representative.