Pete Mathews
Enthusiastic about Wooden Canoes
There is an issue pending before the Senate that may impact all recreational Boats. I have included an address to BoatBlue (National Boating Federation) and the National Boating Federation. Senate Bill S2766 attempts to plug a loophole in the current law that the EPA may use to require a discharge permit for every recreational boat in the U.S.. This was originally aimed at large commercial vessels for ballast, engine cooling, gray, and black water discharge. One would think this wouldn't affect canoes and kayaks. However, a judge has struck down an existing exemption for recreational craft that has stood for 34 years, and, if the EPA follows that lead, all vessels could be required to obtain this permit. Passage of S2766 would permanently exempt all recreational watercraft from this requirement, and ensure that the law is applied where it was intended. Please read this, make up your own mind, and act accordingly.
Thanks.
http://capwiz.com/boatblue/utr/2/?a=11149271&i=86671670&c=
*
NATIONAL BOATING FEDERATION ACTION Alert:*
HELP STOP FEDERAL BOAT PERMITTING! (Courtesy of NMMA)
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. (Think “bailing bucket.”)* 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:
All Boaters MUST contact their U.S. 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, it is a simple process to contact your Senators. This is the most significant threat facing Boaters today, and we need your help to solve it. Take 5 minutes to tell Congress to support S. 2766.
For more information:-WWW.BOATBLUE.ORG
-Contact Mat Dunn (mdunn@nmma.org; 202-737-9760) or Dylan Jones*
(djones@nmma.org; 202-737-9776) so they can follow up with your Senators.
We thank the NMMA for thier support and expertise, and we all need to pitch in.
THE NATIONAL BOATING FEDERATION
__.__,_._,___
Thanks.
http://capwiz.com/boatblue/utr/2/?a=11149271&i=86671670&c=
*
NATIONAL BOATING FEDERATION ACTION Alert:*
HELP STOP FEDERAL BOAT PERMITTING! (Courtesy of NMMA)
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. (Think “bailing bucket.”)* 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:
All Boaters MUST contact their U.S. 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, it is a simple process to contact your Senators. This is the most significant threat facing Boaters today, and we need your help to solve it. Take 5 minutes to tell Congress to support S. 2766.
For more information:-WWW.BOATBLUE.ORG
-Contact Mat Dunn (mdunn@nmma.org; 202-737-9760) or Dylan Jones*
(djones@nmma.org; 202-737-9776) so they can follow up with your Senators.
We thank the NMMA for thier support and expertise, and we all need to pitch in.
THE NATIONAL BOATING FEDERATION
__.__,_._,___
