"claus" wrote in message
. ..
New EPA water permit regulations are on the horizon. Some boaters fear
this could cause them to sink or simply take their boats out of the water
altogether.
On September 30th, the EPA is scheduled to begin court-ordered enforcement
of the Clean Water Act that controls all water discharged from boats
during its normal operation. Recreational boaters had been exempt from it
for 34 years because it was meant for large, ocean-going ships.

Now, to comply with the law, the EPA has proposed permits for boaters; the
permits are free and automatic. The EPA says boaters will be required to
take "simple steps" to control water discharge from their boats, but
didn't give me any details about how to do that.


Congress acts: Recreational boaters won't have to follow strict clean air
standards
By Jim Morris

Staff Writer

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

In a remarkable display of bipartisan support for recreational boating, both
the House and Senate today, July 22, passed S. 2766, "The Clean Boating Act
of 2008" that will permanently restore a long-standing exemption for
recreational boats from permitting requirements under the Clean Water Act.
The legislation now goes to the White House for the President's signature.

Congressional action was spawned by a U.S. District Court decision in
September 2006 under which an estimated 17 million recreational boats would
have fallen under Clean Water Act permit requirements effective Sept. 30,
2008.

The permit would have dictated maintenance and operation procedures and
potentially subjected boaters to citizen lawsuits as well as a penalty
system designed for industrial polluters.

"This is a fabulous victory for common sense and it just goes to show what
can be done when the boating public, the marine industry and its
representatives in Congress row together in a bipartisan way," said BoatU.S.
President Nancy Michelman.

BoatU.S. Government Affairs Director Margaret Podlich was quick to shower
praise on a boatload of legislators who did much of the heavy lifting
including Sens. Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and
Representatives Jim Oberstar (D-MN), Steve LaTourette (R-OH), Candice Miller
(R-MI) and Gene Taylor (D-MS).

A complete listing of all legislators involved will be available at
http://www.BoatUS.com/gov soon.

BoatU.S. has worked for more than a year with the National Marine
Manufacturers Association and a broad coalition of stakeholders to resolve
the problem before the permitting deadline.

"One of the real keys to success here was our collective ability to activate
the grassroots," said Podlich, noting that tens of thousands of letters and
e-mails were generated by boaters and anglers over the course of the past 12
months.

BoatU.S. is the nation's leading advocate for recreational boat owners with
over 650,000 members.