Date: 4/30/2008
Name: David Eastbury
email: deastbur@persona.ca
subject:
Govt gone crazy


Boating permits

EPA drafting regulation for water discharge
TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2008

Recreational boaters may find themselves ensnared in a tangle of new permit regulations soon if Congress fails to overturn a court ruling imposing water-pollution permit requirements on the boaters.

The Environmental Protection Agency expects to issue proposed regulations next month applying the Clean Water Act under the terms of a 2006 court ruling. A federal judge voided a 34-year practice of the EPA that had exempted small boaters from a provision of the Clean Water Act requiring a permit to discharge water into waterways.

The law and court case by environmental groups was aimed at preventing ballast water discharge by cargo ships to stop the introduction of invasive species contained in the ballast water. The federal court, though, went beyond that and extended the law to an estimated 18 million recreational boats and small craft. The ruling applies to any discharge from normal boat operations, including bilge water, engine cooling water or deck runoff.

The excessive ruling treated all vessels the same without regard for where they operate, whether on the open seas where invasive species are picked up by tankers and oceangoing ships or by small craft operating primarily on inland lakes and rivers where they would not be expected to pick up invasive species.

The permit system, which must be in place by Sept. 30, will likely mean more paperwork and add to the cost of boaters who just want to enjoy a leisurely day on the water. Add to that the state cost of monitoring the permits and the hassle of being stopped to check on compliance.

The EPA has appealed the 2006 decision, but without other court action the ruling remains in effect. Rather than wait or leave the matter up to a federal agency, the better approach would be for Congress to put into law what had been a policy of exempting small boaters from the permit requirement.


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