Congress deep-sixes boating permits
Legislation passed stopping federal boating permits from going into effect
| Article published on Tuesday, July 22, 2008 |
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Nearly 1 million Florida boaters, who could have faced hefty fines under new environmental rules going into effect this fall, received some good news from Congress on July 22.
Lawmakers exempted recreational boats from what they deemed to be overly broad water-discharge rules. The exemption, crafted by U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-FL, makes clear that recreational boaters won’t need government permits or face fines under environmental rules Congress initially passed to cover discharges by big ocean-going vessels, such as tankers and cargo ships.
Nelson’s measure won unanimous passage in both the Senate and House of Representatives, and now heads to the president for his signature.
The measure was needed, Nelson said, because the courts had ruled that the wording of an old federal clean-water law applied not just to huge boats and tankers, as Congress had intended, but to tiny fishing and skiing boats as well. That 2006 ruling sent some 13 million registered recreational boaters and anglers around the country into a tizzy.
In response, Nelson in March filed language making it clear that they were exempt under the old law. Passage of Nelson’s measure came just in time. Fines were to go into effect by Sept. 30. Under the proposed government rules, boat owners could have faced inspections and fines of up to $32,500 per day for allowing deck water and incidental spills to go overboard.
“This was a matter of common sense,” said Nelson. “Imagine: the federal government applying measures that cover big tankers to millions of little boats.”
In addition to clarifying the rules for recreational boaters, both houses of Congress on Tuesday also approved a separate measure by Sen. Lisa Murkowski establishing a two-year moratorium on incidental discharge permits for commercial fishing vessels and for all other commercial boats under 79 feet while the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducts an environmental impact study on vessel discharges.
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Article published on Tuesday, July 22, 2008
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