Court Ruling Could Kill Boating

[cq]

Is there any truth to this article in boattest.com?



cq








http://www.boattest.com/Resources/view_news.aspx?NewsID=162

 

[Jim in VA]

It is true in that there was a court case out of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California requiring EPA to regulate ballast water from ships. Having read the court's opinion, it is also clear that EPA must regulate all discharges from ships and boats, not just ballast water. However, I don't think the concern is nearly as great as NMMA would have boaters believe for the following reasons.



1. The court's opinion doesn't mandate what EPA must do - only that it must not have a general exemption for boats.



2. EPA still has wide discretion to regulate different discharges in different ways - so it could exempt cooling water, bilge pumps, live wells, etc.



3. EPA doesn't have the man power to issue permits to 18 million boaters



4. EPA is appealing the court's ruling (anything could happen!).



5. EPA does not want to have to issue permits to all recreational boaters!



For anyone wanting to read the opinion themselves, I've attached a link to the court's ruling.
http://www.lclark.edu/org/peac/objects/order_granting_permanent_injunction.pdf

 

[Steve Rizza]

uhhh ????? I think Jim says no.......:wacko::wacko::wacko:

 

[Jim in VA]

Oops!! Sorry about the length! I shortened it considerably. Still, I think Steve said it best. :lol::lol:

 

[Bruce Freeman]

Jim C, I thought the first version was fine, it only took me 45 mins to read.......



BF

P.S Did you order the part for your trolling motor?

 

[Bill McElroy]

CQ,..I think the oil companies and their gas prices will kill boating long before the EPA!!

 

[Jim in VA]

Bruce - Ha! Good one!! Got carried away, I guess. Yup, ordered the part for the trolling motor - only $25 (whew!). I epoxied the old one together with marine epoxy and reinstalled and the motor seems to be working fine. When the new part comes in, I'll swap out.

 

[Mini]

We NEED a regulation about dumping ballast...esp here in the great lakes. As far as recreational boating....I dont see any more regulations coming. The industry is hurting enough.



Mini