My .02 cents

Oregon has a new (2 years old) law that states you must have a boat
operators license for any craft with an engine over 10 horsepower. The state
collects a fee and there are Internet companies that administer the test and
send out the license. Total cost is only $30.00 or so . Seems like a good
idea.

The law was not hashed out by boaters, only by legislators and here in lies
the problem. Every year there are 10-12 deaths from water activities,
 averaging 1 for horsepower of 10 or more and the rest come from rafters,
and river runners, for which there is no license requirement.

Now that the license is law, there is little to be done and the power
boaters and anyone with 10hp plus are being saddled with an expense that
appears to be increasing the general fund and not saving  many (1) lives.

If laws are argued before enacted, they generally make more sense. I doubt a
dinghy, kayak or raft or deck run off from your Montgomery would put much
pollution in the water. Maybe there should be some exemptions. Especially if
it is being called a law to limit pollution, as opposed to a law to help
clean it up.



Bill



On Jan 3, 2008 9:12 PM, Bob Olson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> Seeing as the Puget Sound is experiencing a loss of habitats from
> pollution, I view any effort to clean it up as positive. But then, I'd
> rather see the government spend its efforts on cleaning up the
> environment then starting wars for more pollutants. Guess it's a
> matter of priorities.
>
> --Bob Olson
>
> M-15, Seaquel
>
>
> On Jan 3, 2008, at 7:21 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
> >
> >> From Scuttlebutt:
> >
> >
> > BIG GOVERNMENT - BIG MESS
> > For 34 years the U.S. federal  Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
> > has
> > exempted discharges from  recreational boats from the Clean Water
> > Act permit
> > system. A recent court  ruling cancelled this permit exemption. EPA is
> > required by the court decision  to develop and implement by
> > September 30, 2008
> > a national permit system for  ALL vessels in the United States for a
> > variety
> > of normal operational  discharges like grey water, engine cooling
> > water and
> > deck runoff. BoatU.S.  along with other industry groups has been
> > working
> > behind the scenes to come  up with a legislative fix for this huge
> > problem. If
> > nothing is done to solve  this issue, you will have to pay for a
> > permit for
> > each boat that you operate  including your dinghy, Laser, or
> > motorboat in each
> > state! -- Scuttleblog,  read  on:
> >
> http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/blog/2008/01/big-government-big-mess.html
> >
> >
> >
> > **************Start the year off right.  Easy ways to stay in shape.
> > http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489
> > _______________________________________________
> > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
> >
>
>
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