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Nylon Logo Disks
April 14, 2008 - Cal Boating Recommends Disposing of Nylon Logo Disks That Contain Lead Paint. Cal Boating has learned that paint on nylon logo disks, distributed by the department at promotional events and boat shows during the last 12 months, contain lead. The orange paint used in the center of the logo has a lead content that could be harmful if the paint is ingested by humans, dogs or other animals.
There are no health risks for people who use the disk in a manner consistent with its design, throwing it back and forth. However, if a human or animal were to chew on the disk for a period of time long enough to ingest any of the orange paint an unsafe exposure to lead could result.
Cal Boating recommends that the disks, not considered hazardous waste, be disposed of in a normal manner. For more information about lead exposure, visit: California Department of Public Health's Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Branch Web site: www.dhs.ca.gov/childlead/html/faq.html. Department of Toxic Substances Control's hazardous waste Web site: www.dtsc.ca.gov/HazardousWaste/Lead.cfm.
Emergency Salmon Fishing Closure
April 11, 2008 - The Fish and Game Commission took emergency action on March 28, to conform to the PFMC actions affecting state waters. Emergency action was taken by the federal Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to close the ocean sport fishery between Horse Mountain and Point Arena on April 1, 2008. In addition, emergency action was taken to close the April 5 sportfishing openers in San Francisco and Monterey port areas (south of Point Arena to the U.S.-Mexico Border).
These actions are being taken to protect Sacramento River fall Chinook salmon which returned to the Central Valley in 2007 at record low numbers. Even if all ocean sport and commercial fisheries are closed throughout California, salmon returns are not projected to meet the escapement goals required by the PFMC Salmon Fishery Management Plan. The PFMC has produced three ocean salmon fishing season options (effective May 1, 2008 through April 30, 2009) for public comment.
- Option 1 provides very limited commercial and sport fishing after May 18.
- Option 2 provides no commercial or sport fishing after March 31 but allows a non-retention research project to collect tissue samples for genetic stock identification analyses.
- Option 3 provides no fishing between Cape Falcon, Oregon and the U.S.-Mexico border.
More information regarding the PFMC meetings and options can be found on the PFMC Web site: www.pcouncil.org and Salmon News: www.dfg.ca.gov/news/salmon-news.html
Clean Boating Act of 2008
WASHINGTON, DC April 10, 2008 – The National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) today announced a bipartisan, geographically diverse group of 17 U.S. Senators has co-sponsored The Clean Boating Act of 2008. The legislation, first introduced by Senator Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and Senate Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), ensures recreational boaters and anglers will not need a federal permit to operate their boats, and restores a longstanding, commonsense regulation that excludes recreational boaters and anglers from the federal and state permitting requirements under the Clean Water Act designed for land-based industrial facilities and ocean-going commercial ships.
The new Senators co-sponsoring the legislation are: David Vitter (R-La.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Larry Craig (R-Idaho), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), George Voinovich (R-Ohio), Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.)
The Clean Boating Act of 2008 restores a 35-year old Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) exemption for water-based, non-polluting incidental discharges that occur in the normal operation of a recreational boat, such as weather deck run-off and engine coolant water. The legislation recognizes that discharges from recreational boats, which are operated on average 31 days a year, are completely distinct from commercial ship discharges. To help protect the health of the nation’s waterways on which recreational boaters and anglers depend, the bill also pursues whether reasonable best management practices need to be put into place for some recreational boat discharges.
The issue of new federal permits stems from a September 2006 U.S. District Court ruling that ordered the EPA to regulate ballast water discharges, and mandated a deadline of September 2008 to put it in place. Although the litigation was aimed at ocean-going vessels, the court’s ruling struck down an exemption instituted in 1973 that applied to the incidental discharges from all vessels, including recreational boats. Large ocean-going ships use ballast water for stability and routinely discharge that water, introducing pollutants and invasive species in U.S. waters in the process.
This list of 17 Senators from both sides of the aisle recognizes the economic, social and cultural significance of the recreational marine industry and recreational boating and are moving to enact this crucial piece of legislation.” For further information about the Clean Boating Act of 2008, please visit www.boatblue.org
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