Progress on Boatyard Stomwater Permit

For those who regularly read this column, you will be familiar with the challenges our boatyard members face with the rainwater that runs off their yards and into the adjacent waterways. Last month we passed a major milestone in our efforts to reach agreement with the Puget Soundkeepers Alliance and the Washington State Department of Ecology on proposed language for the new Boatyard Permit that will be issued later this year.

Some of the terms that we negotiated are reasonable and appropriate, such as the permit will be based on “benchmarks” rather than “effluent limits.” Yet there are conditions in the proposed new permit that are going to be very difficult to meet, if yards continue to operate in a “business as usual” mode. Most, if not all boatyards, who want to continue to do bottom work will need to install expensive treatment equipment.

I am proud of the work that we have done. I am proud of the time, effort and money that the association has invested in this issue since I started in 1999. I am proud of the support this issue has received from the volunteers who serve on the board and I am proud of how much time, effort and money the boatyards have put into this challenge.

Boatyards may only be 7.5 percent of our membership, but they are a critical piece of the recreational boating puzzle.

Having said that, no amount of effort has made this problem go away and I am not sure that we really want to treat this as a “problem.” As an industry, we want to support efforts to clean-up our environment because we (more than most industries) know that clean water and environmental stewardship is a critical part of boating and thus the success of our industryBoth the NMTA and PSA have indicated to Ecology that we are hoping not to appeal the new permit. Neither has forfeited the right to do so. I personally hope that neither group appeals the new permit, but nothing that the NMTA has done takes away the rights of the individual boatyard to appeal the new permit. If we (association) have done our job appropriately, hopefully no one will feel the need to appeal the permit.

The new permit is likely to cost tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars for boatyards that currently exceed the benchmarks or might do so in the future. These costs will unfortunately be passed on to boaters, thus increasing the cost of boating… something we want to avoid.

If any of you have questions about the boatyard stormwater issue, please feel free to contact me or Marina Hench, our Director of Government Affairs.

With warm regards,

Michael Campbell
President
michael@nmta.net