RS22878
Clean Water Act: Legislation Concerning Discharges from Recreational Boats
June 19, 2008

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Summary:

The Environmental Protection Agency is attempting to develop a regulatory response to a 2006 federal court ruling that vacated a long-standing rule that exempts discharges associated with the normal operation of vessels from permit requirements of the Clean Water Act. Concern that this ruling could require millions of recreational boaters to obtain permits has led to the introduction of legislation to exempt such vessels from water quality regulation. This report discusses background to the issue, six bills (S. 2067/H.R. 2550, S. 2766/H.R. 5949, and S. 2645/H.R. 5594), and draft permits proposed by EPA on June 17. In the 110th Congress, legislation concerning the applicability of certain environmental regulatory requirements to recreational boats has been introduced. Two bills are titled the Clean Boating Act of 2008 (S. 2766, Senator Bill Nelson and Senator Boxer; and H.R. 5949, Representative LaTourette). These identical bills have been ordered reported by Senate and House committees. Legislation titled the Recreational Boating Act of 2007 also has been introduced (S. 2067, Senator Martinez; and H.R. 2550, Representative Taylor1). Two other bills are the Vessel Discharge Evaluation and Review Act (S. 2645, Senator Stevens, and H.R. 5594, Representative Young2). These bills are intended to address an issue that has arisen in implementation of the Clean Water Act (CWA). In 2006, a federal court ordered the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to revise a CWA regulation that currently exempts discharges from the normal operation of all vessels from the act's permit requirements.3 The bills seek to