FROM THE DESK OF JAMY BUCHANAN MADEJA, ESQ.
MMTA GOVERNMENT RELATIONS & LEGAL COUNSEL
2005 LEGISLATIVE SESSION WINDING DOWN, OR IS IT?
You may hear that your Massachusetts legislators are "done for the year" around the third week in November. Don't be fooled. It is true that the first year of the two-year legislative cycle will formally end, and that major policy issues cannot formally be taken up until January. However, all bills already filed, including our own Abandoned Vessel bill (now known as HB4362) will "carry over" automatically into 2006. The post-formal-session time in December is perfect for lobbying bills like these so they stay hot for action in 2006. The full, two-year cycle ends July 31, 2006, when legislators turn to next fall's election campaigns. In the meantime, a special session will also be held in the next few weeks, as the legislature works to pass major legislation on an Economic Stimulus Bill (which may or may not contain local permit streamlining provisions and workforce development funds, by the time the bill makes it out of "conference committee") and a Supplemental Budget.
IS DREDGING A PRIORITY FOR THE DEPT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION?
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Bob Golledge recently announced his priorities for the upcoming year and his observations on this past year. He referenced "new dredging regulations" almost as an afterthought, and later clarified that the "new regulations "would "just codify existing policies." Needless to say, with dredging such an important part of the marine business, "we're on it". As soon as we have draft text from DEP to discuss, we'll be looking for volunteers to comment to be sure the final version is as advantageous as possible.
SIMPLIFIED HEARING PROCESS-NOT SO SIMPLE
A reminder to folks considering expansion plans or even new facilities: if you've heard about the new "simplified hearing process" under the Wetlands Protection Act regulations and are thinking about using it, don't bother. It isn't applicable to Coastal Wetlands, and even if it were, it's a bad idea. One has to forego any other wetland permits for three years, and that's just not worth it. And it doesn't even apply to local bylaws, either, so most marine businesses would still have the same appeals problems anyway. Just file the usual Notice of Intent.
WHAT'S UP WITH THE STEPHENS?
The new Secretary of Environmental Affairs is Stephen Pritchard. The new Director of Conservation and Recreation is Stephen Burrington. Secretary Pritchard oversees the Department of Environmental Protection, DCR's parks and forests, the Public Access Board, the Environmental Police Officers and Fish & Wildlife, to name a few boating-related favorites. We recently reminded both Stephens (separately) of the critical shortage of slips and moorings in Massachusetts. Solutions are multi-faceted, and their support will be essential. Questions? Call anytime (Jamy Buchanan Madeja, Esq., 617-227-8410, ext. 234).
U.S. COAST GUARD REPORTED FATALITIES HIT LOWEST NUMBER
IN RECREATIONAL BOATING SAFETY HISTORY
U.S. Coast Guard Releases 2004 Statistics
The U.S. Coast Guard announced that the total fatalities resulting from recreational boating accidents declined to 676, the lowest on record since 1960. However, 484 boaters drowned in 2004, and 90 percent of those who drowned were not wearing a life jacket. While fatalities from boating accidents are decreasing, wearing a life jacket is still key to surviving an accident.
"We're glad to see boating deaths continue to decline," commented Captain James Hass, acting director of Coast Guard operations policy. "Manufacturers and the U.S. Coast Guard have worked together to make today's recreational boats safer than ever. However, most accidents are caused by unsafe behavior on the part of boat owners and operators. It is important for boaters to take personal responsibility for their safety and the safety of their passengers."
The new statistics indicate a steady drop when compared with 750 fatalities reported in 2002 and 703 fatalities in 2003. The record low numbers come despite the soaring popularity of boating, with nearly 13 million boats registered in the United States and more than 77 million Americans expected to take to the water for recreational boating activities each year. The U.S. Coast Guard reminds all boaters, "You're in Command. Boat Responsibly!" For more information on boating responsibly, go to www.USCGboating.org or call the U.S. Coast Guard Infoline at 1-800-368-5647.
SAFE BOATING EDUCATION LEGISLATION REPORTED FAVORABLY FROM COMMITTEE
The Mandatory Safe Boating Education legislation (H1933) re-filed by Representative Shirley Gomes last December requires the director of the office of law enforcement within the executive office of environmental affairs to establish and implement a boating education program; articulates facets of said program, including, but not limited to boating education courses and boating education equivalency examinations; prohibits all persons born on or after January 1, 1987 from operating motorboats on the waters of the commonwealth unless they obtain boating certificates, as proof of successful passage of approved boating safety courses or equivalency examinations; prohibits the operation of personal watercraft without receipt of said certificates; authorizes and regulates the issuance of said certificates to qualified persons over the age of twelve; articulates penalties for violation of said provisions; establishes and regulates the use of the boating education trust fund.
On October 25, 2005, the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security reported the bill out favorably.
MMTA has worked closely with the Representative and the Environmental Police to develop language and provisions within the bill that will promote safe boating education without negatively impacting the recreational boating industry. We are grateful to the Representative and Massachusetts Safe Boating Education advocates for their willingness to address our concerns and work together to move this legislation forward.
To view complete text of the Bill, visit: http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/house/ht01/ht01933.htm (Note that language was changed in committee that may not appear in the text of the originally filed bill).
NEED HELP NAVIGATING DEPARTMENT OF LABOR LAWS AND REGULATIONS?
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is committed to providing its customers - America's employers, workers, job seekers, and retirees - with clear and easy-to-access information on how to comply with federal employment laws. This information is often referred to as "compliance assistance," which is a cornerstone of the Department's efforts to protect the wages, health benefits, retirement security, employment rights, safety, and health of America's workforce.
DOL's Office of Compliance Assistance Policy, working with many DOL agencies, leads a variety of Department-wide compliance assistance efforts, including this Web portal. All of our compliance assistance activities are designed to provide businesses, workers, and others with the knowledge and tools they need to comply with DOL's rules. Visit http://www.dol.gov/compliance/ for more information.
HAVE YOU RECEIVED AND READ THE DECEMBER 2005 CZ MAIL?
If not, here is the link to the current issue: http://www.mass.gov/czm/czmail/currentczmail.htm
HAS THE PRESIDENT HEARD FROM YOU YET?
You are just a click away from helping to Stop Congress and the President
from Taking Away the Mortgage Interest Deduction from Boat Owners
NMMA needs your help to prevent the President and Congress from enacting harmful new tax policy that will affect your bottom line and cost consumers thousands each year. Urge the President and your member of Congress to oppose lowering the mortgage interest deduction cap or possibly eliminating it entirely for second residences.
How do I get involved? Please contact both the President and your member of Congress and urge them to oppose the Presidential Tax Advisory Panel's recommendation and any subsequent legislation that would lower the mortgage interest deduction. You can reach the White House switchboard by calling (202) 456-1414. You can also reach your member of Congress by fax or email at www.nmma.org/grassroots/ where you will find contact information for your representatives and a form letter that you can customize to suit your company.
Please let Jeffrey Gabriel (jgabriel@nmma.org) know when you respond to your elected representatives so NMMA can follow up.
EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW
ABOUT WALLOP BREAUX BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK
From the Desk of Jim Frye, CMM and President of the Association of Marina Industries
On July 29, 2005, President Bush signed into law a new Highway Bill (H.R. 3) valued at $268.5 billion. While a Highway Bill it has major implications for the recreational marine industry because it includes re-authorization of the Aquatic Resources Trust Fund commonly referred to as Wallop Breaux in honor or the founding legislative sponsors. After extensive lobbying from boating and fishing organizations and many legislative rewrites, the Wallop-Breaux reauthorization bill, also known as the Aquatic Resources Trust Fund, has become law.
What does this specifically mean for our industry? Well, in dollars and cents, it means that the roughly $110 million dollars of motor boat fuel taxes paid by anglers and boaters each year that previously went into the general fund will now be redirected back to the Fund, significantly boosting funding revenues for the Fund to approximately $570 million. The Fund currently supports angling and boating programs including fishing and boating access facilities such as docks, piers, and boat ramps; and education and safety programs for anglers and boaters.
In addition to having the funds redirected from the general fund back into the Aquatic Resources Trust Fund, the Congressional action also distributes approximately $87 million of previously un-appropriated revenues to various accounts within the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund.
Thanks to the American Sportfishing Association, for breaking down the numbers:
Aquatic Resources Trust Fund Reauthorization At A Glance
- Reauthorize the Marine Sanitary Devices pump-out program
- Reauthorize Boating Infrastructure Grant Program and Outreach programs
- Boating Safety Grants will now have guaranteed funding
- Dissolve (spend down) the Boat Safety Account
- Most programs will be funded by a percentage:
- Sport Fish Restoration - 57.0% (Includes 15% for Boating Access)
- Boating Safety Grants - 18.5%
- Coastal Wetlands Act - 18.5%
- Boating Infrastructure - 2.0%
- Outreach - 2.0%
- Clean Vessel Act - 2.0%
The driving forces behind this legislation include Senator Trent Lott (R-MS) and Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) on the Senate side and Representative Don Young (R-AK) and Representative Clay Shaw (R-FL) on the House side. We are extremely grateful to these members of Congress who saw the importance of the boating and fishing industry in America and stepped up to make sure it continued to thrive with the financial support from the United States government.
Here's to many more successes on The Hill!
For more information on the Association of Marina Industries visit, www.marinaassociation.org Excerpts appear courtesy of the Association of Marine Industries August 2005 Advocate.
nowCOAST: A NEW REALLY, REALLY COOL LINK FOR MARINE COMMUNITY
Check out Coastal Massachusetts at: http://nowcoast.noaa.gov/?BOX=-72.16:41.08:-68.43:43.00
nowCOAST is a web mapping portal providing spatially-referenced links to thousands of real-time coastal observations and NOAA forecasts of interest to the marine community. The portal serves as a "one-stop shopping" web site to real-time coastal information from a variety of Internet sites both within and outside of NOAA. nowCOAST is designed to be a planning aid to assist recreational and commercial mariners, coastal managers, HAZMAT responders, computer modelers, and marine educators to discover and display real-time information for their particular needs and geographic area of interest.
The portal includes links to meteorological, oceanographic, and river observations from in-situ and remote-sensing platforms from observing networks operated by federal and state agencies and educational institutions. These networks include but not limited to airway stations, climate reference stations, fixed buoys, coastal platforms, river gages, Doppler weather radars, high frequency current radars, radiosondes, and wind profilers.
The forecast products that nowCOAST links to include 1) forecast "guidance" from NOAA?s computer-based estuarine, oceanographic, river, and weather prediction models and 2) worded marine weather and general weather forecasts for geographic areas. In addition, the portal includes links to NOAA?s astronomical tidal predictions for sites along the coast.
The portal interface allows users to quickly create a "clickable" map of real-time observing or forecast sites via four "pull-down" menus. An user can specify location (i.e. estuary, seaport, coastal region, or lake), 2) type of observation of forecast, 3) variable, and 4) time. Once the map appears, the user can simply click on the observation or forecast site to display the information or use a variety of map tools to zoom in/out, select, pan, identify, or query. Users can also overlay different types of observation and forecast map layers on a single map.
WANT MORE NEAT LINKS OF INTEREST TO MARINERS?
Thanks to Jamy Madeja, Esq. for sharing these links.
U.S. Coast Guard web sites:
Other web sites:
WE WANT YOUR MARINE INDUSTRY PHOTOS!
MMTA is seeks your photographs of the Massachusetts Recreational Boating Industry to add to its library. We need photos of marinas, boatyards, retailers, service and repairers. We need photos of men and women at work in the boating industry (like Travelifts operating or workers laying fiberglass or painting). We welcome photos of your facilities, your boatyard dogs, your staff, boats at rest, underway, and being repaired. Photos selected will be used in rotation on the website in rotation and/or in materials used to educate the public and officials about the importance of the marine trades in the Commonwealth. Please send all photos in a high resolution version and indicate if a photo credit is applicable or not. Send to Leona.Roach@boatMA.com
UPCOMING MARINE INDUSTRY EVENTS
CLICK HERE: http://www.boatma.com/membersonly/memberscalendar.html
MMTA-STAPLES BUSINESS ADVANTAGE PROGRAM
How Do I Enroll?
It's easy. Click Here, or visit the MMTA Members Only Section at www.BoatMA.com and click on the STAPLES LOGO.
E-MAIL CHANGES?
Unlike the US Post Office, the cyberspace postmaster does not forward your e-mail. Has your e-mail address changed? If so, be sure to let us know so you won't miss an issue of MMTA ENews: Send a notice of any email address changes or requests to opt out of future mailings to: webmaster@boatMA.com
ADVERTISE ON BOATMA.COM
THE BEST PROMOTIONAL VALUE FOR YOUR MARINE BUSINESS!
If you do ANY advertising, this is THE place to be! Only for MMTA members, the BOATMA.com web site draws thousands of boaters every single day. There is no better place to get exposure for your marine trades business! Consider adding your BANNER AD to the site as the boat show season is just around the corner when the BoatMA.com site experiences a huge jump in viewers.
MMTA also invites you to sponsor an ENews Brief. We will feature an image and some text about your company right at the top of a ENews Brief like this one, which is sent to all MMTA members. What a great business-to-business opportunity!
Email webmaster@boatma.com or call David Watson, the BoatMA.com webmaster, at 508-240-2533 to sign up today!
SHARE THE WEALTH!
Like what you have read? PLEASE share these ENews briefs with colleagues and staff of MMTA member firms. While emails are sent to one contact at a Member Firm, all employees of member firms can benefit from this information.
HAVE AN ITEM FOR ENEWS? Drop us a line at: Leona.Roach@BoatMA.co
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