Recreational boaters and anglers can breathe a sigh of relief after President Bush gave his approval to the Clean Boating Act of 2008 (S 2766) last week. This legislation protects more than 17 million recreational boat owners in the United States from having to deal with federal and or state regulations never intended for them in the first place.

The Clean Boating Act was introduced by a bi-partisan group of Senators with the intention of permanently restoring a longstanding regulation that excluded recreational boaters and anglers from federal and state permitting requirements. Those requirements were scheduled to go into effect this fall under the supervision of the Environmental Protection Agency, under the guise of the Clean Water Act.

The Clean Water Act was mainly designed for land-based industrial facilities and ocean-going commercial ships, but a 2006 U.S. District Court decision lumped recreational boaters and anglers into the same system, subjecting them to a multitude of new federal rules and regulations and the possibility of being fined (up to $32,500 per day per violation).

Without this legislative fix, the Environmental Protection Agency would have been forced to implement this new permitting and regulations system that would have dictated things like maintenance and operation procedures, exposed recreational boaters to civilian lawsuits and also placed recreational boaters under the same penalty system designed for industrial polluters and commercial vessels.

“The recreational marine industry and boaters throughout the U.S. can now rest easy and go boating without a federal or state permit, heavy penalties and absurd legal jeopardy,” said Scott Gudes of the National Marine Manufacturers Association. “We applaud President Bush and Congress for their bipartisan efforts to reverse the unintended and potentially devastating consequences of an overbroad federal court decision.”

The act was introduced by Senators Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Representatives Steve LaTourette (R-Ohio) and Candice Miller (R-Mich.). It passed through Congress on July 22 and was turned over to President Bush, who signed it into law on July 30 aboard Air Force 1.