Next time you run aground on the
ICW and feel like complaining to someone, you can. Boaters can now file ICW Condition Reports through a BOAT/US
website. As reported last month,
Congress has decreased the funding for maintenance of the ICW. The COE bases the
need for dredging on commercial navigation and leaves recreational needs out of
the decision. Recreational boaters need to make a case in Congress, and
completing the online reports is a first step. Any damaged or missing markers,
or unmarked shoals should to be reported to demonstrate the need for adequate
dredging and maintenance. File
reports at www.BoatUS.com/ICW. The
Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway Association will compile the reports to make the
case for recreational boating.
Voicing your complaints and concerns about the waterway is essential. Topsail area residents were vocal when they learned Topsail Creek was not on this year’s dredging list. The creek cuts from the ICW to Banks Channel allowing easy access to the ocean through Topsail Inlet for recreational boaters and fishermen. The businesses along the ICW businesses, fishermen and residents took their case to Representative Mike McIntyre who successfully got the COE to put Topsail Creek back on the dredging list for this year, along with Topsail Inlet and Banks Channel.
EPA has cited several marinas in SC
for failing to complete their Tier II Emergency and Hazardous Chemical
Inventory. Three facilities have court dates and are facing fines of $15,000 for
not reporting. Tier II reporting is part of the Community Right to Know
initiative where businesses are required to report the hazardous chemicals that
they handle. If you keep MSDS data, you will have to file for any hazardous
chemicals that meet or exceed the EPA thresholds identified and updated yearly
in the EPA List of Lists.
How do you file? The easiest way to
file is to do it online. The forms can then be kept on file and the dates
changed each year, which will save time and effort. All information on Tier II reporting including the forms and
a list of county contacts is available on www.ncem.org/serc/downloads.htm.
Several cautions: 1) County rules
on reportable quantities can be STRICTER than the EPA. Talk to your county
emergency management representative. 2) You MUST read labels. Even hazardous
chemicals that are part of a mixture can be reportable if they meet the
reporting threshold. Chemicals are not identified by brand names so you must
know the contents. 3) The list is updated yearly so don’t assume if you didn’t
report last year, you are still free and clear. Review the list yearly.
4) Once you report, you will need to update yearly before March 1 to
prevent fines of up to $15,000 per day per occurrence.
5) The reports must be filed with EPA and also your county and local fire
department. There is no filing fee with the EPA, but many counties have a
hazardous material fee associated with filing.
In short, the discriminatory practice of applying OSHA
shipbuilding standards (29 CFR 1915) to waterfront boatbuilders in this and
other states has ended. All NC boatbuilders (SIC code 3732) will now be under
the general industry standards (29 CFR 1910) – a change that as been needed by
the industry. This was a direct result of NMMA’s Environmental Committee and
NMMA petitioning OSHA to revise its rules. To learn more, see the August 3rd
letter from the US Department of Labor to NMMA’s John McKnight at our NCMTA
website http://www.ncmta.com/RegulatoryIndex.htm
and/or the description on the Reichhold website at http://www.reichhold.com/Teams/OSHAshipsvboats.htm.
Articles on newly adapted
regulations for boatbuilders are common fare recently for the trade publications
and Internet newsletters. After reading most of them, it is obvious that “bottom
line” implications to our small to large and fiberglass to cold mold
boatbuilders is not a clear picture. We know that these final regulations are
meant to reduce emissions of styrene, methyl methacrylate, methylene chloride,
toluene, xylene, and other air toxics from fiberglass and aluminum boat
manufacturing facilities, but it is still unclear how the rules will impact
smaller boatbuilding businesses. Not far behind in the rulemaking arena are
proposed EPA rules governing boat fuel systems.
One way to get caught up with these issues is to attend some
of the numerous talks, workshops and seminars discussing these issues at the new
BoatBuilding 2001 event
in Tampa this coming October 3-6th. This is an event that teams the
NMMA with the Composites Fabricators of America (CFA). Of special note will be
regulatory seminars presented by the EPA personnel who are developing the rules
that impact the marine industry. Mike Samulski of the EPA will speak on
evaporative emissions and the proposed changes for boat fuel systems, as well as
plans for gas and diesel engines. The EPA’s Mark Morris will speak for the
first time ever on the newly published boat MACT standards, and boatbuilders can
expect to hear the Harvard Center study latest news on the risk associated with
styrene exposure. To obtain show and attendance information on this new event,
go to boating specific NMMA site, www.nmma.org/boatbuilding
and visit the CFA site’s
description of the new partnership http://www.cfa-hq.org/composites2001/partnership.htm.
Reichhold, Inc. [Research Triangle
Park, NC ] will sponsor a keynote address by General Norman Schwarzkopf
during the General Session of the BoatBuilder 2001/ CFA's COMPOSITES
2001 which will take place from October 3-6, 2001 at the Tampa Convention
Center in Tampa, Florida. "Reichhold is extremely proud to continue it's
long-standing sponsorship of the General Session, and is very excited to be
associated with General Schwarzkopf's appearance," said Reichhold
Composites SBU Vice President and General Manager Richard Rodriguez.
"We believe he has much to offer in the way of leadership and vision, and
that these attributes can be applied to all endeavors, including the composites
industry." See http://www.reichhold.com/Teams/Schwarzkopf.htm.
The NC Division of Coastal
Management (DCM) has submitted its request for shoreline rule changes to the
Federal Office of Ocean and Coastal Resources Management (OCRM) for approval.
These rules include the new Public Trust Shoreline AEC (areas of environmental
concern), 30-foot buffer requirements, and Urban Waterfront revisions. The state
considers the requested changes routine program changes and has asked OCRM to
adopt the changes for the state. To receive copies of the Coastal Shoreline
Rules, contact the DCM office in Raleigh at 919-733-2293.
There are two key issues of
importance to the waterfront business. One is the expanded permitting
requirements for shoreline development upstream of the dividing
line within the 20 CAMA counties. “This was accomplished through a new Public
Trust Shoreline AEC located inland of the dividing line between coastal fishing
waters and inland fishing waters and
extending 30 feet landward of the normal or high water level”. (The new urban
waterfront rules allows for placement of certain non-water-dependent structures
in waters adjacent to urban waterfronts and allows upland development inside the
30-foot buffer.
The second issue of importance here
is the use of the buffer area for water-dependent businesses. Only
water dependent uses and uses accessory to water-dependent uses will be allowed
in the buffer. Property owners will have to obtain exemptions for permits to
build structures accessory to water-dependent uses. To see more on related CAMA
rules on the Internet, go to our NCMTA site under Regulatory (http://www.ncmta.com/RegulatoryIndex.htm)
and view “Waterfront Business Issues”.