Wings, Wheels and Water

NMMA Action Alert:

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Help Stop Federal Boat Permitting. Urge Your Senators to Cosponsor S. 2766, the Clean Boating Act of 2008
March 17, 2008

The Threat to Recreational Boating. Unless Congress acts soon, every recreational boater in the country will have to obtain a federal or state permit in order to operate their boat. This means yearly fees, bureaucratic red tape, confusing and potentially state-by-state regulations, citizen suits and $32,000 per day penalties for non-compliance. These permits would apply to deck run-off, bilge water, engine cooling water and any other water-based, operational discharge from a recreational boat.

The Environmental Protection Agency, due to a sweeping court order, is already writing this unprecedented new regulation on boaters.

The Clean Boating Act of 2008. Senators Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) have just introduced S. 2766, the Clean Boating Act of 2008. S. 2766 would fully and permanently restore a 35-year permit exemption for recreational boat incidental discharges, such as weather deck run-off and engine coolant water, and works to protect the health of the nation’s waterways by pursuing whether or not reasonable and practicable best management practices need to be put into place for some incidental discharges. This important bill preserves recreational boating and the boating industry, taking a balanced approached that recognizes that pleasure boat discharges are completely different from land-based industrial facilities and commercial ships.

What You Can Do Today to Protect Boating. NMMA strongly urges all its members and all boating industry employees to contact their Senators and tell them to co-sponsor S. 2766, the Clean Boating Act of 2008. You can quickly and easily send a letter to your Senators by visiting www.boatblue.org. Once, there, simply type in your zip code and click send. This is the most significant threat facing the boating industry today, and we need your help to solve it. Take 5 minutes to tell Congress to support S. 2766.

Contact your Senators

Contact Mat Dunn (mdunn@nmma.org; 202-737-9760) or Dylan Jones (djones@nmma.org; 202-737-9776) so we can follow up with your Senators.

Should you fly before you buy a plane?

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If you sent a deposit to the seller and you made the effort to inspect the aircraft, you should get to fly the aircraft. Don’t let the seller tell you, “there is no need to fly aircraft, they all fly the same”.

Never buy an aircraft without flying it first!

Do you buy clothing, shoes or cars without trying them out first? You should apply the same consumer logic to an aviation transaction. If you can return the aircraft after you buy it, then your risk is reduced if you buy it without inspecting and flying it. But you usually don’t have that option.

Some reasons a seller may not want you to fly it first is; because it doesn’t have insurance on it, something is not functioning properly (not airworthy), it is out of annual and/or the owner isn’t current or qualified to fly.

If the seller won’t let you fly it before you buy it, how do you know it will fly home? You may not be able to fly as Pilot in Command due to the seller’s insurance policy but that shouldn’t prohibit you from being in the right seat. Single place aircraft raise another issue; you can’t fly with the seller.

Before you send a deposit or set out to inspect the aircraft, you should ask about test flying the aircraft and be cautious if you can’t ride or fly before you buy.

URGENT LEGISLATIVE ALERT

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Reprinted with permission from the SEMA Website. Even if you are not involved in the automotive industry, but just a car owner, you should check out the SEMA website. Look up whats happening in your state on the SEMA site.

Pro-Hobbyist Street Rod and Replica Vehicle Bill Moves in Iowa; House Vote to be Scheduled Soon.

A version of SEMA model legislation (H.F. 2452) that would create a vehicle registration classification for street rods and replica vehicles was approved by the Iowa House Transportation committee and will soon be brought to the floor of the House for a vote by all members.

Introduced by State Representative Jim Lykam (Jim.Lykam@legis.state.ia.us), H.F. 2452 defines a street rod as an altered vehicle manufactured before 1949 or a vehicle designed to resemble a vehicle manufactured before 1949. The bill defines a replica vehicle as a reproduction of an originally manufactured vehicle with the substitution or addition of parts to update the vehicle for purposes of safety, performance or reliability. The bill allows street rods and replica vehicles to be assigned a registration designation bearing the same model year that the body of the vehicle resembles.

We Urge You to Contact Members of the Iowa House Leadership (List Attached Below) Immediately to Request Their Support for H.F. 2452.

H.F. 2452 provides specific registration classes for street rods and replicas.

H.F. 2452 provides that a street rod or replica may display registration plates from the model year of the motor vehicle or the model year the vehicle is designed to resemble.

H.F. 2452 provides for a registration fee of $10.

H.F. 2452 provides that the owner of a street rod or replica vehicle shall self-certify that the vehicle is in compliance with certain equipment specifications.

Iowa House Leadership
Speaker of the House, Pat MurphyE-mail: Pat.Murphy@legis.state.ia.us

Speaker Pro Tem, Polly ButkaE-mail: Polly.Bukta@legis.state.ia.us
Home E-mail: mpbukta@mchsi.com

House Majority Leader, Kevin McCarthyE-mail: Kevin.McCarthy@legis.state.ia.us

Assistant Majority Leader, Lisa HeddensE-mail: Lisa.Heddens@legis.state.ia.us

Assistant Majority Leader, Helen MillerE-mail: Helen.Miller@legis.state.ia.us

Assistant Majority Leader, Mike ReasonerE-Mail: Mike.Reasoner@legis.state.ia.us

Assistant Majority Leader, John WhitakerE-mail: John.Whitaker@legis.state.ia.us

Please e-mail a copy of your letters to Steve McDonald at stevem@sema.org