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THE BOATING ADVISORY COUNCIL Meeting Summary June 14, 2005 Daytona Beach, Florida Major Jim Brown, Boating and Waterways Section, called the meeting to order. Lt. Kent Harvey led everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance. Members Present: Public and Staff Present: ADMINISTRATIVE ITEMS Welcome from Commissioner Huffman New and Reappointed Council Members Major Brown announced the new and reappointed
Council members. Meeting Summary The Council adopted the March 3, 2005 meeting summary. Refreshments Major Brown thanked David Roach and the Florida
Inland Navigation District for providing today’s refreshments. The Hurricane Grant Program is a new program in which $5 million was appropriated to provide grants to marinas that suffered uninsured damages from named 2004 hurricanes. The division would like a Boating Advisory Council (BAC) member to sit on the review committee. Lee Chamberlain volunteered to serve on the committee. Florida Boating Improvement Program Funding is available again this year for the Florida Boating Improvement Program with $1.25 million for Tier 1 and $2 million for Tier 2. The program criteria are set in statute. Peggy Mathews served on the committee last year and volunteered to be the BAC representative again this year. OLD BUSINESS Marine Sanitation Devices Mr. Chuck Husick, an engineer and consultant, presented information regarding marine sanitation devices. Equipment is available to treat and dispose of sewage from small boats in order to protect the quality of Florida tidal waters. Mr. Husick asked the Council to take a look at the facts and promote the use of on-board treatment, if evaluation of the facts leads the Council to find that waste can be treated on board. Capt. Alan Richard, Assistant General Counsel, stated that in terms of treated sewage, there is no prohibition anywhere other than in an EPA designated no discharge zone. Only floating structures and houseboats (vessels used primarily for residential purposes 21 out of 30 days) are required to have holding tanks. MOTION: Mr. Listowski requested the Council to advise the FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute about this technology and to follow up with Mr. Husick to do an assessment of its validity for future applications. Ms. Neal seconded the motion. Mr. Listowski revised the motion to include the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) or whatever group is most appropriate. The motion carried. Capt. Richard explained how a change to Florida
law would be affected by federal law. Florida cannot by its own
action supersede an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
created no discharge zone. If the federal government passes a
regulation that says do not discharge, Florida cannot by statute
or rule supersede the federal regulation. Lt. Kent Harvey presented information regarding the 2004 statistics. The entire presentation will be available on the BAC portion of the FWC web site. 2004 Boating Accident Statistical Analysis Jennifer Castle Field requested a copy of the boating accident report form. A copy will be sent to all Council members. Suggestion for next year’s statistical report: International Boating and Water Safety Summit Mr. William Griswold, the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary representative, briefed the Council regarding the Ninth Annual Summit which was held in March in California. Attendees from a variety of backgrounds including state officials, Army Corps of Engineers personnel, U.S. Coast Guard officers, boating educators, etc. attend the Summits. The participants were involved in a poll with questions involving life jacket wear, mandatory boater education, etc. The Tenth Annual Summit will be held April 30 – May 3, 2006 at the Westin Innisbrook Golf Resort in Palm Harbor, Florida. For information about the Summit, visit http://www.safeboatingcouncil.org/summit/summitmain.htm. Lee County Boating Safety Initiative Mr. Brian Rehwinkel of the Boating and Waterways Section presented information regarding the Lee County boating safety initiative. The entire presentation will be available on the BAC portion of the FWC web site. Portions of the presentation are provided as follows. Florida’s 2005 Boating Safety Awareness Campaign What do we know? 60 – 75% of Florida’s accidents occur in 10
counties annually What?
Where?
The next area for this project will be Broward, Miami-Dade, and Monroe Counties. John Stewart stated that the demographics for the east coast are similar and FWC may want to include dive shops and retail dive operations for the point of display, particularly in Monroe County. Col. Jones acknowledged Capt. Moore for his efforts in moving forward with the Top Ten Counties project. This has been Capt. Moore’s vision for several years. Marine Events Lt. Kent Harvey, FWC, and Mr. Bruce Wright of the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), 7th District explained the Marine Permit Application Process. This process is applicable for races, regattas, etc. in navigable waters. The federal regulations are covered in 33 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Chapter 1 Part 100 and state law is covered in section 327.48, Florida Statutes. Ron Baker stated that the law is not being enforced equally across the board, and the timeline has also been a problem. Special events are important for tourism and bringing money into the community. It cost $5400 for a manatee watch. Some of these events are not requesting a permit. Jay Gorzelany agreed with Mr. Baker’s comments. Mr. Gorzelany has been involved in large boat races around the state and Mr. Baker goes out of his way to do what is required. The watch can be scaled down for his type of events. Mr. Gorzelany offered to assist in trying to help alleviate some of these problems. MOTION: Charles Listowski offered a motion for the BAC to advise the Governor and Cabinet of this apparent dilemma in the Marine Permit Application process for further review and collaboration with the USCG to amend. Mr. Gorzelany seconded the motion. Mr. Listowski revised the motion changing Governor and Cabinet to FWC and if the FWC approach does not work, then go to the Governor and Cabinet. The motion carried. Capt. Richard explained the process for the Council to make recommendations to the USCG for streamlining the process for smaller marine events. The existing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has expired, so he and Bruce Wright will be working on it. FWC can make recommendations and to the extent it takes rulemaking it would go to Washington. FWC can try to work with the USCG District Commander to see if there is a way to streamline by setting criteria that can be applied at a lower level. If it cannot be put in the MOU, then it can possibly be worked out as an internal District Seven procedure. Mr. Baker and Mr. Gorzelany will work with Capt. Richard. Col. Jones directed staff to frame this issue pursuant to the comments and forward that information in the form of a memo to the USCG. Col. Jones stated the other issue is education. FWC needs to educate the public as to when these permits are needed. Major Love can help with the marine unit in Putnam County. In the process of developing information for B.A.S.S., FWC can also provide education for our officers. Legislative Update Major Brown provided an update on those legislative items that passed this year which affect boating and other issues. HB 331 - INLAND LAKES AND CANALS HB 395 – RECREATIONAL LICENSES AND PERMITS HB 955 - WATERFRONT PROPERTY HB 989 – NATURAL RESOURCES Boating and Waterways Section Budget Major Brown briefed the Council about the Boating and Waterways Section budget. The funding comes from marina fuel tax revenue and this year’s amount is $8.5 million. At the end of year five, it caps at $13.4 million. Twenty new officers will be funded with new marina fuel tax money by year five. Boat Ramps Major Brown explained that the Commission maintains about 200 boat ramps. Some ramps are on Commission-owned property. For the other ramps, the situation is not as clear since some agreements were done in the 1950’s. FWC has five people that maintain the ramps statewide. The Boating and Waterways Section is working on securing contracts to assist with this maintenance. Regulated Anchorages Captain Alan Richard provided some background regarding managed mooring fields. The problem originally was that the Department of Environmental Regulation wanted reasonable assurances that water quality would not be diminished by installing a managed mooring field. There are now managed mooring fields with on-shore amenities such as toilet facilities, pump-out facilities, parking, stormwater management, etc. Don Kern of the DEP Palm Beach office is working with the City of Miami to get a managed mooring field in the Dinner Key area. Currently, the problems are managing the mooring field. Currently, local governments are prohibited from
regulating the anchoring of non-live aboard vessels. If it is a
live-board vessel or floating structure, cities and counties can
regulate their anchoring and mooring up to a flat prohibition. Capt. Richard explained the City of Miami Beach ordinance that passed. The ordinance states that if you are anchored seven days (consecutive or cumulative) within 30 days, it is prima facie evidence someone is no longer engaged in navigation. Officials still have to prove on a case by case basis that the vessel is a legal residence. The City of Stuart ordinance states any non-live aboard vessel that remains continuously anchored greater than ten consecutive days is presumptively no longer exercising rights of navigation. The City of Stuart has a managed mooring field and they are trying to take all of the boaters that come into Stuart and move them into the managed mooring field. Boot Key Harbor has taken a different approach. Instead of referring to anchoring in the mooring field, the ordinance addresses entering the mooring field. If people are not renting moorings or are visitors, they must stay out of the mooring field. Comments: Ms. Neal read the memo from Elaine Dickinson of BoatU.S. Government Affairs – Brief Overview of Florida Local Anchoring Restrictions, Need for Action. 2006 Proposed Legislation Discussion Major Brown covered the proposed legislative
items. There are three proposals with two of those related to
boating. This proposal will provide the groundwork for FWC to streamline its uniform boating citation administration. FWC would contract with the Florida Association of Court Clerks to provide data entry processing, disposition results, and financial reports related to the FWC uniform boating citation. MOTION: Mr. Listowski offered a motion to support this legislative proposal to go to the FWC. Jay Gorzelany seconded the motion and it carried. Derelict Vessels FWC is the only agency authorized to remove derelict vessels. The proposal would add all law enforcement officers as specified in s. 327.70 are authorized to remove derelict vessels and all costs incurred by the Commission or other law enforcement agency shall be recoverable against the vessel owner. MOTION: Mr. Listowski offered a motion to support the derelict vessels legislative proposal. Mr. Griswold seconded the motion and it carried. Statutory Consolidation This is an information item. A vote is not needed. This proposal would consolidate Chapter 370 and Chapter 372, Florida Statutes, to form a single statute that addresses all fish and wildlife resources in Florida. Vessel Registration – Item Suggested by Council Member Peggy Mathews would like the Council to consider the issue of registration for non-motorized vessels. The resources are used by all boaters but not paid for by all the users. This is to spread the fees equally instead of the entire burden being placed on motorized vessels. Col. Jones stated this is a huge issue. She took an informal vote of Council members with the results as follows - yes – 6; no – 4; undecided – 2. Comments: Lisa Neal wants to see less government not more. Jay Gorzelany stated it would be helpful if some of the accident statistics were firmed up and if we determine the level of FWC involvement. There is not enough information. Col. Jones suggested that Ms. Mathews go to the Commission in July and frame the discussion we had here. We can gather information and answer some of the questions. Bill Griswold stated it might be helpful to get information from states that register canoes/kayaks. Col. Jones suggested that Ms. Culp get input from the paddling stakeholders. Mr. Griswold suggested contacting the American Canoe Association. Col. Jones asked the Council how they wanted to handle this. They decided to request that staff do some research and that the item be tabled until further information is available. Ms. Mathews can advise the Commission it is a tabled issue before the Council. Seagrass Issue – Emerging Issue / Information Item Col. Jones briefed the Council regarding the potential legislation that came up last year relative to seagrass. It did not go forward last year. Now there are two people who have petitioned both DEP and FWC for a Declaratory Statement (document provided to Council). It is going before the Governor and Cabinet this month. This is strictly for your information so you know it is on the horizon. Boating Advisory Council – 2005 Positions Shelly Gurr reminded the Council of the five positions with September 30, 2005 term expirations. The positions and current members are as listed. Commercial vessel owners or operators –
Virginia Queen PUBLIC COMMENT Airboat Issue – Florida Airboat Association Col. Jones introduced Mr. Phil Walters of the Florida Airboat Association (FAA). The FAA is a statewide umbrella organization of volunteers that represents airboat related clubs, sportsmen clubs, associations, and manufacturers. Mr. Walters briefed the Council regarding proposed legislative changes to Chapter 327, Florida Statutes, which they are going to bring forward this year. The FAA would like to work with the Council on this issue. Mr. Walters asked Council members to review the proposal then discuss it. The handout provided explains what is being proposed and why. One reason for the proposal is that as a user group airboats are targeted. Col. Jones provided some background on the airboat issue. Two sessions ago a legislator brought forward some legislation that would have required mufflers on airboats. The current law says a vessel must be muffled; it does not say the vessel must have a muffler. Is a muffler the answer to airboat sound? Because there was not an answer to that question, FWC requested that the legislature stay on that process. The Boating and Waterways Section hired Florida Atlantic University (FAU) engineers for the research project. FAU engineers are looking at all aspects of airboat noise – the engine, the exhaust, the propeller, etc. There are sociological issues, and there are technological advances that could help lessen the sound. The Code of Ethics was developed as a part of this process. The FAA is offering some legal remedies that they believe can get everyone where they need to be. Col. Jones asked this group to wait for the rest of the study which will be completed in September. Once the findings come in, staff will go to the Commission and the stakeholders. The FAA states they want unified rules
throughout the state, they want to require mufflers, Mr. Walters wants the Code of Ethics to be displayed on airboats, at boat landings, at kiosks, etc. Col. Jones asked that Mr. Walters work with Mr. Rehwinkel to make that happen. Comments: Byron Maharrey suggested that the Council consider inviting public input before taking action on action items. NEW BUSINESS Bill Griswold – The Auxiliary would like to see the life jacket wear provision extended to children under 13 to coincide with the federal regulations of under age 13. Richard Moore – The accident / fatality data for that age group has not supported a change. When looking at other water activities, the numbers are higher but not for boating. Bill Griswold volunteered to work with Capt. Moore on this issue. Mr. Griswold would like to look at the USCG’s rationale for their regulation. Lisa Neal – She requested that the minutes and
meeting handouts be sent out earlier to Council members. |
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