Events

Rhode Island passes new rules for certification of compliance with pumpout law requirements in 2006

As of June 2006, all boats registered in Rhode Island and kept in its waters will be required to adhere to new compliance rules which require initial certification of a boat as having the proper equipment, then continued evidence of use of pumpout facilities. The continued monitoring will be via owner-maintained logs of boat usage versus pumpout utilization on required forms. Although this is a logical next step in keeping tabs on people's activities and their boats, it is hard to imagine how a state with many boats and few pumpout facilities and resources will meet the needs of the boating public for certification. It is even harder to imagine how they will enforce this new rule.

One Rhode Island resident we spoke with who received a letter in the mail recently announcing the new requirements says he is scrambling to find a facility in his area that can tell him what to do. Everyone he has asked has had no answers, only questions.

We've seen the Disney ship anchored just outside Newport. We wonder how well the state is doing in monitoring what cruise ships or commercial vessels discharge in the bay. One cruise ship can probably do more damage in one event than all the boating public can do in an entire season. What about the toxic chemicals they discharge from dry cleaning and photoprocessing facilities onboard? And how are they doing on monitoring agricultural runoff and industrial pollution? How does that compare with the stringency of requirements on boating enthusiasts? Inquiring minds want to know.

To read the full requirements, please click here (pdf).

To view a list of approved facilities for certification, please click here (leaving coastalboating.net).

Even the pumpout boat gets a waxing in CT!

Posted May 2006.