Dredging for Recreational Harbors and Ports: 

Changing the Paradigm

White Paper

Draft as of 20 December 2002

Presented by the Marina Operators Association of America

Introduction

The single greatest threat to guaranteeing access to our nation’s waters for recreational boating is the lack of adequate investment and attention being paid to maintenance and channel dredging for our recreational ports and harbors.  Inadequate investments in and ineffective management of recreational dredging is the shared responsibility of government, marina, and recreational boating stakeholders, including marina owners, the boating public, and non-profit organizations.

Necessary dredging does not occur because of the increasing costs and complications of the testing and the disposal process.  Combined with the exorbitant costs of dredging itself and a complete void of governmental or private sector funding mechanisms for dredging of recreational ports and harbors, a “dredging crisis” in marinas and shallow-draft harbors has emerged.

This document provides a brief overview of the importance of the recreational boating industry to the U.S. economy and to the boating public.  An initial set of findings describes why the dredging crisis exists today.  This is then followed by a request to create a public-private initiative to address these findings involving the U.S. marina industry, represented by the Marina Operators Association of America, and the National Sea Grant College Program. 

The Importance of the Boating Industry[1]

Coastal use is changing from industrial to recreational

Historical maritime economies such as shipping, commercial fishing, defense, and manufacturing which previously dominated the coastal landscape are using less shorefront area.  At the same time, U.S. coastal populations are increasing (Culleton, et al. 1993).  With these populations come rapid change and increased pressures for jobs, improved living standards, and environmental quality.  In the face of these pressures, the structure of coastal industries and business is changing.  Instead of a production base, the coastal business expansion has focused on developing a service-based economy, such as the marina industry, which is becoming a dominant element of the coastal economy.  This coastal industry has played an important role in enhancing the service sector during the national economic recession; the number of marinas is estimated to have steadily risen during the last decade and the number of boaters using marinas and related services has increased dramatically since 1980.

Boating is an important recreational activity for Americans

With 72 million boaters--almost one-third of the nation’s population--boating is one of the most popular recreational activities in the United States and growing.  A 2001 survey conducted by Roper Starch for the American Recreation Coalition showed a broad increase in outdoor recreation participation, with 20 of 37 tracked activities registering an increase in the percentage of Americans participating over the past twelve months.  The sharpest climbs in reported participation were in wildlife viewing, hiking, running, jogging, and motor boating.

The survey showed that boating is an accessible form of recreation with the median income of motor boaters reported as $40,000 and mean income as $48,000.  Those who participate in other popular recreational activities such as downhill skiing, golfing, and off-road biking all had higher household incomes.  Boating is also a family activity with 49 percent of all adults with children at home going motor boating, and 49 percent of adults with children going fishing, which is closely associated with boating.

The recreational boating industry is a key component of the national economy

There are thousands of boating companies in every state, and many of them are small businesses.  There are close to 30,000 businesses that make up the marine industry.  Retailers account for 14,000 companies in their own right, and there are over 11,000 marinas throughout the United States that provide a home for the nation’s fleet.  In the United States, there are almost 1,000 boat manufacturers that build boats that, in many cases, are the envy of the world in quality, workmanship, and seaworthiness.  Boats and related products amount to more than $25 billion in total annual retail sales.

Boating creates jobs

Boating provides direct jobs for 550,000 workers nationwide— from high school students on their first jobs as dockhands, to boat-building entrepreneurs, marine dealers, and assembly line workers, who re-circulate their marine-generated salaries throughout the economy.  Studies indicate that marinas create jobs directly (for people working there), and indirectly through spending in the community by marina patrons.  Data from a recent marina survey found that a berth in a marina equals .3 jobs in the surrounding community, or 60 jobs for a 200-berth marina.

Boating is an important tax-base for local and state jurisdictions

Marine consumers pay nearly $400 million in taxes and fees annually.  Tax revenues from the retail sales of boats and related equipment and parts add to the benefits of local marinas, as do the sales generated by the purchases of goods by marina residents.  As many states, cities, and towns impose a retail sales tax, it is estimated that the retail sales generated at a typical marina will--when calculated at a rate of five percent--generate between $10,000 to $20,000 a year, depending upon the marina’s size.

Assuming that each berth equals .3 jobs in the surrounding community, a 200-berth marina will create 60 jobs.  This same marina will produce a payroll value of $5,400 per berth annually.  These marina-generated earnings will yield state income tax revenues of about $50,000 annually.  Marina construction also generates state tax revenue; assuming a state income tax rate of five percent, a marina costing $3 million dollars to build provides $150,000 tax revenue yearly; an eight percent rate would yield $240,000.

Boating has ripple effects for related businesses

The ripple effect of every industry is in a large part a good indication of that industry’s true economic value to society.  The sport fishing industry, for example, is closely tied to the boating industry, and helps support tourism-based economies.  A Texas A&M study found that fishing on Lake Fork, Texas brought $27 million into the community for items such as lodging, food, gasoline, and marina fees.  In 1996, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife service conducted a study of fishing, hunting, and wildlife-associated recreation.  The study found that fishermen spent over $6 billion.  Over $414 million was spent in California alone by boat-owning fishermen on boating costs such as boat launching, mooring, storage, maintenance, insurance, pump-out fees, and fuel.  Overall, the impact of sport fishing in 1996 was over $108 billion.

Additionally, the boating industry requires such materials as fiberglass, aluminum, steel, and wood--all supplied from outside the industry itself.  Detroit automobile makers manufacture many of the engine blocks used in inboard and stern drive boats today.  Other materials required by the boating industry include (but are not limited to) vinyls, carpeting, instrumentation, tires, and wiring. 

Marinas provide essential access for boating

Marinas and recreational harbors provide access to the water for 17 million boats.  The 11,000 marinas located in the United States alone serve as gateways to boating, providing the essential infrastructure, such as docks, ramps, and lifts, that allow people seeking recreation on the water to safely begin and end their excursions.

While helping people get to the water is a full-time job, marinas provide another important function that is of value not only to boaters, but also to the entire community.  By serving as a steward of the environment, marina operators help to protect the natural resources of America not only for this generation, but also for generations to come.  Marina operators and owners realize that the success of their business relies in part on the ability of the beauty and attractiveness of their surroundings to attract customers.  Therefore, marinas are motivated to care for the waterways and the fish, birds, and other wildlife that make them their home.

Key Findings: the Need to Dredge is a Crisis for Marinas

Dredging is often required during the construction and modification of marinas (‘capital dredging’) and it is usually essential for the continuing maintenance of channels and basins (‘maintenance dredging’).  Without dredging, channels can quickly silt up and prevent navigation by all but the smallest craft.  In today’s regulatory context, dredging recreational harbors is becoming increasingly difficult.  In many instances, necessary dredging does not occur for several reasons:

Testing is prohibitively costly and time-intensive

Fifteen years ago, the cost of laboratory testing (including a number of samples) in many areas of the country was approximately $500 to $2,500 per project range.  Today, that same project would cost approximately $1,800 to $2,400 per sample, or easily $15,000 to $30,000 or more for the minimum testing of a marina with 50 to 75 slips.  If bioassay and bioaccumulation testing is required (typically required for off-shore disposal), the costs start at $80,000 to $120,000 per test and equate to approximately $250,000 to $500,000 per project--and the costs continue to rapidly rise as the requirements increase. 

Disposal options exist but are often cost-prohibitive

Marinas are generally limited to off-site disposal of dredged material unless they have substantial upland area that they can use as a dredge material disposal site.  Off-site disposal has been cost-prohibitive for many facilities, especially small- to medium-sized marinas.  Because of the gradual tightening of the various hurdle rates for classification, what was considered clean 10 years ago is now being treated as contaminated.  This translates to significantly higher costs to those needing to dredge-- higher costs for testing and higher costs associated with handling the dredged materials.  In many cases this is a 1,000 percent increase from ten to fifteen years ago. 

The permitting process is non-transparent, time-intensive and overly bureaucratic

Marinas are regulated by the same process and standards that are applied to the largest of dredging projects in this country.  This creates unnecessary financial and administrative burdens for marinas, especially those that are small and medium sized.  The current process does not take into account the fact that the levels of contaminants in marina facilities are lower than commercial and industrial harbors.

It is also important to point out that in most states upland testing and open water testing use different methodologies and, therefore, testing for one is not necessarily acceptable testing for the other.  In the interests of ensuring environmental quality, the process for determining what constitutes clean or potentially contaminated materials has become increasingly complex. 

Compared to industrial harbors, there are less contaminants in recreational marinas

Recent interviews indicated that higher levels of contaminants across a broader range of measures occur in industrial and commercial dredge sites.  In most cases, material dredged from recreational facilities is cleaner and therefore more easily disposed of conventionally or reused in innovative ways.

Current state and federal priorities are heavily weighted towards complex and expensive dredging projects of commercial harbors

Although keeping the country’s commercial harbors viable is critically important, maintaining recreational harbors is also an important economic necessity.  Currently, there are a disproportional number of commercial harbor projects being funded by the federal government.  State governments use their spare resources to support national dredging initiatives, which focus solely on commercial shipping.  A streamlined policy for the maintenance and dredging of recreational harbors is needed.

Solving Today’s Dredging Crisis: a Recreational Harbor Dredging Initiative?

To address these needs the Marina Operators Association of America, in cooperation with other industry groups is requesting that the National Sea Grant College Program join in a partnership to address a key issue for an important coastal user group.  A preliminary description of a draft Recreational Harbor Dredging Initiative follows:

Goal

Ensure that dredging of recreational ports and harbors takes place in a timely, cost-effective, and efficient manner, thereby meeting the needs of both the marine industry and the general public.

Objectives towards this goal are to:

§         Agree upon a clear approach and strategy at a national level that supports the many and diverse needs at the regional and local levels.

§         Identify and provide accurate and current information that directly increases the understanding of the dredging issue and possible solutions.

§         Create a neutral platform to develop a mutually agreed upon approach and strategy.

Strategies & Actions

Science and research

§         Provide science-based information about the impacts of dredging on recreational harbors (versus commercial harbors) the ACOE.

§      The ACOE uses recreation in its cost/benefit analysis of its beach nourishment program.  Can the same analysis be used for dredging recreational harbors?

§      Identify a congressional boating caucus and provide them with a summary of industry importance and key findings.  Publish “gee-whiz” statistics.

§      Using ACOE permit database, compare the types of materials being dredged from commercial harbors and recreational harbors.

§      Identify marinas that also serve as harbors of refugee.

Clarify Process/Communication

• Brochure/short summary that distills the regulatory process (from a macro perspective) based on known federal statutes.

• From a summary of the regulatory process, build an “options matrix” that maps out key decision points in the dredging process. This matrix would help marina operators understand the major choices they have to make and how it will affect the permitting process.

• Update nautical charts once dredging is complete to show change in water depth. California Coastal Commission is already doing this.

• Provide information to marinas on the planning, permitting, and dredging construction process.

• Include a dredging and disposal plan in each marinas operational plan (A boiler plate section could be developed where they fill in the blanks for their situation).

Legislative

• Seek specific legislative relief for key impediments.

• State and Federal Agencies with disposal sites could be approached to develop use agreements with private marinas for the use of the government’s site.

• State and Federal Permitting Agencies could be approached to determine if a permitting process can be assigned to streamline the permitting process (In Florida, maintenance dredging is exempt from state permits if you do not dredge deeper than the original depth and your dredged material is placed in a confined disposal site with no outfall).

• A source of assistance funding is identified, such as a portion of the Wallop/Bereaux funds or other sources possibly at the state level (In Florida, the MIA is looking to capture fuel tax dollars that currently go to the Department of Transportation for increased dredging, BoatUS identified this approach).

Support Local Action

• Connect marinas with planned federal projects as add-ons to dredging and disposal. Track federal permits and notify marina operators when federal projects are planned in their area. 

o       Get on ACOE permit notice list.

• Marinas should team up on the dredging projects to lower costs and use the same disposal site.

Next Steps

A 12 to 18 month process to achieve the intended objectives is proposed.  The process is designed to provide time and resources to develop and answer key questions that will shape a national discussion and, eventually, spur change.

The proposed process would include several activities sequenced over the next 18 months:

§         Revise and finalize a draft white paper that includes input from the network of Sea Grant College Programs and Boat/U.S., State Organizations for Boating Access, American Boat Builders and Repairers Association, and other industry groups.  In addition to direct interactions, input will also be gathered by attending and presenting at conferences including the Southeast Marine Trades Regional Meeting, fall state marine trade meetings, and the Army Corps of Engineers Stakeholders meeting.

§         Prepare a series of “state of the knowledge” reports and case studies.  These short reports will summarize what research and other work has been done in the areas of ecology/habitat, policy, and economics as they relate to dredging of recreational areas.  Although there will be some crossover with commercial dredging (e.g. how to dispose of contaminated material), the focus of these reports will be on dredging recreational areas.  Each report will include a bibliography with annotations for key/seminal documents and a short one- to three-page summary of the state of the knowledge.  The case studies will illustrate how specific solutions have been applied to state or regional problems.

§         Network with existing working groups who are concerned about dredging, such as the American Association of Port Authorities, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency dredging task force, and the Army Corps of Engineers dredging task force.

§         Host two round-table discussions with 10-15 individuals representing key agencies and organizations that can affect or influence dredging.  Suggested attendees include the Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [Sea Grant, Ocean and Coastal Resource Management], Research and Extension representatives from selected state Sea Grant programs, Marina Operators Association of America, National Marine Manufacturers Association, state Marine Trades Associations, U.S. Fish & Wildlife, Boat/U.S., and representatives from existing dredging task forces and related groups. These roundtables would meet twice within six months to do the following:

§         Review and augment the state of the knowledge reports and case studies for dredging of recreational waterways.

§         Compile and consolidate successful dredging strategies developed by other public and private organizations and agencies, to be used as models.

§         Define the key questions/research topics that need to be answered where informational gaps exist.  Questions may include:

-         Cost analysis of recreational dredging.

-         ACOE priorities compared to needs of recreational harbors.

§         Develop an approach/strategy for changing the dredging paradigm.  The approach/strategy will capture the outputs of the roundtable discussions and define:

-         What actions need to be taken, in order of priority.

-         Primary and secondary responsibility for each action.

-         Estimated budget for each action.

§         Conduct regional workshops and give presentations at professional conferences and meetings to build constituency and gather information about regional needs.  These workshops would follow a standard format and use the same Power Point presentation and handouts.  These regional work sessions would be held, where possible, in cooperation with a meeting already planned.  This may include the American Boating Congress (formally called LegCon) conducted by the National Marine Manufacturers Association in Washington, DC, spring of 2003, the National Marine Trade Council meeting in San Diego, California, May 2003, and CZ’03 in Baltimore, Maryland, July 2003.  The purpose of these regional presentations is to:

-         Inform regional constituencies about the dredging initiative.

-         Collect information about regional dredging needs.

-         Add information to the state of the knowledge reports.

-         Gather ideas and input to the national dredging strategy.

§         Conduct a national workshop.  The workshop would significantly expand the number of people engaging in the discussion to increase awareness, build support, and sharpen the approach/strategy.  The national workshop would seek to:

-         Widen the consensus and commitment to an action strategy,

-         Elevate recreational dredging on the national and regional agenda, 

-         Increase public investments in recreational dredging,

-         Ease permitting and testing burdens and obstacles, and

-         Incorporate “green” recreational dredging approaches into guidelines and requirements for eco-friendly Best Management Practices (BMPs) for marina operations.

By the end of the workshop, there should be mutual consensus on an approach/ strategy for changing the dredging paradigm.  Workshop participants would be drawn from public and private sectors that contribute to the solution.  Total participants would range from 30-50 people.

§         The roundtable discussants will meet a final time to ensure that the mechanisms are in place to implement the agreed upon approach/strategy.  Tasks and responsibilities will be assigned to ensure that the approach/strategy is implemented.

Building a Coalition: Public and Private Cooperation for the Common Good

This issue requires coordinated and synergistic action by both the private and public sectors.  This is an opportunity for the National Sea Grant College Program to respond locally and nationally to provide technical assistance to a major coastal constituency.

Who is the Marina Operators Association of America (MOAA)?  MOAA is the national trade group in the United States that represents the marina industry.  MOAA has over 950 members from both public and privately held marinas.  Through its membership, MOAA is uniquely positioned to understand the industry’s interests and needs vis-à-vis dredging.  MOAA works in affiliation with the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), which represents manufacturers specifically and a wider marine industry as well.  NMMA has an excellent track record of bringing positive change to the industry by working in collaboration with policy makers and regulators.

Why the National Sea Grant College Program?  Sea Grant has proven experience in bridging public and private interests through accurate research and timely extension.  Through its research capabilities, Sea Grant can provide the factual data necessary to inform the process.  Sea Grant has already made substantial investment in the area of dredging, especially in the realm of alternative uses for dredged material. 

Through its extension capabilities, Sea Grant provides a national network of extension, outreach, and education agents that can both facilitate information flow between different sectors of society and provide high-quality programming and technical assistance to local consumers.  Because Sea Grant is located in 29 states – all coastal – it provides access to a wide range of stakeholders across a vast geographic area.  This is critical to successfully addressing an issue such as dredging, which may be best addressed differently in each of the country’s regions.  

This dredging initiative also creates a real and important opportunity to bring the network of state Sea Grant programs and the Sea Grant Theme Teams to bear on an important national issue.  Like previous nationally networked initiatives such as HACCAP and MarinaNet, this issue is raised by an important user group, requires both research and outreach-–two of Sea Grant’s strengths—and requires national reach through regional and state venues.  The three Sea Grant theme teams, in particular, that are relevant are: 1) Ecosystems and Habitats; 2) Coastal Communities and Economies; and 3) Urban Coasts.