NC Clean Marina Finally HereThe NC Clean
Marina program, a joint effort of NC Marine Trades and NC Division of Coastal
Management, is finally underway. This is a voluntary program where marinas are
asked to conduct a self-assessment using a checklist, to show what best
management practices are used at their facilities. Those that meet the criteria
of Clean Marina will be issued a Clean Marina flag and can use the Clean Marina
logo on all promotional material. This is a great way to market your facility to
environmentally conscious boaters, and also to let regulators know that marinas
are making an effort to better their environment. The Clean Marina materials
should be arriving to every coastal marina in the state within the next couple
weeks. Please call Wendy Larimer (910) 962-3351 for more information. Marina Planning – Did You Know?
If you are planning to build or expand a marina, there are specific factors examined by our NCDENR to determine if a permit will be issued or not. While the request is reviewed by all state agencies, the recommendations of Shellfish Sanitation and the Division of Water Quality seem to carry the most weight.
Under Shellfish
Sanitation guidelines, shellfish fishing will generally be prohibited 100-200
feet from docks at a marina with less than 26-slips, 150-275 feet from a marina
with less than 51-slips, 175-325 feet from a marina with less than 76- slips,
and 200-400 feet from a marina with more than 75 slips. The number of feet is
based on whether the marina is a closed or open system, with a closed system
requiring more distance for closure. A closed system is where three sides of
the basin are closed to regular water movement. Also, if there are several
marinas close to one another, the Division of Shellfish Sanitation recommends
closures exceeding the rules above. One of the questions we hear is “how is the amount of pollution determined BEFORE the slips and boats are present?” EPA recommends state’s use a formula based on the number of boats with heads and number of people on board the boats versus the volume of water and tidal movement. The shellfish division recognized that the number of people on boats using boat heads is not a constant, so their guidelines are only loosely based on federal recommendations. EPA requires Shellfish Sanitation to come up with some closure distance numbers, like those listed above, in the name of public safety, and based on the common [mis]conception that marinas cause the pollution that contaminate shellfish.
Unfortunately for marinas and the boating public, CAMA’s decision to issue a
permit for marina expansion weighs the Shellfish Sanitation rulings heavily.
Shellfish Sanitation is not required to factor in public access, actual water
quality, or marina expansion benefits when they make their recommendations.
Unfortunately, other NCDENR divisions
increasingly use the shellfish sanitation criteria related to marinas as reason
for denying or restricting marinas and marina expansions. This is exemplified
by a recent draft rule to have no marina expansions on Outstanding Resource
Waters because shellfish areas have to be closed. Look for issues like this to
be discussed at this year’s Marina Forum
at NC/SC MarineEXPO. AIWW Association Brings Attention to Dredging NeedsThe Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway Association (AIWW) is a new organization formed for the purpose of bringing recognition of the problems encountered by travelers of the AIWW and how those problems can hurt the economies of states and towns which border the waterway. One goal is to lobby to increase the Corps of Engineers (COE) funding for its civil works program that controls the maintenance of the AIWW. The COE has agreed to study the economic impact of the commercial users of the AIWW. The study will investigate usage patterns, user practices, and operation and maintenance expenditures.
The goal
is to determine if the AIWW can adequately support current and future movement
of commodities. The focus right now is mainly on shipping, but there has been
mention of the need to examine how the recreational boats using the waterway
also add to local economies. The benefit of the AIWW will be weighed against
what current problems exist. For instance, in some areas the AIWW is in
desperate need of dredging, with sections only five feet deep. Other areas have
bridge opening and closing problems. If you are interested in finding out more
and helping this cause contact the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway Association,
643 S. Washington St., Alexandria, VA 22314, 703/837-9629, 703/518-8490 fax or
e-mail rosemary@kreative.net. MarineEXPO Exhibitor Registration
The NC/SC MarineEXPO exhibitor registration forms have been sent If you
have not received one and are interested or know a company that would benefit
by having a booth at this event, please call Wendy Larimer (910) 962-3351 or go
to our website http://www.asbdcnow.com/NCMarineTradeAssociation
and download the form under Exhibitor Info.
Don’t miss this opportunity to show your product and service to the many marine
businesses represented Exhibitors this year will be able to attend seminars at
no cost and will have a special “EXHIBITOR ONLY” reception. Come join us at the
New Bern Convention Center November 9-10 for this year’s show.
New SEPA Rules Proposed For MarinasThe Department of Natural Resources (NCDENR) has
requested that all Divisions review the requirements of the State Environmental
Policy Act (SEPA) to include marina building and expansions. One suggestion is
that any marina planning an expansion of more than 25% of its current number of
slips be required to conduct an Environmental Assessment (EA) under SEPA.
Previously only new marinas were required to undertake an EA. The completion of an EA can be extremely
time-consuming and add months or even years to the length of time it takes
between the request for a facility expansion and the issuance of a permit to
begin the work. The EA must be submitted first to the major permit coordinator
in Raleigh and to the appropriate Division of Coastal Management (DCM) regional
office manager. They determine whether the application is in proper form. This
can take up to 14 days each time it is reviewed. The document then must be submitted
to all Divisions of DENR, any of which can call for changes to the document. If
no changes are requested the review should be completed in 15 days. But, if any
department requests a change, that department, the applicant and the major
permit coordinator must work to resolve the conflict, taking as much time as
is needed to do so. If the applicant gets through this hoop, the
application goes to the state clearinghouse where the public can comment on the
application. This review lasts 30 working days. If there are public comments,
the document is sent back to the DCM initiating a new round of coordination
with the objecting parties. This all must be done before the Major Permit
application is submitted. This rule has recently been suggested and will not
come to public hearing for several months, but it’s time to start thinking
about how this will effect your future business plans. To hear about actions
you can take regarding this and other like issues, plan to attend the Marinas
Forum at the November EXPO. NC Boatbuilders Brace for Months of Regulatory ConfusionBoatbuilders across the state are about to be overwhelmed with regulatory information that will, without question, have some detrimental economic impact for them to consider – and they won’t just be fiberglass boatbuilders. At issue are the just signed EPA national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP) for new and existing boat manufacturing facilities. The portion of your boat manufacturing facility covered is the combination of all of the boat manufacturing operations listed as follows: (a) Open molding resin and gel coat (including pigmented gel coat, clear gel coat, production resin, tooling gel coat, and tooling resin), (b) Closed molding resin, (c) Resin and gel coat mixing, (d) Resin and gel coat application equipment cleaning, (e) Carpet and fabric adhesive, (f) Aluminum hull and deck coating, including solvent wipe-down operations and paint spray gun cleaning operations, on aluminum boats. The EPA has identified boat manufacturing as a major
source of hazardous air pollutants (HAP), such as styrene, methyl methacrylate
(MMA), methylene chloride (dichloromethane), toluene, xylenes, n-hexanes,
methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK), and methyl chloroform
(1,1,1-trichloroethane). These proposed standards will require all major
sources to meet HAP emission standards reflecting the application of the
maximum achievable control technology (MACT). It also establishes requirements
that boatbuilders demonstrate initial and continuous compliance with the
emission standards. The rules and an overview have been provided by NC’s
Reichhold at the http://www.reichhold.com/
website under News. It is the 16-June-00 article, linked here: Proposed MACT Rule
for Boat Builders. This topic, and many others,
will be discussed in seminars and the Boatbuilder’s Forum at the
November MarineEXPO. John
McKnight, Director Environmental and Safety Compliance for NMMA will be
leading a panel on this and other issues for the EXPO and is always willing to
take questions on this issue from his DC office. His number there is
202-721-1604 or e-mail at jmcknight@nmma.org. Have marine trades related question or problem? The NC Marine Trades Services is a service of the Small Business and Technology Center and available to all small businesses without charge. Marina related - call (910) 962-3351. Boatbuilding and Boatyard related - call (252) 728-2144. The headquarters of the SBTDC is located in Raleigh and can be contacted by calling (800) 258-0862.
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