News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 21, 2002
California Watercraft Legislation About Fairness
Contact:
Elinore Boeke: 202-721-1621
Brian Berry: 202-777-3524
WASHINGTON, DC—A bill recently considered in
the California legislature, AB 1410, would have taken positive
steps towards ensuring that those who would discriminate against
certain types of vessels should not, in turn, be allowed to
benefit from numbering fees, sales taxes, and property taxes
imposed on these vessels. Although the vote on AB 1410 in
the Transportation Committee was 8 - 4 in favor of passage,
for technical reasons the bill did not clear the committee.
"If you pay, you get to play," said Monita Fontaine,
executive director of the Personal Watercraft Industry Association.
"This is a simple matter of fairness. If opponents of
this legislation believe that vessels should be taxed equally,
then they should not be held to a different standard when
considering their access to public waterways."
Fontaine also expressed her dismay at a press release put
out by the anti-boating group Bluewater Network. "This
was a vicious attack against personal watercraft, yet this
legislation applies to all vessels," she said. "A
local government would continue to be free to pass any regulation
they feel is appropriate. The bill merely states that if a
government chooses to ban catamaran or bass boats or personal
watercraft, it would not be appropriate to collect revenue
derived from that type of vessel.
AB 1410 reasonably limits allocation of public moneys to
communities that deny access to any tax and fee paying vessel,
including personal watercraft. It seeks to rectify the fundamental
unfairness of communities that receive public funds from a
segment of the boating community, yet deny these same boaters
access to public facilities. The legislation also acknowledges
that those funds will be needed elsewhere to handle the resulting
increase in use at facilities that welcome vessels of all
types
SB 995 would preserve existing navigational rights for all
vessels. The vote in the Wildlife and Natural Resources Committee
was 3 – 2 in favor of passage, but again for technical
reasons the bill did not clear the committee. However, a vote
to reconsider the bill was granted unanimously.
"Environmental industry groups have anti-boating goals
that are not to improve the environment but rather to destroy
an industry through ‘the elimination of two-stroke engines
from all marine environments,’" continued Fontaine.
"They call the recreation choices of millions of Americans
‘inappropriate,’ but who appointed these discriminatory
groups to determine what vessels are and aren’t appropriate
uses of public waterways?
Personal watercraft are affordable family boats with clean,
quiet, fuel-efficient engines and no exposed propellers, enjoyed
by millions of Americans each year. Since 1998, the personal
watercraft industry has invested in technological advances
that have led to a 75 percent reduction in hydrocarbon emissions.
New direct-injection systems in two-stroke personal watercraft
engines are vastly cleaner than older, conventional two-stroke
marine engines. The industry continues to innovate, and this
summer, both Yamaha and Bombardier unveiled four-stroke engine
technology in 2002 models of personal watercraft. Additionally,
hull insulation and other muffling techniques have resulted
in personal watercraft that are 70 percent quieter than models
of only three years ago.
Lake Tahoe – which has the strictest environmental requirements
in the country – welcomes the use of more than twenty
models of personal watercraft because they are uniquely environmentally
friendly.
"The personal watercraft industry has been outstanding
in creating new technology to respond to our customers’
desire for environmentally-friendly recreation," said
Fontaine. Through mandatory education, reasonable regulations
and law nforcement, everyone can safely enjoy spending time
on California’s lakes, rivers and coastlines."
More information about personal watercraft is available at
www.pwia.org.
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