News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 28, 2002

Lawsuit Seeks Delay of Personal Watercraft Ban to Allow National Parks to Complete
Environmental Studies

Contact:
Elinore Boeke: 202-721-1621
Brian Berry: 202-777-3524

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX—Two personal watercraft users, along with the American Watercraft Association (AWA) and the Personal Watercraft Industry Association (PWIA), today filed suit against the National Park Service (NPS) for ignoring its own procedures in banning personal watercraft from a number of parks without first completing required environmental assessments.

Pending the outcome of the lawsuit, the plaintiffs are asking for a preliminary injunction to stay the impending bans, without which personal watercraft (PWC) use would automatically be banned in 13 National Parks on April 22, 2002, and in 8 more on September 15, 2002, without proper scientific review.

The National Park Service has indicated that it needs additional time to ensure fair and accurate environmental studies. So far, the environmental assessments have only been partially completed in the parks.

"It is fundamentally unfair to arbitrarily exclude people from enjoying these public waterways without due process," said Monita Fontaine, executive director of PWIA. "Complete the studies, then decide."

In Roberts v. Mainella, filed today in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Victoria Division, plaintiffs allege that:

• NPS neglected to complete environmental assessments in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). In this case NPS must consider the effects of a PWC ban on surrounding waterways that could see changes in boating use. "
• NPS behaved arbitrarily and capriciously by discriminating against PWC and PWC users based solely on hull type. Other motorized recreational boats utilizing the same type of marine engine as PWC, with similar maneuverability, sound levels, and speed capabilities, continue to be allowed in the parks. "
• Parks are violating the Organic Acts that created them, in addition to NEPA and the Administrative Procedures Act. Most national parks were created for public recreation, yet in this case NPS is treating similar vessels differently on unsubstantiated bases, relying on obsolete, inaccurate data.

"We're not saying that personal watercraft should be allowed in every park," explained Fontaine. "Clearly, each park is unique, and motorboats may not be appropriate in some environments. But we are confident that objective, scientific studies will find that today's personal watercraft have come a long way from those sold just five years ago and are among the most environmentally-friendly motorboats on the water. We welcome the National Park Service's scrutiny."

Fontaine points out that reliable, site-specific studies of the effects of personal watercraft on an individual park would be impossible if there are no personal watercraft in that park to study, hence the need to stay the impending bans. "The decisions to ban personal watercraft were made without proper study. Most superintendents can't even tell you how many PWC use their waterways each year, so not only are they unable to back up their claim of detrimental effects on their own park, they have no idea how a ban will effect neighboring parks when boaters shift to other waterways."