Boaters are welcomed and encouraged to attend this year’s California Boating Congress together with RBOC, BoatUS and several boating industry organizations in Sacramento on May 27 & 28. More details will be announced soon!
Join us for our Boater Town Hall Zoom Webinar on Wednesday June 28
RBOC & BoatU.S. invite boaters and clubs to join us for a timely and concise one-hour Zoom Webinar with updates on our advocacy efforts including:
Boat Registration Fee Increase
Details on the Governor’s proposal to raise registration fees by 300%, and how you can take action.
Speed Limits, Abandoned Vessels, Delta Conveyance, Offshore Wind Energy & More
An overview of the key issues impacting boating and our advocacy efforts.
The Town Hall will take place from 6:30 to 7:30 pm on Wednesday, June 28, 2023.
Register in advance for this webinar [no fee]: click here
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
What our National Advocacy Partner BoatU.S. has to say about us....
California ranks 4th when it comes to registered boats among our 50 states. Luckily Golden State boaters have a strong voice thanks to their regional advocacy group, a BoatU.S. partner.
Read the article “The Recreational Boaters of California: Advocates since 1968” in the June edition of BoatUS Magazine: click here
The San Diego skyline on San Diego Bay. California is a perennial Top 5 state for pleasure boats with 645,951 registered in 2020.
RBOC & BoatU.S. Urge State to Consider Sound Science Before Adopting Non-point Source Plan
RBOC and BoatU.S. are urging the State Water Resources Control Board to utilize sound science and site-specific testing as the critical path forward, and to resolve key boater concerns, prior to adoption of a proposed Nonpoint Source Program Implementation Plan.
Boating and the boating industry represent a significant recreational resource and an important part of California’s economy. Together, we have been engaged continually over many years to protect the environment as the state and regional boards have addressed impaired water bodies, have developed basin plans, and have developed new standards including anti-fouling paints for boat hulls.
RBOC and BoatU.S. are emphasizing several key points in our request to the State Water Board:
As stated in our July 10 comments, it is essential that stakeholders be engaged in the consideration of comprehensive plans such as this proposal, especially when they will have significant impacts. To the best of our knowledge, this has not occurred with the current proposal.
It is critical to boaters that any decisions that restrict or prohibit the use of anti-fouling paints containing copper be predicated on clear findings that alternatives are available, effective and affordable. However, at this time, no single alternative will work, boat paint formulations are constantly changing, and non-biocidal paint safety has not been confirmed.
Current TMDL models are ineffective as management tools yet adaptations to those models are practically impossible to achieve. Updated science is overlooked.
The recreational boating community and industry are challenged by the absence of coordination among the regulatory entities including the State Water Board, regional water boards, and the Department of Pesticide Regulation. This impacts numerous issues ranging from the available paints, the models for managing water quality, the appropriate monitoring schemes, and the interconnection among toxicity labs.
Background levels of copper confound the ability to achieve numerical standards. High background levels of dissolved copper in hydraulically connected waters make achieving the numerical limit impossible.
The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board should not issue an investigative order and should not develop conditional WDRs for the discharge of biocides from boats residing in marinas until the boating community has a feasible, reasonable and readily-available alternative non-biocidal anti-fouling paints. RBOC and BoatU.S. remain committed to the protection and enhancement of the state’s waterways.
These and other public comments have been prepared and submitted to the State Water Board by a number of stakeholders representing the recreational boating community including boaters, clubs and industry.
RBOC is endorsing and urging consideration of the comments, concerns and requests set forth in the public comments of the Marine Recreation Association comment letter dated July 29, the Moffatt and Nichol Memorandum “Review of Non-copper-based Alternative Antifouling Paints to Support Discussion on Implementation Strategies for Reducing Copper by Boat-Paint Conversions” dated July 29, and the ChemMetrics comment letter dated July 29.
RBOC and BoatU.S. Urge Extended Comment Period, Inclusion of Boaters and Science in Draft Nonpoint Pollution Source Plan
RBOC and its national partner BoatU.S. are urging the State Water Resources Control Board to extend the July 13 public deadline, engage the boating community, and address critical boating issues in the State Board’s Draft 2020-2025 Nonpoint Source Program Implementation Plan.
For a copy of the complete letter: click here
The proposed 2020-2025 Nonpoint Source Program Implementation Plan presents the general goals and objectives of the co-lead state agencies for addressing nonpoint source pollution over the timeframe of July 2020 to June 2025.
It is important to note that the plan is being developed at a unique time for all Californians during the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, with stay-at-home orders and other necessarily impacting personal and business activities including recreational boating and our related industries. The protection of public health and safety is paramount, and demands the dedication of resources and effort that limit the ability of the public stakeholders to give the draft the time and attention it deserves. RBOC and BoatUS urge forbearance.
It is also essential that stakeholders be engaged in the consideration of comprehensive plans such as this proposal, especially when they will have significant impacts. To the best of our knowledge, this has not occurred with the current proposal: members of the boating community have not been contacted, boating and boating industry organizations have not been consulted. Individual subscribers to the State Water Board’s email notifications were not notified.
Testing that has been done at a few sites in Southern California indicates no negative impacts on aquatic organisms. Before a policy is implemented in a haphazard patchwork throughout the state, the organizations are requesting a statewide Water Effects Ratio [WER] Policy and a comprehensive plan for site-specific testing so that we can properly evaluate all coastal water bodies in Southern California. This is a goal outlined in the February 2019 Executive Director’s report.
RBOC and BoatU.S. are also expressing concerns that the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board uses a steady state model that does not use tidal information or basin dimensions to predict environmental copper concentrations. That is the methodology that yields an 85% load reduction for Marina Del Rey. The California Department of Pesticide Regulations [DPR] made regulatory decisions based on Predicted Environmental Concentrations of Copper using the MAMPEC model. As a result, DPR has approved anti-fouling paints containing low-leach-rate copper that they expect to achieve a sufficient copper load reduction.
These disparate approaches yield predictions that differ more than 300% from one another causing uncertainty for boaters and marina operators. We need a statewide Water Effects Ratio (WER) Policy and a comprehensive plan for site-specific testing.
Additional issues have been preliminarily identified. For instance, throughout the plan, objectives and milestones identify specific dates that are overly ambitious and, in today’s pandemic, unachievable.
RBOC and BoatU.S. remain committed to the protection and enhancement of the state’s waterways. Sound science and site-specific testing are the critical path forward.
California Boating Congress March 31 - Sign up Today!
To Sign Up Visit: www.calboatingcongress.com
RBOC Elects Ray Durazo as 2019 President
The Recreational Boaters of California (RBOC), the statewide non-profit boater advocacy organization based in Sacramento, announced the election of a new president, Ray Durazo of Half Moon Bay. Mr. Durazo succeeds the group’s 2018 president, John Marshall of Newport Beach. Also elected to office for 2019 are Vice President - South Dan Hodge of Newport Beach, and Vice President – North Paul Clausen of Orangevale.
“I’m proud and excited to be leading this strong and effective organization in the coming year,” said Durazo. “I encourage boaters and members of clubs throughout California to learn more about RBOC. You can do so at the organization’s website www.RBOC.org.”
Mr. Durazo has extensive experience in government relations and public policy. Since 1970 he has worked in that capacity for trade associations, as a senior vice president for a major international consulting firm in Washington D.C. and Los Angeles, and as owner and operator of Durazo Communications, a public relations firm headquartered in Los Angeles. He is a Fellow of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA).
He is an accomplished blue-water sailor, having sailed in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, in the United States and in Mexico and the British Virgin Islands. He has served as Commodore of the Half Moon Bay Yacht Club in Northern California and has been active in the Pacific Inter-Club Yacht Association (PICYA). In addition, he is currently serving on the Boat U.S. National Advisory Council.
Mr. Durazo resides with his wife in Half Moon Bay, California.
RBOC works to protect and enhance the interests of the state’s recreational boaters before the legislative and executive branches of state and local government. In 2019, RBOC is celebrating its 51st anniversary.
Take a Boating Safety Education Course March 18-24
No-Cost BoatUS Foundation online course offered for 36 states
ANNAPOLIS, Md., March 14, 2018 – Next week, Mar. 18-24, is a great time to take a boating safety course. Why? It’s perfect timing just before the start of the boating and fishing season and the week-long ‘Spring Aboard’ public service campaign makes it easy for boaters to take a boating safety course. The educational effort is a partnership of the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA), government, and nonprofit partners including the BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water.
The BoatUS Foundation offers a no-cost NASBLA and state-approved online boating safety course for 36 states at BoatUS.org/Free. The course fits into busy schedules, allowing boaters to stop, and then start again where they left off any time of day or night, and is loaded with interactive animations, videos and photos to give boaters an education that goes well beyond the basics of boating. Upon successful passage course takers can easily print their state’s proof of completion. More than 1.4 million boaters have taken the Foundation’s courses since 1997.
US Coast Guard statistics indicate that of the accidents where the level of operator education was known, 80 percent of boating deaths occurred on boats where the boat operator had never received boating education instruction.
About the BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water:
The BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water is a national leader promoting safe, clean and responsible boating. Funded primarily by donations from the more than half-million members of Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS), the nonprofit provides innovative educational outreach directly to boaters and anglers with the aim of reducing accidents and fatalities, increasing stewardship of America's waterways and keeping boating safe for all. A range of boating safety courses – including 36 free state courses – can be found at BoatUS.org/Courses.
RBOC Participates in California Boating Congress
RBOC co-hosted the successful February 27 California Boating Congress in the State Capital, with its leadership participating and also co-presenting on the topic of the new California Boating Card.
Pictured from left to right below are RBOC Immediate Past President - Director Peter Robertson, Past President - Director Greg Gibeson, President John Marshall, and Ex Officio Director David Kennedy with RBOC's national partner BoatUS.
California Boaters Can Now Take Free Boating Safety Course at Home
BoatUS Foundation online boating safety course approved by
California State Parks Division of Boating and Waterways
SACRAMENTO, Calif., April 12, 2017 – A new law says California boaters will need to go to school, and the BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety has the right course to fit their schedule and budget.
Starting January 1, 2018, Golden State boaters ages 20 or younger who operate a motorized vessel on state waterways will need to have a boater safety card showing successful completion of a boater safety education course. Each year thereafter on January 1, more age groups will be added to the requirement so that by 2025 all California boaters will need to carry a boater card issued by California State Parks Division of Boating and Waterways (DBW).
The easiest and most affordable way to meet the requirement is to take the BoatUS Foundation’s free online Boating Safety Course – now approved by DBW – which allows boaters to take the course in the comfort of their own home. Once successfully completed, the course does not expire so boaters of all ages don’t need to delay and can complete their boating safety education now.
“We’ve loaded the course with interactive animations, videos and photos to give boaters an education that goes well beyond the basics of boating,” said BoatUS Foundation President Chris Edmonston. “The best part of all is that our course is free and can be taken at home. It’s designed so that you can stop and then continue at any time,” added Edmonston.
Upon finishing the course, boaters can print their own certificate of completion, and beginning in 2018, the state will begin to issue official California Boater Education Cards to students who have completed the course between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2017.
The course and exam is approved by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators and recognized by the US Coast Guard as exceeding the minimum requirements for the National Recreational Boating Safety Program.
To take the course, go to BoatUS.org. For more information about California boater education, go to californiaboatercard.com.