Welcome to the archive Pages of the

 Maine Boatowners' Association

archive Page #1:

New Maine Law is Product of Reasonable Compromise

     The Maine Legislature has just passed L.D. 2375, “An Act to Rid Maine’s Waters of Ocean Vessel Sewage”, following several weeks of debate and discussion by stakeholders and other interested parties.  Those involved included the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Maine Boatowners’ Association, Friends of Casco Bay, Maine Marine Trade Association, Natural Resources Council of Maine, the Legislature’s Natural Resources Committee, and other coastal Legislators.  A compromise, amended version of the bill was drafted, and will now become Maine Law.............

 

archive Page #2:

ANCHORAGE & MOORING RIGHTS ALERT (4 March 2000)

FROM: Jim Chandler, Association Pres.


As some of you may already know, a heated controversy is developing, regarding the placement of rental moorings in secluded harbors which are believed to be outside the jurisdiction of Harbor Masters. This is an issue that requires the immediate attention of those folks who are most familiar with laws and regulations pertaining to anchorage and mooring rights, but we welcome any and all information you may have to share.

Here is what we know, to date:...............................

archive Page #3:

GUIDELINES FOR VESSEL OWNERS AND OPERATORS,  

REGARDING MAINE'S NEW OCEAN VESSEL SEWAGE LAW

1.  The Law Supplements Existing Federal Law: Since 1980, Federal law has required that vessels equipped with marine toilets must have an approved marine sanitation device (MSD) attached and in working order.  MSD’s are of three types:

Type I is a treatment system for vessels 65 feet loa and under.  Type II is a treatment system for vessels over 65 feet loa.  Type III is a holding tank.  Federal law prohibits the discharge of untreated vessel sewage within three miles of shore in U. S. coastal waters.........................

 

archive Page #4:

LATEST INFORMATION UPDATES

SUMMER EVENTS. MBA will host informal get-togethers of Members and prospective members at various locations across the state, over the summer. Some of these will be held in conjunction with waterfront festivals and open houses at our Business Members' facilities, and a complete schedule should be sent out by mid-June. As always your suggestions for events and locations will be most welcome. We hope to be on hand for OpSail Maine 2000, the tall ships event in Portland on July 28-31.......................

archive Page #5:

LATEST INFORMATION UPDATES

POLITICAL REALITY. With the current national election campaigns in full swing, local and state elections tend to be overshadowed in the media.  We suspect that this makes for complacency and perhaps apathy, among the voting public. In the case of MBA, it has been several months since we have heard from any of our Members who might have concerns about matters of boating public policy, and that is in stark contrast to most of 1999 and early 2000. Looking back to the trying days of coping with the proposed dockage tax, the vessel sewage bill and the conflict over rental moorings appearing in traditional anchorage harbors, things have been pretty quiet. Perhaps part of the cause is the fact that Summer 2000 was pretty cold and dismal, but we think it's time to raise a caution flag or two: .......................