By the Wake Boat Subcommittee of the Waters and Wetlands Stewards, North Star Chapter of the Sierra Club
A Flawed Bill
A new boater training bill (HF949) is rapidly progressing toward passage in this year’s session of the Minnesota Legislature. This new bill will require those born on or after July 1, 1987, to pass a boater training course to operate boats on the state’s waters. The new training course will be like the existing course our younger boaters are required to pass. Although it is incumbent upon all boaters to know the laws regarding boating safety and aquatic ecosystem protection, not enough possess that knowledge. We support the bill’s goal of educating more boaters to improve public safety, but we are concerned it will harm our aquatic ecosystems.
The bill states that the course curriculum for how boaters should protect the environment will be based on “best management practices” determined by a working group of “interested parties” formed by the commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MNDNR). This language does not require the MNDNR to recruit recognized environmentalists to be members of the group, leaving environmental protection to a group without any defined credentials.
If the MNDNR’s Own Your Wake initiative is an example of their commitment to inform boaters about how to protect our aquatic ecosystems, we should be concerned (see our recently updated wake boat blog to learn more).
Of further concern, the bill declares that “The course must be approved by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators [NASBLA] ...” a nationally recognized authority on water safety and boater skills, but with no expertise for protecting aquatic ecosystems. Moreover, NASBLA states that, “…members of the association have the right to voice concerns, contributions and objections to product development, professional standards and association leadership.”
These potentially influential associate members are primarily from the boating industry, law enforcement, boater training, and public safety organizations. This list of NASBLA’s associate members offers little comfort to those of us who want the course content based on sound scientific peer-reviewed studies for what boaters can do to protect our aquatic ecosystems.
Our Plan for Improving the Bill
The bill is obviously focused on water safety, which is laudable. However, environmental protection feels like an afterthought.
Therefore, we are asking the bill’s authors to revise the language to include an equally recognized Minnesota-based authority with credentials for developing curriculum that adequately protects our aquatic ecosystems, like NASBLA is for water safety.
Specifically, the Sierra Club is seeking to live up to our mission by advocating for legislators to:
- Amend the existing language to dedicate NASBLA’s role to water safety only.
- Assign a prominent Minnesota-based authority with science-based integrity to develop environmental protection curriculum for the boater education course.
With these modifications, we hope that House bill HF949 and companion Senate bill SF553 now embedded into House and Senate omnibus bills is passed as soon as possible.
What can you do?
Join us in contacting your legislator. Personal calls are one of the most effective ways to get involved, so find out who represents you and then give them a call soon. Only a few weeks remain before the end of the session.
Together we can change the language in this bill to ensure the environment gets what it deserves!
