Offshoreonly.com

Offshoreonly.com (https://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/)
-   General Boating Discussion (https://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/general-boating-discussion-51/)
-   -   And you thought noise laws were going to be a problem! (https://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/general-boating-discussion/106162-you-thought-noise-laws-were-going-problem.html)

CPPerformance 06-22-2005 07:20 PM

And you thought noise laws were going to be a problem!
 
Here is an article from The Tahoe Daily Tribune about closing Emerald Bay in Lake Tahoe due to high levels of emissions from powerboats. Talk about trying to ruin your weekends!

For quite some time now I've felt that emissions standards for boats will be the next big subject to hit us all....it may not be as far away as I thought.

Rough water ahead for motorboats


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Jim Grant / Tahoe Daily Tribune / The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency wants to close Emerald Bay to motorized boat traffic for one day a weekend during summer.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Amanda Fehd
June 22, 2005

A proposal to close Emerald Bay to private motorboats for one day each weekend in July and August because of exhaust pollution has boating enthusiasts asking a lot of questions.

The plan is part of shorezone requirements that have been 15 years in the making by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, which regulates environmental policies at the lake. Photo:4219599,right;

Largely overlooked, the issue could become more controversial as the agency prepares to approve its final shorezone regulation - a decision repeatedly delayed because there hasn't been consensus.

Research has found high levels of exhaust pollution in the bay - the same pollution that significantly decreased in other areas of the lake after the agency banned two-stroke engines in 1998.

Emerald Bay has become a hot spot of carcinogens and mutagens produced by fuel combustion, said Colleen Shade, chief of the planning and evaluation team for the agency.

The watercraft community sees the move as another means to chip away at the rights of boaters on the lake, who fought a long battle when the ban on two-stroke engines was proposed and eventually passed.

"The theory in the boating community is that they hope to eventually ban power boats altogether in Lake Tahoe," said Ron Williams, owner of a 76-fleet power boat rental company, Tahoe Keys Boat Rental. He spent $200,000 converting his jet ski inventory to four stroke when the two-stroke ban took place.

Agency spokeswoman Julie Regan acknowledged there is a demand for areas in the lake to be non-motorized, but said the "TRPA has no interest in banning all motorized watercraft on the lake.

"We understand that boating has an important history here, and that it's always been a part of life on Lake Tahoe."

But Williams said he's starting to see a pattern in how the agency handles problems.

"The TRPA likes to arbitrarily take away rights from the citizens and the community and a lot of times, they come up with these half-baked ideas," Williams said.

"Rights come with responsibility," said Regan. "We have a duty to encourage recreation that is environmentally sustainable. You can love a place (like Emerald Bay) to death. You can ruin a resource if you don't manage it correctly."

Tour boats such as the M.S. Dixie would still have free reign in the bay under the proposals. The paddlewheelers are already heavily monitored, said Regan. In addition, the closure would not affect canoes, kayaks, and sailboats.

Implementation is a long way off, said Regan. The TRPA Governing Board would have to vote on the document and the earliest pilot project would be next summer.

Formula Outlaw 06-22-2005 08:19 PM

Re: And you thought noise laws were going to be a problem!
 
Next they'll want everyone to have ID #'s tatooed on their foreheads...:eek: :rolleyes:

Lofty 06-22-2005 08:31 PM

Re: And you thought noise laws were going to be a problem!
 
I guess your looking into a new line of work then?

Lofty 06-22-2005 08:37 PM

Re: And you thought noise laws were going to be a problem!
 
I've been battling this for years at Tahoe. The enviro-Nazis have been trying to shut this lake down to power boats since I can remember.

If any of you head up there with your boats you will soon become acquainted with officer Baumgardner He will find any excuse to make you remove your boat from the lake. Last summer he "escorted" me to the marina because he found my blower ducts where 2" too short and posed a "significant safety hazard" to myself, my passengers and the public at large.

GLH 06-22-2005 08:46 PM

Re: And you thought noise laws were going to be a problem!
 
The problem is density...

Where all the rigs hang out panties get in a bunch. With the dense people...

Here there is a lot less people and we do not get hasseled that much. You guys in the big centers will have to deal with that more and more, unfortuately.


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 09:02 AM.


Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.