SWIFT ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES CLEAN MARINE INITIATIVE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Doug Pizzi
July 12, 2001
(617) 626-1118

BOSTON - Bob Durand, Secretary of Environmental Affairs, today announced several state efforts to reduce the impacts of boating on coastal water quality. Through the Clean Marine Initiative, the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM), an office within the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, will provide funds to coastal communities to take a number of measures to reduce pollution of marine waters.

Municipalities may use the funds to purchase cleaner boat engines for harbormasters and shellfish officers, provide boaters with free bilge socks that prevent the release of petroleum products to the marine environment, and may take advantage of detailed information and technical assistance to marinas and boatyards on how to better protect the coast. In addition, a team of state and federal agencies will work with the Urban Harbors Institute at UMass/Boston to collect information on the use and availability of pumpout facilities for boat sewage.

"The Clean Marine Initiative gives boaters, harbormasters, shellfish wardens, and marina operators some of the tools they need to make Massachusetts waters even cleaner," said Secretary Durand. "We have worked closely with marine trade industries, federal agencies, UMass, and local communities to identify how the state can help the boating community further improve all our efforts to protect the coast."

"The initiative we are announcing today is all about taking practical steps to help boaters and communities address pollution issues without new regulations," said Tom Skinner, Director of CZM. "Boaters represent some of our most active coastal advocates, and we are pleased to provide funding, technical assistance, and information for targeted programs that will really help improve coastal water quality."

The Clean Marine Initiative has four components:

• "4 the Environment" Grants - This CZM pilot program helps coastal communities replace conventional carbureted 2-stroke outboard motorboat engines, which allow as much as 20 to 30 percent of the fuel to pass directly to the air or water, with new, cleaner 4-stroke engines. CZM will be accepting requests from coastal communities for funding, and will finance up to 75 percent of the cost of these environmentally friendly engines. CZM expects that about 10 new engines will be purchased under this pilot program.
• Bilge Socks - This summer, CZM will begin distributing pollution-fighting bilge socks to boaters, focusing on the environmentally sensitive Areas of Critical Environmental Concern. By soaking up and bonding to oil and gas that get into the bilge, bilge socks help boaters prevent the release of petroleum products to coastal waters. Through the $80,000 CZM is devoting to this effort through its federal Nonpoint Source Pollution funds, approximately 10,000 bilge socks will be distributed. This effort is based on the successful pilot program CZM funded last summer in Buzzards Bay, which was run by the Buzzards Bay Action Committee.
• Marina Technical Assistance - CZM is currently distributing The Massachusetts Clean Marina Guide: Strategies to Reduce Environmental Impacts to hundreds of marine boating facilities throughout the coastal zone. This 150-page reference manual for owners and operators of marinas, yacht clubs, and boatyards provides information on cost-effective, non-regulatory practices to reduce marina and boating impacts on the coastal environment.
• Pumpout Analysis - The state's Division of Marine Fisheries, the Urban Harbors Institute at UMass/Boston, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and CZM are teaming up to collect information on the use and availability of boat pumpout facilities along the Massachusetts coast. Pumpouts draw sewage from boat holding tanks for proper disposal on-shore. More than 100 coastal pumpout facilities and convenient pumpout boats are available in the Bay State. These partners will work together to develop new ways to improve the delivery of pumpout services to boaters. In addition, they will look at ways support the other components of the Clean Marine Initiative.

"This initiative is the result of several agencies and businesses working together," said Secretary Durand. "We've had great cooperation from the marine trade groups, and none of this would have been possible without support from the state's Division of Marine Fisheries, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration."

In addition, CZM has a variety of publications available for boaters, including the 2001 Boater Guide to Tides & Pumpout Facilities. For a list of publications or to order copies, see the CZM website at www.mass.gov/czm or call the CZM Information Line at (617) 626-1212.