Preventing Vessel-Generated Pollution through Voluntary Environmental Certification: Best Management Practices for Boating in the Salish Sea

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1 Western Washington University Western CEDAR Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference 2014 Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (Seattle, Wash.) Apr 30th, 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM Preventing Vessel-Generated Pollution through Voluntary Environmental Certification: Best Management Practices for Boating in the Salish Sea Andy Gregory Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, andy@pugetsoundkeeper.org Follow this and additional works at: Part of the Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons Gregory, Andy, "Preventing Vessel-Generated Pollution through Voluntary Environmental Certification: Best Management Practices for Boating in the Salish Sea" (2014). Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference This Event is brought to you for free and open access by the Conferences and Events at Western CEDAR. It has been accepted for inclusion in Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference by an authorized administrator of Western CEDAR. For more information, please contact westerncedar@wwu.edu.

2 Preventing Vessel-Generated Pollution through Voluntary Environmental Certification Best Management Practices (BMPs) for boating in the Salish Sea Andy Gregory, MMA Pollution Prevention Director Puget Soundkeeper Alliance

3 Vessel Generated Pollution Vessels use and generate materials that are toxic to marine life High potential for discharge to waterways (accidental or intentional) Difficult monitor and enforce compliance Puget Soundkeeper 2012

4 Best Management Practices (BMPs) Developed to address critical pollution issues such as fueling, sewage and maintenance Provide practical solutions for marina managers and boaters Voluntary for marinas, mandatory for boatyards or other facilities with NPDES permit

5 Clean Marina Certification Voluntary program coordinated with county EnviroStars Operational checklist/audit of environmental practices Tools to communicate BMPs to customers Goal setting for certification renewal Currently 66 certified marinas in Washington State

6 Partners and Members Partners Marinas Public Ports Private Marinas Yacht Clubs Andy Gregory 2013

7 Environmental Club Theory Prakash and Potoski (2007) characterize Environmental Clubs as those that require firms to incur costs not required by law that lead to the production of positive environmental externalities Clean Marina requires participants to incur the costs of BMP implementation (among others) to produce the positive externality of improved water quality Program provides additional benefits to participating marinas Prakash, A. and Potoski, M Collective Action through Voluntary Environmental Programs: A Club Theory Perspective. The Policy Studies Journal. Vol. 35, No. 4, pp

8 Costs and Benefits of Participation Costs Increased administrative time Provision of recycling and some hazardous waste disposal Staff time to promote and enforce BMPs Benefits Brand recognition and promotion through Clean Marina marketing Improved aesthetic appearance attracts customers Recognition by industry peers Improve operational efficiencies Andy Gregory 2013

9 Enhanced Environmental Protection Andy Gregory 2013 Certification requires marinas meet or exceed pollution prevention activities required by law BMP Example- We prohibit the discharge of treated or untreated waste within the marina basin (required for certification) This is the level of protection provided by the proposed No Discharge Zone and exceeds current state and federal law

10 Challenges BMP Enforcement Falls on marina staff in port Nearly impossible while underway Reaching beyond early adopters to certify the remaining 2/3 of marinas in the state Helping marinas to realize more club benefits Improving Clean Marina brand recognition Andy Gregory 2013

11 Looking to the Future Trans-border BMPs? Reciprocal courtesy moorage at certified facilities? Interactive educational materials? Sustainable funding source? Andy Gregory 2013

12 Questions? This program is jointly funded through grants from the EPA and Department of Ecology. Materials do not reflect the views of either agency. Andy Gregory 2013