Fix for stinker of an issue - abandoned boats

By Paul Oliva
San Francisco Chronicle

What to do with a boat you can't afford to keep but can't sell? A new law offers an alternative to letting it rot.

As the economy sank this year, it seemed many boats did the same. Owners abandoned more boats in the first quarter of 2009 than in all of 2008, according to the Coast Guard.

The unsightliness, pollution, safety issues and removal cost of floating junkyards at Richardson Bay, Redwood City, Treasure Island and elsewhere alarmed local and state officials. Yet there was no way for struggling owners to turn in boats instead of abandoning them.

An unusual alliance got behind solutions. A statewide group of legislators introduced Assembly Bill 166, co-sponsored by the environmental group San Francisco Baykeeper, the state sheriffs association and the state association of harbormasters.

AB166, signed in October, creates a turn-in program. Boat owners can transfer dilapidated vessels to local agencies. The law also raises the minimum fine for illegal abandonment to $1,000.

It's not Cash for Clunkers, and it doesn't apply to commercial vessels, but U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Paul Gugg says the program will reduce the amount of abandoned vessels.

That has big benefits.

Sara Aminzadeh at S.F. Baykeeper estimates removing abandoned boats costs local government about $200 per foot, as much as $12,000 for a large yacht. She calls the new law a victory that will "help keep derelict boats, and the oil, sewage and other hazardous materials that they contain, out of our favorite swimming, kayaking and boating areas."

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