Washington's San Juan County began a 19-vessel roundup in 2003. Of the cost of about $240,000 for the entire project, the Derelict Vessel Removal Program covered approximately $180,000.
CALIFORNIA'S APPROACH
Abandoned commercial vessels contribute to the derelict problem in many different states.
California, which has a large problem with derelict boats, particularly in the canals and rivers of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, came up with a two-pronged approach. Lawmakers passed a bill that makes declaring a vessel derelict and assuming custody easier. But a proposal to keep abandoned boats from ending up in the waterways in the first place is still in limbo.
In 2005, California passed a law allowing law enforcement agencies to remove abandoned vessels from waterways. Under the law, the amount of time abandoned vessels may be held by law enforcement before being sold at auction was reduced from 90 to 60 days. By reducing the delay, officers avoid additional problems and costs that occur while vessels remain in the water.
The state passed the law in hopes that more local authorities would take advantage of funds tabbed for derelict removal. Each year approximately $500,000 is set aside from money generated by boating fuel taxes.
This approach was championed by the state's Abandoned Vessel Advisory Committee, which also sent a recommendation to the California Department of Boating and Waterways to create a pilot program to accept unwanted boats in the Delta counties. According to Russ Robinson, a past president of Recreational Boaters of California and BoatU.S. member who represented recreational boaters on the committee, the pilot program would allow owners of older, worthless or unwanted boats to turn them in to the sheriff's department as an alternative to abandonment.
The proposed program would run for three years and offer rebates on landfill fees or other means of making the turn-in program a low-cost option for disposing of an unwanted boat. By preventing the abandonment of unwanted boats the state should save money in the long run. The concept has already been put into practice on the Chesapeake Bay, with a good result. But California lawmakers have yet to pass the initiative.
MARYLAND'S PROGRAM
The state of Maryland has aggressively attacked its abandoned boat problem. Derelicts in Maryland waterways are removed through grants from the Waterway Improvement Fund, which is funded through the excise tax on boats and a small percentage of the state motor fuel tax.
About $300,000 is budgeted each year for grants to the counties. The Natural Resources Police administer the program. In addition, Baltimore County has its own vessel removal program that works directly with owners to remove boats before they are abandoned. "It's much, much cheaper to take them out that way, than once they are sunk," says Bob Gaudette, director of the state's Waterway Improvement Fund.
Weather is often a major cause of abandonement. This boat was left in ruin by Hurricane Katrina.
Based on that rationale, Baltimore County's Department of Environmental Protection and Resource Management (DEPRM) quietly initiated a simple but effective program in the early 1990s. Residential waterfront owners in Baltimore County who can transport their unwanted boat to a designated county ramp can have the boat pulled from the water and disposed of for free.
"We used to charge 25 percent of the cost of disposal, but the program is so low-cost that we stopped doing that," says Candice Croswell, of the Baltimore DEPRM. "The owners have to coordinate with us. They must sign-over the title, and the gas tank must be empty," says Croswell. If those conditions are met, a disposal crew will chop the boat up and put it in a dumpster on the spot.
The department also acts proactively, conducting a biannual survey to identify derelict, abandoned or distressed vessels with the goal of contacting the owners to initiate removal procedures before the boat sinks or becomes unseaworthy. Baltimore County Marine Police also keep an eye out for older boats that might be unwanted or on the verge of sinking with the same goal in mind. If they can keep the boats from becoming derelicts, it means that much more money in the budget to do dredging and other debris removal.
Abandoning a boat doesn't just cost taxpaying boaters, it can also cost the negligent owner. Most states will bill the boat's registered owner for the cost of disposal if they can find them. And if they determine the abandonment was deliberate, the owner can be fined or even serve jail time.
Part of the 2005 law in California makes abandoning a boat a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $500 to $1,500 fine on top of removal costs. In Maryland, deliberate abandonment is already a misdemeanor punishable by six months in jail and a $1,000 fine, both of which can double for a second conviction.
"We don't want hazards in the water," says Gaudette. "We don't want environmental threats in the water. We want them out of the water."
This story was originally published in BoatU.S. Magazine.
