New copper regulations expected to go into effect July 1

SACRAMENTO — Strict regulations governing the use of copper on recreational boats are set to go into effect July 1, according to a Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) presentation to the Division of Boating and Waterways (DBW) Commission meeting in Sacramento on May 10. Aniela Burant, an environmental scientist with DPR, updated commissioners on a new California regulation – 3 CCR Sec. 6190 – on copper-based anti-fouling paints and coatings. The regulation states recreational boats cannot be registered with the state if they have a leach rate of 9.5 micrograms per square centimeter per day. High leach rate paints won’t be available for purchase from distributors or manufacturers beginning July 1, Burant added. Boatyards, however, have two years to sell their inventory of high leach rate paints. “The Department of Pesticide Regulation … has regulatory authority over this because the copper in antifouling paints is considered a biocide, which is a pesticide,” Burant told commissioners. Burant added the new regulation would not apply to commercial vessels, such as passenger ferries, excursion boats, tugboats, fishing boats and military vessels. The regulation, however, does not require hull-cleaning management. “We have no jurisdiction or regulatory authority over [Best Management Practices] versus non-[Best Management Practices] cleaning, because it’s the...