SAN DIEGO—Plans to amend the Port of San Diego’s in-water hull cleaning policy were put off, Dec. 10, 2019, as the district’s staff and board members held off on a planned public hearing to allow for more time to review stakeholder feedback.
Port district staff planned to discuss a proposed in-water hull cleaning policy at the Board of Port Commissioners’ Dec. 10, 2019 meeting, but pushed the hearing to a future meeting after it was determined there were a few issues that still needed to be ironed out.
Commissioners are likely to weigh-in on a proposed policy in February or March 2020, according to a port district spokesperson.
Boaters and other stakeholders, meanwhile, were encouraged to submit questions, comments or concerns to port district staff by Dec. 23, 2019. Port district staff planned to evaluate next steps and determine whether they need to re-engage with the boating and maritime community, in order to gather more information or perspective.
The port district had drafted some policy changes on in-water hull cleaning practices and presented them to stakeholders. Three informational meetings were held in recent weeks, according to stakeholders who were in attendance. Several boaters and divers expressed concerns about the policy draft, at least one...
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One Response
The Port’s hull cleaning policy continues to be (amended or not) a poorly crafted, toothless and ineffective attempt to reduce copper loading in San Diego’s waterways. The only way to reach the federally mandated water quality goals for copper is to ban copper-based anti fouling paints. Studies have proven that even eliminating in-water hull cleaning altogether would not achieve this. The Port is merely going after an easy target by regulating hull divers in this way.