Tag Archives: Legislation

The Oregon State Legislature introduced this month Senate Bill 1071 (SB 1071), which will restore boating access in the Newberg Pool, a long stretch of the Willamette River outside metropolitan Portland. SB 1071 raises the allowable weight limit for boats used for towing on the Newberg Pool, allowing more families and individuals to access water sports and outdoor recreation activities ...

Earlier this month, ORR praised the introduction of the Outdoors for All Act in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives and called for swift passage through committee. Introduced by Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA) and Susan Collins (R-ME), and Representatives Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-CA) and Mike Turner (R-OH), the bill would expand outdoor recreation opportunities in urban and low-income ...

The NMMA announced Senator Gary Peters (D-MI), Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS), Representative Nancy Mace (R-SC) and Representative Darren Soto (D-FL) as co-chairs of the Congressional Boating Caucus in the 118th Congress. For over 30 years, the Congressional Boating Caucus has advocated and provided leadership on priority issues for $170 billion recreational boating and fishing industry, the largest contributor to the nation’s ...

Registration for the recreational boating industry’s annual advocacy event, the American Boating Congress, is now open. The American Boating Congress (ABC) will return to Washington, D.C. from May 8-10, 2023, bringing together all segments of the recreational boating industry to share its collective voice on Capitol Hill and address pressing matters for the industry. Following the return of a successful ...

NMMA this week participated in a Hill briefing hosted by OCEANA, which focused on NOAA’s proposed rule to address ship strikes to endangered North Atlantic right whales and educated over 50 congressional staffers on the need for major revisions to NOAA’s proposal in order to achieve the shared goal of protecting the North Atlantic right whale population. As America’s original ...

As state legislative sessions near their final days, boating access rights have been at risk across the United States. Lawmakers, agencies, and special interest groups across several states have attempted to regulate towed water sports, specifically wakesurfing, due to erroneous claims that the activity has a negative impact on waterway shorelines.The NMMA State Advocacy team, alongside the Water Sports Industry ...

By Bill Yeargin Many people don’t realize how close the pandemic and related supply chain issues have come to both shutting down the U.S. economy and putting our national security at significant risk. And the risk was largely related to semiconductor chips. 92% of semiconductor chips are made outside the U.S., and these chips are in almost everything. According to ...

As the weather warms and boating season nears in the Great Lakes region, Minnesota lawmakers are inching closer to officially expanding boater education to include adult operators. Last Thursday the Minnesota House of Representatives passed its omnibus environment and natural resources bill, HF4492/SF4062. The bill will return to the Senate, where a conference committee is expected to work out the differences ...

Outdoor Recreation Roundtable (ORR) recently celebrated two provisions key to bolstering the outdoor recreation industry in the recently passed FY 2022 Omnibus Appropriations Bill. Along with applauding the bipartisan funding of the government, ORR applauds the continued funding of $1.5 million for the Outdoor Recreation Satellite Account (ORSA). Additionally, Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) authored a requirement for the ...

The United States Department of Commerce announced the U.S. and United Kingdom (U.K.) reached a deal to ease steel and aluminum tariffs, allowing U.K. steel and aluminum products to enter the U.S. without application of Section 232 tariffs. Retaliatory tariffs on over $500 million worth of U.S. exports to the U.K on goods, including American-made recreational boats, will be lifted. Since ...