Personal Watercraft Ban

CNN.com - April 1 1, 2002

No stalling watercraft ban in parks

Five of 13 parks still trying to draft new rules

WASHINGTON (AP) --The Bush administration will not try to delay a ban on personal watercraft scheduled to take effect April 22 in 13 national parks and recreation areas.

The ban is a result of a Clinton-era rule that set a deadline for parks to establish regulations governing the watercraft or impose a blanket ban.

Personal. watercraft. familiarly known by the trade name Jet Ski, are high-speed, gas-powered vessels, most designed to be ridden by one person.

So far. eight of the 13 parks have decided to ban the watercraft.

Superintendents at five other parks have decided some personal watercraft use might be appropriate, but environmental assessments are still under way and rules are being drafted at those parks, meaning they will be forced to ban watercraft on April 22.

The National Park Service had considered trying to push back the deadline at the five parks where roles were being crafted, but didn’t have the legal authority to do so, said Kym Hall, regulations program manager for the Park Service.

“We are going to have to close temporarily,” she said. “We didn‘t want to have to do that, but we‘re going to have to.”

Eight more parks, possible throttles

The Park Service plans to make an announcement Thursday to explain the reasons for the closures to the public. Eight other parks have until September 15 to adopt rules for watercraft or ban them.

The National Park Service has already prohibited watercrafl use on 66 of the 87 bodies of water under its jurisdiction.

Two factors could delay the April 22 ban.

A federal judge in Texas has been asked by a watercraft industry group to prevent the ban from taking effect.