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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit unanimously reversed a lower courtþs ruling and upheld a regulation limiting the operation of motorized personal watercraft within the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced.
The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary regulation designates four zones and access routes for the operation of jet skis, wet bikes, surf jets, miniature speed boats, air boats, hovercraft and the like. The Personal Watercraft Industry Association had brought suit challenging this restriction, arguing that the regulation was not supported by adequate evidence; that NOAA had no basis for regulating personal watercraft but not other vessels; that the record did not contain evidence to show that restricting the use of personal watercraft was þnecessary or reasonableþ; and that NOAA failed to respond to the associationþs comments that the restriction was unreasonable and unnecessary.
"We are obviously greatly pleased that the court agreed that the record amply supports NOAA's judgment and that our compliance with the Administrative Procedure Act is evident," said Stephanie Campbell, lead NOAA attorney on the case.
Quoting Robert Louis Stevensonþs description of the Monterey Peninsula as "the finest meeting of land and water in existence," the court rejected each of the industry association's arguments and held that the record was "full of evidence" regarding the threat posed by personal watercraft to resources (e.g., sea otters) and other users of the 4,000-square mile sanctuary.
"On behalf of the sanctuary, I look forward to working with the personal watercraft community to ensure that everyone may enjoy what the sanctuary has to offer, while protecting the resources that make it such a great place," said Sanctuary Manager Terry Jackson.
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Note to Editors: "Motorized personal watercraft" means any motorized vessel that is less than fifteen feet in length as manufactured, is capable of exceeding a speed of fifteen knots, and has the capacity to carry not more than the operator and one other person while in operation.