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Rafters may get a break on permits Ben Silva swims a Tahiti to his paddle after flipping on a section of the Rogue River near Galice. [Mail Tribune File Photo] Monday Oct 23, 2017 at 12:01 AM Mark Freeman Mail Tribune @MTwriterFreeman The Oregon State Marine Board is floating a streamlined plan that would no longer require people who rent commercial rafts and kayaks to carry Aquatic Invasive Species permits, a move billed as a near no-brainer for Oregon waterways. While raft-rental companies, called liveries, still would be required to buy the same permits to outfit their fleets, their customers would not have to physically carry proof of that while on waterways such as the upper Rogue River. Just the company name on the raft would suffice, thereby saving the Marine Board printing costs and reducing water cops' need to check for permits — an on-the-water buzzkill cops say is time-consuming and not really necessary. "I think it's going to make life easier for everyone," said Sgt. Shawn Richards of the Jackson County sheriff's Marine Patrol. "We do yearly inspections on liveries, so we know they're compliant. This way, if there's not a tag on the boat, we don't have to hassle the clients. "It makes perfect sense," Richards said. There already is a precedent of sorts for the switch. Private powerboaters pay the $5 annual permit cost when they re-register their boats. The proof that they helped pay for Oregon's program to curb the spread of invasive species is the up-to-date boat registration, so they are not required to carry permits like private non-motorized boaters who otherwise don't register their crafts in Oregon. "It takes all the guesswork right out of it," Richards said. The Marine Board is guessing there will be no glitches with the change, but they are taking written public comments through Nov. 30. The results will be presented to the Marine Board in January, and if it sails through as expected, the new rules would be in place well before next summer's boating season, Marine Board spokeswoman Ashley Massey said. "This is a good move for everyone," Massey said. The proposed change would not apply to private boaters on privately owned crafts, who still would have to carry their permits. Created by the Oregon Legislature in 2009, the invasive species program is the first line of defense against environmental invaders such as zebra and quagga mussels. It raised almost $733,000 in the year ending June 30, 2016, to fund boat-inspection stations, boat-cleaning stations, enforcement and education outreach, according to the Marine Board. Users of nonmotorized boats over 10 feet must carry a permit, which is transferable. Boats under 10 feet remain exempt. While the public pays $5 annually for a tag, 91 liveries across the state buy theirs under a discount program that actually ends up putting the Marine Board 1 cent in the hole for each permit sold. Liveries currently buy permits based on a sliding scale, which tops out at $100 a year for operators who own 21 or more boats. For that $100, operators can get all the permits they request. The Marine Board last year sold to liveries 4,123 of its Tyvek tags, which cost about 40 cents apiece to make, creating the net loss, a Marine Board report states. Under the proposal, liveries would pay on the same sliding scale based on the number of their boats, but they instead would receive a certificate of compliance annually instead of tags. — Reach Mail Tribune reporter Mark Freeman at 541-776-4470 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MTwriterFreeman.