Derelict Vessel and
Related Mooring
Issues
LT. Roger Young FWC
Officer David Albonetti FWC
Officer Les Miller SPPP
Officer Pat Stelmach SPPD
Waterfront & Boating Access Summit
October 14, 2006
Derelict Vessels and Related
Mooring Issues:
Derelict Vs. Anchored Vessels
In order to understand the issues
of derelict vessels, we must first
discuss the issues of unregulated
anchoring & mooring.
The Issues:
 The problems associated with
unregulated anchoring
 The law and legal constraints
on anchoring regulation
 Current solutions
 Potential solutions
The Problems Associated With
Unregulated Anchoring
Sanitation and Pollution
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Black water & grey water
Bilge water contaminants
Bottom paint leachate
Fuel leakage
Littering
Abandoned or derelict vessels
The Problems Associated With
Unregulated Anchoring
Damage to seabed
Ground tackle (scouring)
Dragging damage
Crushing & Shading
Shoreside damage
Mangroves and other vegetation
Damage from wading and climbing
Littering
The Problems Associated With
Unregulated Anchoring
Dangers to Navigational Safety
Improper location
Too close to channels/mooring fields
Too far from upland facilities
Anchor lights (missing or inadequate)
Improper anchoring equipment or
techniques (dragging or breaking free)
The Problems Associated With
Unregulated Anchoring
Long-Term Anchored Storage
of Vessels
 Accumulate in inappropriate locations
 Unattended vessels:
 No anchor watch (dragging, lights, bilge)
 Not properly maintained
 Ignored by owners (out of sight . . .)
 Tend to become derelict
The Problems Associated With
Unregulated Anchoring
Other Perceived Problems
 Aesthetic nuisances
 Decrepit, “ugly” vessels
 Laundry in the rigging
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Noise from generators/music
Forced proximity to strangers
Trespassing for water access
Fear of crime
The Issues:
 The problems associated with
unregulated anchoring
 The law and legal constraints
on anchoring regulation
Definitions:
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Anchoring
Mooring
Live-aboard
Floating Structure
Definitions:
(16) "Live-aboard vessel" means:
(a) Any vessel used solely as a residence; or
(b) Any vessel represented as a place of
business, a professional or other commercial
enterprise, or a legal residence.
A commercial fishing boat is expressly excluded
from the term "live-aboard vessel."
Definitions:
(9) "Floating structure" means a floating entity,
with or without accommodations built thereon,
which is not primarily used as a means of
transportation on water but which serves purposes
or provides services typically associated with a
structure or other improvement to real property.
. . .
Incidental movement upon water or resting
partially or entirely on the bottom shall not, in and
of itself, preclude an entity from classification as a
floating structure.
Definitions:
The term "floating structure" includes, but is
not limited to, each entity used as a residence,
place of business or office with public access,
hotel or motel, restaurant or lounge,
clubhouse, meeting facility, storage or parking
facility, mining platform, dredge, dragline, or
similar facility or entity represented as such.
Floating structures are expressly excluded from
the definition of the term "vessel" provided in
this section.
Who can regulate anchoring?
The federal government:
 Coast Guard - DHS
 US Army Corps of Engineers
 NOAA (sanctuary regulations)
 National Park Service (park
regulations)
 USF&W (refuge regulations)
Who else can regulate anchoring?
The state government:
 Fish & Wildlife Conservation
Commission (for public safety)
 Department of Environmental
Protection (within recreation
areas, parks, aquatic preserves,
etc.)
Who else can regulate anchoring?
Local government (Counties and
Municipalities):
 Live-aboard vessels & floating
structures
 Non-live-aboard vessels that are
withdrawn from navigation (i.e.,
those no longer exercising “rights
of navigation”)
327.60 Local regulations;
limitations.—
No ordinance or local law may apply to
the Florida Intracoastal Waterway
Ordinances and local laws are
enforceable only when they are not in
conflict with chapter 327 (including any
amendments) or the rules adopted
under chapter 327 (including 68D-23,
Florida Admin. Code)
327.60 Local regulations;
limitations.—
(2) Nothing contained in the provisions
of this section shall be construed to
prohibit local governmental authorities
from the enactment or enforcement of
regulations which prohibit or restrict
the mooring or anchoring of floating
structures or live-aboard vessels
within their jurisdictions. However, . . .
327.60 Local regulations;
limitations.—
local governmental authorities
are prohibited from regulating
the anchorage of non-live-aboard
vessels engaged in the exercise of
rights of navigation.
“Rights of Navigation”
"Public rights on navigable waters
are not restricted to navigation in the
strict sense, but include such
incidental rights as are necessary to
render the right of navigation
reasonably available."
65 C.J.S. Navigable Waters § 42.
“Rights of Navigation”
These incidental rights include the right
of the vessel to anchor so long as it does
not unreasonably obstruct navigation.
The common-law includes rights of
anchorage as an element of the exercise
of rights of navigation.
Attorney General Opinion 85-45 (May 31, 1985)
“Rights of Navigation”
As anchoring is one of the rights of
navigation, the very act of anchoring is
the exercise of a right of navigation.
Therefore, if the vessel is not a liveaboard, local governments cannot
regulate its anchoring while that vessel
remains a "vessel in navigation."
Marking Requirements:
Local ordinances regulating vessels are not
enforceable until they are marked “in accordance
with the permitting requirements set forth in
Chapter [68D]-23, Florida Administrative Code.”
Lee County v. Lippi, 662 So.2d 1304, 1307 (Fla. 2 DCA 1995).
“The Division [of Law Enforcement] will not issue
any permit authorizing the placement of
regulatory markers for . . . ordinances regulating
the anchoring of non-live-aboard vessels in
navigation, in violation of Section 327.60(2), F.S.”
Fla. Admin Code R. 68D-23.101(3).
No Longer in Navigation
When does a vessel cease
exercising rights of navigation?
 When it ceases to be a vessel.
 When it is withdrawn from
navigation.
The Issues:
 The problems associated with
unregulated anchoring
 The law and legal constraints
on anchoring regulation
 Current solutions
Current Solutions
(Solutions that can be implemented without legislation.)
The Enforcement Method
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Regulation by appropriate authorities
Strict enforcement of current laws
The Voluntary Compliance Method
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Managed mooring fields/anchorages
Peer pressure
Other nonregulatory approaches
Current Solutions (Enforcement)
Regulation by appropriate authorities
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Federal Rule
USCG – 33 C.F.R. Part 110 (Anchorages)
NOAA – 15 C.F.R. Part 922 (Sanctuaries)
USF&W 50 C.F.R. Part 32 (Refuge reg.s)
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State Rule
FWCC – Rule 68D-24 (Public Safety)
DEP – Rule 18-20 (Aquatic Preserves) or
Rule 62D-2 (State Rec. Areas & Parks)
Current Solutions (Enforcement)
Strict enforcement of current laws
 Anchor lights or other Nav. Rules
 Interference to navigation
 Abandoned property (inoperative or
partially dismantled)
 Derelict vessel (junked, wrecked, or
substantially dismantled)
Current Solutions (Enforcement)
Strict enforcement of current laws
 Registration and numbering
 MSDs and holding tanks
 PFDs and other safety equipment
 Boating privilege suspension (violator
education, BUI refusal)
 Outstanding warrants
Current Solutions (Vol/Compliance)
Managed Mooring fields/anchorages
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Invite participation, not require it
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Entice participation with amenities
Current Solutions (Vol/Compliance)
Peer pressure and
Other non-regulatory approaches
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Education and public information
“Neighborhood watch” type organizations
Work with potential vendors to meet needs
Provide charts/guides to anchorage locations
Use community oriented policing techniques
The Issues:
 The problems associated with
unregulated anchoring
 The law and legal constraints
on anchoring regulation
 Current solutions
 Potential solutions
Potential Solutions
(Solutions that will require legislation.)
Seek grant funding
Additional rulemaking authority
Provide a model anchoring ordinance
Remove restrictions on local authority
Potential Solutions
Seek grant funding for:
 Managed mooring fields/anchorages
 Upland facilities tied to boating access
 Charts, guides, and waterway marking
 Pump-out facilities and dump stations
 Enhanced enforcement (over current levels)
Potential Solutions
Additional rulemaking authority:
FWCC – Add “natural resource
protection” to the purposes for regulation
in § 327.46, FS.
DEP/BOTIITF – Allow regulation under
chapters 253 and 258, FS., to protect
resources on submerged lands not within
parks and preserves.
Potential Solutions
Provide a model anchoring ordinance
The model ordinance could be:
Specified in statute, or
FWC directed to develop it by rule.
Local governments wanting to regulate
anchoring:
Could adopt only the model ordinance
Other ordinances would not be allowed
Potential Solutions
Model anchoring ordinance –
Potential benefits include:
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Uniformity and predictability
Easier educational effort
Greater voluntary compliance
Facilitates enforcement across
jurisdictional lines
Potential Solutions
Remove restrictions on local
authority to regulate anchoring
 Local government could experiment with
local answers to meet local needs
 Regulation and enforcement would be
neither consistent nor predictable
Enforcement would be fragmented
County, state, and federal officers would not
necessarily know the lower level ordinances
Derelict Vessels
The key to enforcement is
prevention.
Interrupt the process BEFORE
the vessel is derelict.
Early intervention is essential.
Derelict Vessels
Derelict vessel – any vessel as defined
by Florida law, which is left, stored, or
abandoned: (2006 Legislature)
In a wrecked, junked, or substantially
dismantled condition upon public waters.
At any port in this state without the consent of
the agency having jurisdiction thereof.
Docked or grounded at or beached upon the
property of another without the consent of the
owner of the property.
Derelict Vessels
"Lost property" means all tangible
personal property which:
 Has no identifiable owner
 Has been mislaid on public property
 In substantially operable, functioning
condition or has an apparent intrinsic
value to the rightful owner
Derelict Vessels
"Abandoned property" means all tangible
personal property which:
 Has no identifiable owner
 Disposed on public property
 In a wrecked, inoperative, or partially
dismantled condition or has no apparent
intrinsic value
Vessels determined derelict by FWC, County or Municipal
authorities are included within this definition.
Derelict Vessels
“Store or leave” any derelict vessel
$1000, 1 year jail, or both
Probation and restitution (if ordered by court)
Vessel is abandoned property
 Removed at owners expense
 No vehicle or vessel registration until
reimbursement is made
Derelict Vessels
Removal of abandoned property:
Any law enforcement officer (or code
enforcement officer if designated by the city
or county)
No FWC delegation
Take possession if easily removable
5-Day notice (owner must remove or show
reasonable cause for failure to do so)
Remove and dispose at owners expense
(agency pays and seeks reimbursement)
Derelict Vessels
Removal of lost property:
Any law enforcement officer (or code enforcement
officer if designated by the city or county)
No FWC delegation
Take possession if easily removable
5-day notice (owner must remove or show reasonable cause
for failure to do so)
Remove and store at owners expense (agency
pays and seeks reimbursement)
Advertise (first 45 days) and auction (after 90 days)
Questions
and
Discussion
The End