A support program for careening area projects
Within the framework of its 11th intervention program for the period 2019-2024, the Loire-Brittany Water Agency is carrying out a specific action to support careening area projects. It aims to support the development of suitable reception sites, respecting the standards in force to limit pollution related to underwater painting work of professional and recreational boats. "This is part of the global program to fight against industrial micro-pollutants. We face an under-equipment, a lack of air careenages to standards, which complicates the police aspect. It is difficult to ask boaters to make a long navigation to go careen and redo its antifouling. It's like asking a car driver to pass the technical control without having the network of approved control centers" explains Jean-Pierre Rouault, in charge of the file at the Loire Bretagne Water Agency.
From the study to the treatment equipment of careening water
The support and financing system of the water agency concerns the different stages of the careening area project:
- the study to define the quantitative and qualitative needs of the infrastructure
- the implementation of the work with supervised discharge monitoring objectives
The rate of support depends on the type of actor, reaching 80% for feasibility studies and 60% for works. The simple replacement of equipment, without improving environmental performance in terms of rejection. "The budget of 20 Meuros of aid per year on the whole of the industrial sector is rarely entirely spent and one is thus not blocked by an economic criterion" indicates the agent.
Helping the nautical industry to have access to shorelines up to standards
If the large careening areas, managed by marinas, are the best identified, shipyards often welcome boaters to redo their antifouling. For them, the financing of careening areas that meet environmental standards may be slowed down by the commercial impact, which the water agency wants to remedy by reminding them that aid is also intended for them. "The large areas of the major marinas have mostly already been supported. We need a fine mesh and on the scale of Brittany, only about forty shipyards are equipped. This is very few compared to the number of companies. We can only encourage shipyards to equip themselves, not impose them. We are aware that it is a heavy investment and difficult to pass on to the yachtsman, but this should not penalize those who make the effort to equip themselves" concludes Jean-Pierre Rouault.
