Boating Industry

February 2016

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LAUNCH www.BoatingIndustry.com February 2016 | Boating Industry | 9 of Representatives that had 184 signatures. This was a large showing, bipartisan members, leadership was on that, so there does seem to be a lot of momentum in the House itself to make some changes. There are several bills … in both the House and the Senate that took some action either reforming or repealing the RFS. That's what we're going to continue to do in 2016. It's definitely been a point of discussion in presidential politics. Hopefully, it will be a little bit higher on the media radar post Iowa. Obviously, this is a very sensitive issue in an election year when Iowa goes first and has a big stake in ethanol and the RFS. But we are hearing presidential candidates talk about it and we hope that will hopefully be part of the election discussion. [Editor's note: This interview took place before the Iowa caucuses in January.] Are there any bills in particular that NMMA is supporting? VASILAROS: On the House side, it's been two bills that we've been supportive of by Congressman [Bob] Goodlatte. [Editor's note: H.R. 703 and H.R. 704.] One bill is the reform and one bill is the repeal. We have always been for reform. NMMA is not opposed to ethanol in general. All of the engines that are built now and have been built for quite some time can handle E10, so we're really looking for … capping us at E10. Is it likely anything passes in 2016, or is it something that ends up happening after the election? VASILAROS: The political realities of 2016 are that it's going to be a very short legislative calendar, so it's going to be hard to get some- thing to rise to the top in the very short time they're going to be here. I think that we will continue to push small changes. A large reform or repeal bill will be difficult, but not impossible. We're seeing momentum, particularly in the House, and that's where we'll continue to put our efforts. HOT SPOTS Aluminum pontoons report solid growth Sales growth of aluminum pontoon boats hit 9.4 percent in the rolling 12-month period ending November 2015, according to data from Statistical Surveys. Several regions showed double-digit growth, including inland areas such as Grand Rapids, Mich., at 21.61 percent and Knoxville, Tenn., at 20.4 percent. Charlotte-Gastonia, N.C., Birming- ham, Ala., and Dallas-Forth Worth, also showed significant growth, at a rate of 16.69, 16.42 and 16.03 percent, respectively. New York, NY 11.3% Knoxville, TN 20.4% Columbia, SC 2.5% Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL 10.7% Nashville, TN 15.7% Little Rock, AR 3.1% Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX 16.0% Detroit, MI 3.1% Grand Rapids, MI 21.6% Birmingham, AL 16.4% The only region reporting a decline was Houston, falling 1.83 percent. Charlotte-Gastonia, NC 16.7% Houston, TX 1.8% NMMA testing has shown the damage ethanol can cause to engine parts (left and right). Industry groups also continue to research alternatives to ethanol, such as biobutanol.

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