Raft fee would channel money to cyanobacteria, navigation funds

Toxins in cyanobacteria blooms are harmful to people and animals. (N.H. Department of Environmental Services, des.nh.gov.)

A proposed $50 registration fee for “anchored seasonal floating platforms,” which swimmers and lakeside vacationers might better know as “rafts,” moved ahead in the House on Thursday. 

The chamber voted, 284-47, in favor of passing House Bill 1477, with an amendment to exempt rafts used for aquaculture. Half of the fee would be directed into the navigation safety fund, and another half to the cyanobacteria mitigation loan and grant fund, according to the bill as proposed by prime sponsor Rep. John MacDonald, a Republican from the lakeside town of Wolfeboro.

Cyanobacteria are microorganisms that flourish in warm, nutrient-rich water, forming blooms that can release toxins. 

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In recent years, conditions worsened by climate change, like warmer summers and droughts, have created an increasingly favorable environment for the bacteria. Lakes and beaches across New Hampshire have struggled to deal with the effects of cyanobacteria blooms, which can endanger the health of pets and swimmers while putting a damper on the recreation- and tourism-dependent economies of lakeside communities.

The cyanobacteria mitigation loan and grant fund was created as a portion of the state budget in 2022 and directed $25 million to communities to help fund mitigation measures, like chemical treatments to kill the bacteria. But that money has largely been spent without an existing channel to replace it, said Rep. Rosemarie Rung in September, while cyanobacteria blooms remain a threat.

The navigation safety fund, the proposed destination for the other half of the fee, is designated to New Hampshire Marine Patrol, a division of the New Hampshire State Police, for projects improving navigation markers and marine safety and law enforcement. 

Rafts owned by government entities, their contractors, and conservation groups are also exempted from the fee, according to the proposal, which will now be heard by the House Finance Committee.