Featured in the Sun Sentinel, the latest op-ed by Southeastern Legal Foundation’s (SLF) Kimberly Hermann exposes an Obama-era boating rule that many Americans may not be familiar with—but are guaranteed to be impacted by. Giving in to pressure from environmental groups nearly 20 years ago, Obama’s National Marine Fisheries Service created a Vessel Speed Rule that actively debilitates those who make their living on the water, especially those in South Florida, by imposing extreme speed limits on boats along the Atlantic.

Hermann explains that under the rule, “fishing guides, tour operators and recreational boaters are still forced to crawl through the water at just 10 knots and face penalties of up to $20,000 in fines — with the threat of jail time — if they fail to comply.”

While imposed in the name of saving the whales, “in reality, it was just another example of Washington bureaucrats imposing sweeping regulations on hardworking Americans based on questionable assumptions and little evidence.”

Fortunately, the Trump Administration just announced plans to reconsider and potentially rescind the Obama rule. “For the tens of thousands of people whose livelihoods depended on American waterways, it signals that the federal government may finally be taking a closer look at the unnecessary burdens placed on American boaters and coastal businesses.”

The announcement comes on the heels of SLF’s formal petition to the Trump Administration to rescind the rule and the organization’s regular advocacy to protect the boating and fishing industries.

Hermann writes, “All businesses that work on the water, whether fishing, sightseeing or tourist companies, are difficult and often physically taxing. The federal government should never have made their work harder — or less profitable — through unnecessary regulation that slows down commercial fisheries and sightseeing boats. We are proud to have fought against this rule and to support this administration’s efforts to make it right.”

Read the full op-ed at SunSentinel.com.