In the UK, DEFRA is producing a guide for local authorities identifying good practice in managing coastal recreation activities.

The Irish Sea is being divided into ecological units in a review of marine nature conservation.

DEFRA is publishing Sea of Change, the government's consultation paper to help deliver our vision for the marine environment.

Back to the EU, where Towards a Strategy to Protect and Conserve the Marine Environment was published last October. The EU is also overdue on its proposal for a revision of the bathing water directive.

Still with me? There's more.

The Water Framework Directive (this is a big one) sets a strategic framework for managing the water environment.

And there's still more . . .

This is the list waiting for action on the desk of Sally Banham, assistant director of the British Marine Federation (BMF).

Banham joined the BMF two months ago and, working alongside Howard Pridding, has special responsibility for statistics, market research and environmental services aspects of the marine industry.

It looks as if she is facing an uphill struggle on the environment, but she feels it's all in hand and not as bad as it looks.

I asked her what the major issue concerning the industry is right now. "I think it's a capacity issue and the ability to fulfil the demand for facilities, " she said. "There's a great demand for moorings and some of the builders are now being asked to guarantee a mooring by purchasers."

Is this because there are fewer and fewer sites as, for example, the Habitats Directive spreads its sphere of influence?

"Certain areas do have such high numbers of people using them and I think in terms of expansion, the planning process sometimes gets caught up, particularly when you get the Habitats Directive involved."

So we are talking to government - DEFRA - about ways of smoothing that process, she said.

And to help that smoothing process along, the BMF is teaming up with The Yacht Harbour Association (TYHA) on a marinas and mooring study, looking at the number of berths there are around the country and looking at the demand for them.

But, in spite of the lengthy and officious-looking list, Banham feels there is no cause for immediate concern in the industry.

"I don't think there is anything significant: I think it's making sure the decision makers who issue the consents feel comfortable making decisions, " she said. "It's making sure they have an education and understanding of our industry, which is why we are talking to DTI and other government offices about spending time with our members."

There's always new EU legislation emerging, she said, and we're always working with key officials in Europe so we can influence the legislation at EU stage as opposed to when we get to UK legislation.

But at some stage, action on waste from leisure craft will become a factor in the UK, as it has on the Continent.

In some parts of Europe, legislation has already been enacted. However, in typical Brussels fashion, the legislation doesn't take into account that there's no point in enforcing holding tanks and the correct discharge of waste into shoreside pumping stations when there simply aren't enough pumping stations in place.

For an earlier article on this subject, I interviewed Erlend Prytz, managing director of the Norwegian marine industries federation, NBF, who told me the government wants a ban on emptying holding tanks overboard.

"Already you can't empty a tank or flush the toilet within 300 metres of land, " he said, "but now they threaten to ban emptying completely."

The real problem is that there are far too few pump-out stations in Norway. "It's all been put up without really thinking ahead first, " said Prytz.

Bjorn Lagerkvist, managing director of Batbranschens Riksforbund - otherwise known as Sweboat - has the same problem in Sweden, where the authorities have pushed through rules to keep the environmentalist lobby happy without a thought to how the rules will work.

"Our builders are installing holding tanks more or less as standard now, " said Lagerkvist.

"But we have less than 100 pump-out stations."

The UK was actually ahead of the game in 1997 with the Merchant Shipping Port Waste Reception Facility, said Banham, but we now have a European Directive that resulted in another regulation driven from Europe.

The result will be the Port Waste Reception Facilities Regulation 2003 - that's due to come in at the end of March.

"But this won't impact the leisure trade right now because there's an exemption for fishing craft and leisure craft not able to carry more than 12 passengers."

Are there plans to make sure pump-out facilities are in place and boat have holding tanks before legislation affecting the leisure industry is enacted, I asked?

"This is being sorted out at European level and this is why there is an exemption, " said Banham. "In terms of best practice and good practice, marina developers are now thinking about this."

The BMF and RYA produced a guide in 97/98 that looked at Port Waste Management Planning and this will be updated when the new regulations come in, she said.

"We 're expecting a March/ April introduction of the new regulations, so the guide will be updated shortly after that."

The final point on Banham's list is personal watercraft (PW), but it seems the industry has been making huge strides and is taking its environmental responsibilities very seriously.

A part of the boating market where the actions of a few have brought bad press for the entire industry, PWs have also had an uphill struggle with noise and exhaust emissions.

But things are a lot better now, said Chris Neville-Parry when he launched the Personal Watercraft Partnership (PWP) at the Schroders London Boat Show.

Engines are far quieter and cleaner than the whining, oily powerplants of the first generation PWs and with the PWP targeting local authorities with advice on living with PWs, Neville-Parry is confident there is a future for personal watercraft.

"Modern craft are more sophisticated and proper driver training has helped make the image of the sport more mature, " he said.

The Big Bad Wolf of the coatings industry right now is the Biocidal Products Directive (BPD). The coatings industry is currently going through the process of listing all the biocidal products they and their suppliers use.

Brussels wants manufacturers and their suppliers to submit product dossiers by January 1, 2006, after which the powers that be will decide which biocides to allow and which to ban. Those on Annexe 1 will be the OK ingredients.

"There are huge costs involved in generating the data for the evaluation of these active ingredients and the authorisation of the products containing the approved substances, " said Jacqui Knott, marketing manager for Hempel's Blakes brand in the UK.

The directive says active substances on the market before May 14, 2000, come under a transitional period of 10 years. Knott says this means that by 2010 all of these active substances will need to have been evaluated by the EU.

"Until this has happened, " she said, "products containing them stay in the market under the national legislation."

Any products containing active substances not covered by this transitional arrangement - those that entered the market after May 14, 2000 - cannot be marketed until the active substances has been evaluated by EU and products containing them have been authorised.

One thing that this exercise will sort out is the current confusion over irgarol and diuron, booster biocides that have been banned by UK and Danish authorities. Somehow the spirit of harmonisation across the single market seemed to slip a bit with this decision, made in the UK by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).