PRINTER'S NO. 1963
No. 1695 Session of 1993
INTRODUCED BY KASUNIC, DeLUCA, DALEY, PETRONE, TRELLO, STABACK,
PISTELLA, BELFANTI, VEON, CIVERA, VAN HORNE AND JAROLIN,
MAY 26, 1993
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON GAME AND FISHERIES, MAY 26, 1993
AN ACT
1 Amending Title 30 (Fish) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated
2 Statutes, requiring the establishment of a mandatory boater
3 education program.
4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 hereby enacts as follows:
6 Section 1. Section 5103 of Title 30 of the Pennsylvania
7 Consolidated Statutes is amended to read:
8 § 5103. Boating education [programs].
9 [The commission may inaugurate a comprehensive boating safety
10 and boating educational program and seek the cooperation of
11 organized boaters, the Federal Government and other states. The
12 commission may issue safety certificates to adults and minors
13 who complete courses in boating safety education.]
14 (a) Mandatory program of boater education.--Except as
15 otherwise provided in this section, on or after January 1, 1994,
16 any person born on or after July 1, 1976, shall not operate, on
17 the waters of this Commonwealth, a vessel for pleasure that is
18 required to be registered in accordance with this title or a
1 vessel for pleasure that is required to be numbered in
2 accordance with the Federal Boat Safety Act of 1971 (Public Law
3 92-75, 85 Stat. 213), without first obtaining a certificate of
4 boating safety education.
5 (b) Compliance.--Any person who is subject to the provisions
6 of subsection (a) shall:
7 (1) possess the certificate of boating safety education
8 when operating a vessel on waters of this Commonwealth; and
9 (2) show the certificate on the demand of a waterways
10 conservation officer or other law enforcement officer.
11 (c) Exemptions.--The following persons are exempt from the
12 requirements of this section:
13 (1) A person who is a resident of another state and who
14 is visiting this Commonwealth for 60 days or less in a vessel
15 that is registered in another state, if:
16 (i) the person was born before January 1, 1976; or
17 (ii) the person has been issued a license or boating
18 safety certificate in accordance with the provisions of
19 subsection (i).
20 (2) A person who is visiting this Commonwealth for 90
21 days or less in a vessel from a country other than the United
22 States.
23 (3) A person operating a boat on a body of water located
24 on private property.
25 (4) Any other person exempted by regulation of the
26 commission.
27 (d) Operational requirements.--When a vessel registered in
28 accordance with this title or numbered in accordance with the
29 Federal Boat Safety Act of 1971 is operated for pleasure on the
30 waters of this Commonwealth, at least one person on the vessel
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1 shall:
2 (1) possess the certificate of boating safety education;
3 or
4 (2) be exempt from the certification requirements of
5 subsection (a).
6 (e) Commission duties.--The commission shall:
7 (1) Promulgate regulations that establish criteria for a
8 course of instruction in boating safety education.
9 (2) Administer a written or verbal test when
10 appropriate.
11 (3) Coordinate a Statewide program of boating safety
12 instruction and certification and ensure that a course of
13 boating safety education is available within each county.
14 (4) Ensure that a course of boating safety education is
15 available at the earliest practicable age for children in
16 boating communities.
17 (5) Issue a certificate of boating safety education to a
18 person who:
19 (i) passes the commission-prescribed course in
20 boating safety education; or
21 (ii) passes a boating safety equivalency examination
22 administered by persons authorized to offer the course on
23 boating safety education.
24 (6) Provide boating safety education materials to
25 persons who plan to take the boating safety equivalency
26 examination.
27 (7) Replace a lost or destroyed certificate.
28 (8) Establish such fees as may be necessary to implement
29 and administer a course of instruction in boating safety.
30 (f) Additional sources of instruction.--If approved by the
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1 commission, any of the following may offer the course of
2 instruction in boating safety education:
3 (1) The commission.
4 (2) The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary.
5 (3) The United States Power Squadron.
6 (4) A political subdivision.
7 (5) A municipal corporation.
8 (6) An agency.
9 (7) A public or nonpublic school subject to the
10 limitation that any course of boating safety education
11 offered through a public school is not required to be more
12 than six classes, or exceed a total of eight hours.
13 (8) A group.
14 (9) A firm.
15 (10) An association.
16 (11) Any other person.
17 (g) Validity of certificate.--The certificate of boating
18 safety education, once issued, shall be valid for the lifetime
19 of the person to whom it was issued.
20 (h) Temporary certificates.--
21 (1) The commission or its designee may issue a 30-day
22 temporary certificate of boating safety education to a person
23 who signs an affidavit stating that the person has read and
24 understood the boating safety education materials provided by
25 the commission.
26 (2) The 30-day temporary certificate of boating safety
27 education issued in accordance with paragraph (1) may be
28 renewed for one additional 30-day period.
29 (i) Other valid documentation.--
30 (1) In lieu of a certificate of boating safety education
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1 issued by the Commonwealth, a certificate of boating safety
2 education issued in another state in accordance with criteria
3 of the National Association of State Boating Law
4 Administrators is sufficient to comply with the requirements
5 of this section.
6 (2) In lieu of a certificate of boating safety education
7 issued by the commission, a license issued by the United
8 States Coast Guard or a boating safety certificate issued by
9 a unit of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, the United
10 States Power Squadron or a local board of education is
11 sufficient to comply with the requirements of this section.
12 (j) Penalty.--On or after January 1, 1994, a person who is
13 subject to the provisions of subsection (a) and who operates, on
14 waters of this Commonwealth, a vessel for pleasure that is
15 required to be registered in accordance with this title or a
16 vessel for pleasure that is required to be numbered in
17 accordance with the Federal Boat Safety Act of 1971, in
18 violation of any requirement of this section, commits a summary
19 offense of the second degree.
20 (k) Enforcement.--A commission waterways conservation
21 officer or other law enforcement officer may enforce the
22 provisions of this section only as a secondary action when the
23 officer detains an operator of a vessel for a suspected
24 violation of another provision of this title or regulations
25 adopted in accordance with another provision of this title. A
26 person may be cited, but not apprehended solely, for a violation
27 of this section.
28 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 1993.
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