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Committee Substitute House Bill 2804 History

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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted


COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE

FOR

H. B. 2804

(By Delegates Staton, Canterbury, Keener,

Craig, Stephens, Fox and Swartzmiller)

(Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary

)


[March 14, 2001]


A BILL to amend and reenact sections eleven and sixteen, article seven, chapter twenty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to further amend said article by adding thereto four new sections, designated eighteen-a, nineteen-a, twenty-a and twenty-two-a all relating to the regulation of certain personal watercrafts; restricting the age of operation; requiring certain flotation and safety devices; restricting the hours of use; prohibiting certain reckless activities; setting guidelines for towing certain water skiers and other towables; regulating certain boating and personal watercraft liveries; and providing for exemptions from certain regulatory requirements.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections eleven and sixteen, article seven, chapter twenty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that said article be further amended by adding thereto four new sections, designated sections eighteen-a, nineteen-a, twenty-a and twenty- two-a, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 20. NATURAL RESOURCES
ARTICLE 7. LAW ENFORCEMENT, MOTORBOATING, LITTER.
§20-7-11. Motorboats and other terms defined.
As used in this section and subsequent sections of this article, unless the context clearly requires a different meaning:
(1) "Vessel" means every description of watercraft, other than a seaplane on the water, used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on water;
(2) "Motorboat" means any vessel propelled by an electrical, steam, gas, diesel or other fuel propelled or driven motor, whether or not the motor is the principal source of propulsion, but shall not include a vessel which has a valid marine document issued by the bureau of customs of the United States government or any federal agency successor thereto;
(3) "Owner" means a person, other than a lienholder, having the property in or title to a motorboat. The term includes a person entitled to the use or possession of a motorboat subject to an interest in another person, reserved or created by agreement and securing payment or performance of an obligation, but the term excludes a lessee under a lease not intended as security;
(4) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of the division of motor vehicles;
and
(5) "Director" means the director of the division of natural resources;
and
(6) "Personal watercraft" means a small vessel of less than sixteen feet in length which uses an inboard motor powering a water jet pump as its primary source of motive power and which is designed to be operated by a person sitting, standing, or kneeling on the vessel, rather than the conventional manner of sitting or standing inside the vessel. For purposes of this article, the term "personal watercraft" also includes "specialty prop-crafts" which are vessels similar in appearance and operation to a personal watercraft but which are powered by an outboard motor or propeller driven motor.
§20-7-16. Boat liveries.

(a) The owner
or operator of a boat livery or rental facility shall cause to be kept a record of the name and address of the person or persons hiring any vessel including personal watercrafts which is designed or permitted by him or her to be operated as a motorboat, identification number thereof, and the departure date and time, and the expected time of return. The record shall be preserved for at least six months.
(b) Neither the owner
or operator of a boat livery or rental facility , nor his or her agent or employee, shall permit any motorboat, personal watercraft or any vessel designed or permitted by him or her to be operated as a motorboat or personal watercraft to depart from his or her premises unless it shall have been provided, either by owner or renter, with the equipment required pursuant to section thirteen of this article and any rules and regulations made pursuant thereto.
(c) The owner or operator of a boat livery or rental facility, or his or her agent or employee, shall provide boating safety orientation for all persons that rent any vessel, including personal watercrafts, unless that person holds a certificate as required by section twelve-b, article seven of this chapter. The owner of a boat livery or rental facility, or his or her agent or employee, shall also provide to the operator or operators in print, prior to rental, the operational characteristics of personal watercrafts.
(d) The owner or operator of a boat livery or rental facility, or his or her agent or employee, shall not lease, hire or rent a personal watercraft to any person under eighteen years of age.
(e) The owner or operator of a boat livery or rental facility, or his or her agent or employee shall provide to the operator or operators of rental vessels, boats or personal watercrafts, in print, all pertinent boating rules including, but not limited to, those rules that may be peculiar to the area of the rental, such as no-wake zones, restricted areas, channel markers, water hazard markers and swimming zones.
(f) The owner or operator of a boat livery or rental facility shall carry liability insurance of at least three- hundred thousand dollars and possess the license and surety bond as required by section twenty-three-d, article two of this chapter.
§20-7-18a. Operation of Personal Watercrafts.
(a) No person under the age of fifteen may operate a personal watercraft on the waters of this state;
Provided , That a person that has attained the age of twelve may operate a personal watercraft if a person eighteen years or older is aboard the personal watercraft.
(b) A person may not operate a personal watercraft unless each person on board or being towed behind is wearing a type I, type II, type III, or type V personal flotation device approved by the United States Coast Guard. Inflatable personal flotation devices do not meet the requirements of this section.
(c) A person operating a personal watercraft equipped by the manufacturer with a lanyard-type engine cutoff switch must attach such lanyard to his or her person, clothing, or personal flotation device as a appropriate for the specific vessel.
(d) A person may not operate a personal watercraft at anytime between the hours of sunset and sunrise. However, an agent or employee of a fire rescue, emergency rescue unit, or law enforcement division is exempt from this subsection while performing his or her official duties.
(e) A personal watercraft must at all times be operated in a reasonable and prudent manner. Maneuvers which unreasonably or unnecessarily endanger life, limb, or property constitutes reckless operation of a vessel and includes, but is not limited to:
(1) Weaving through congested traffic;
(2) Jumping the wake of another vessel unreasonably or unnecessarily close to such other vessel or when visibility around such other vessel is obstructed or restricted;
(3) Becoming airborne or completely leaving the water while crossing the wake of another vessel within one-hundred feet of the vessel creating the wake;
(4) Operating at a greater than slow or no-wake speed within one-hundred feet of an anchored or moored vessel, shoreline, dock, pier, swim float, marked swim areas, swimmers, surfers, persons engaged in angling, or any manually powered vessel;
(5) Operating contrary to navigation rules including following too closely to another vessel, including another personal watercraft. For the purpose of this subdivision, "following too closely" is construed as a proceeding in the same direction and operating at a speed in excess of ten miles per hour within one-hundred feet to the rear or fifty feet to the side of another vessel which is underway, unless said vessels are operating in a narrow channel, in which case the personal watercraft may operate at the speed and flow of the other vessel traffic within the channel.
§20-7-19a. Towing water skiers and towables.
(a) No person may operate a personal watercraft towing another person on water skis or other towables unless the personal watercraft has, on board, in addition to the operator, a rear-facing observer, who monitors the progress of the person or persons being towed. This rear-facing observer must be at least twelve years of age.
(b) No person may operate a personal watercraft towing another person on water skis or other towables unless the total number of persons operating, observing and being towed does not exceed the specified number of passengers as identified by the manufacturer as the maximum safe load for the vessel.
§20-7-20a. Personal watercraft operation and towing exemptions.
(a) The provisions of sections eighteen-a and nineteen-a do not apply to a performer engaged in a professional exhibition or a person engaging in an officially sanctioned regatta, race, marine parade, tournament, exhibition, or water safety demonstration.
(b) The provisions of sections eighteen-a and nineteen-a do not apply to a person who holds a valid master's, mate's, or operator's license issued by the United States Coast Guard while performing his or her official duties.
§20-7-22a. Agency rulemaking for personal watercrafts.
The Director of the Division of Natural Resources shall propose rules, including the personal watercraft safety orientation requirements for livery owners and operators, for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of subdivision thirty, section seven, article one of this chapter and section one, article one, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code which effectuate the contents of sections eleven, sixteen, eighteen-a, nineteen-a and twenty-a of this article.
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