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.