Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

S-0382.1
                                SENATE BILL 5176
     State of Washington        67th Legislature       2021 Regular Session
     By Senators Van De Wege and Lovelett
     Read first time 01/12/21.     Referred to Committee on Agriculture,
     Water, Natural Resources & Parks.
      AN   ACT    Relating   to   modifying   boater    education   safety
  requirements;    and   amending   RCW   79A.60.010,    79A.60.630,   and
  79A.60.640.
  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
     Sec. 1.   RCW 79A.60.010 and 2005 c 392 s 2 are each amended to
 read as follows:
     ((Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the)) The
 definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the
 context clearly requires otherwise.
     (1) "Accredited course" means a mandatory course of instruction
 on boating safety education that has been approved by the commission.
     (2) "Boat wastes" includes, but is not limited to, sewage,
 garbage, marine debris, plastics, contaminated bilge water, cleaning
 solvents, paint scrapings, or discarded petroleum products associated
 with the use of vessels.
     (3) "Boater" means any person on a vessel on waters of the state
 of Washington.
     (4) "Boater education card" means a card issued to a person who
 has successfully completed a boating safety education test and has
 paid the registration fee for a serial number record to be maintained
 in the commission's database.
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     (5) "Boating educator" means a person providing an accredited
 course.
     (6) "Carrying passengers for hire" means carrying passengers in a
 vessel on waters of the state for valuable consideration, whether
 given directly or indirectly or received by the owner, agent,
 operator, or other person having an interest in the vessel. This
 shall not include trips where expenses for food, transportation, or
 incidentals are shared by participants on an even basis. Anyone
 receiving compensation for skills or money for amortization of
 equipment and carrying passengers shall be considered to be carrying
 passengers for hire on waters of the state.
     (7) "Certificate of accomplishment" means a form of certificate
 approved by the commission and issued by a boating educator to a
 person who has successfully completed an accredited course.
     (8) "Commission" means the state parks and recreation commission.
     (9) "Darkness" means that period between sunset and sunrise.
     (10) "Environmentally sensitive area" means a restricted body of
 water where discharge of untreated sewage from boats is especially
 detrimental because of limited flushing, shallow water, commercial or
 recreational shellfish, swimming areas, diversity of species, the
 absence of other pollution sources, or other characteristics.
     (11) "Guide" means any individual, including but not limited to
 subcontractors and independent contractors, engaged for compensation
 or other consideration by a whitewater river outfitter for the
 purpose of operating vessels. A person licensed under RCW 77.65.480
 or 77.65.440 and acting as a fishing guide is not considered a guide
 for the purposes of this chapter.
     (12) "Marina" means a facility providing boat moorage space,
 fuel, or commercial services. Commercial services include but are not
 limited to overnight or live-aboard boating accommodations.
     (13) "Motor driven boats and vessels" means all boats and vessels
 which are self propelled.
     (14) "Motor vessel safety operating and equipment checklist"
 means a printed list of the safety requirements for a vessel with a
 motor installed or attached to the vessel being rented, chartered, or
 leased and meeting minimum requirements adopted by the commission in
 accordance with RCW 79A.60.630.
     (15) "Muffler" or "muffler system" means a sound suppression
 device or system, including an underwater exhaust system, designed
 and installed to abate the sound of exhaust gases emitted from an
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 internal combustion engine and that prevents excessive or unusual
 noise.
     (16) "Operate" means to steer, direct, or otherwise have physical
 control of a vessel that is underway.
     (17) "Operator" means an individual who steers, directs, or
 otherwise has physical control of a vessel that is underway or
 exercises actual authority to control the person at the helm.
     (18) "Observer" means the individual riding in a vessel who is
 responsible for observing a water skier at all times.
     (19) "Owner" means a person who has a lawful right to possession
 of a vessel by purchase, exchange, gift, lease, inheritance, or legal
 action whether or not the vessel is subject to a security interest.
     (20)   "Person"  means   any   individual,  sole   proprietorship,
 partnership, corporation, nonprofit corporation or organization,
 limited liability company, firm, association, or other legal entity
 located within or outside this state.
     (21) "Personal flotation device" means a buoyancy device, life
 preserver, buoyant vest, ring buoy, or buoy cushion that is designed
 to float a person in the water and that is approved by the
 commission.
     (22) "Personal watercraft" means a vessel of less than sixteen
 feet that uses a motor powering a water jet pump, as its primary
 source of motive power and that is designed to be operated by a
 person sitting, standing, or kneeling on, or being towed behind the
 vessel, rather than in the conventional manner of sitting or standing
 inside the vessel.
     (23) "Polluted area" means a body of water used by boaters that
 is contaminated by boat wastes at unacceptable levels, based on
 applicable water quality and shellfish standards.
     (24) "Public entities" means all elected or appointed bodies,
 including tribal governments, responsible for collecting and spending
 public funds.
     (25) "Reckless" or "recklessly" means acting carelessly and
 heedlessly in a willful and wanton disregard of the rights, safety,
 or property of another.
     (26) "Rental motor vessel" means a motor vessel that is legally
 owned by a person that is registered as a rental and leasing agency
 for recreational motor vessels, and for which there is a written and
 signed rental, charter, or lease agreement between the owner, or
 owner's agent, of the vessel and the operator of the vessel.
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     (27) "Sewage pumpout or dump unit" means:
     (a) A receiving chamber or tank designed to receive vessel sewage
 from a "porta-potty" or a portable container; and
     (b) A stationary or portable mechanical device on land, a dock,
 pier, float, barge, vessel, or other location convenient to boaters,
 designed to remove sewage waste from holding tanks on vessels.
     (28) "Underway" means that a vessel is not at anchor, or made
 fast to the shore, or aground.
     (29) "Vessel" includes every description of watercraft on the
 water, other than a seaplane, used or capable of being used as a
 means of transportation on the water. However, it does not include
 inner tubes, air mattresses, surfboards, sailboards, and small rafts
 or flotation devices or toys customarily used by swimmers.
     (30) "Water skiing" means the physical act of being towed behind
 a vessel on, but not limited to, any skis, aquaplane, kneeboard,
 tube, or any other similar device.
     (31) "Waters of the state" means any waters within the
 territorial limits of Washington state.
     (32) "Whitewater river outfitter" means any person who is
 advertising to carry or carries passengers for hire on any whitewater
 river of the state, but does not include any person whose only
 service on a given trip is providing instruction in canoeing or
 kayaking skills.
     (33) "Whitewater rivers of the state" means those rivers and
 streams, or parts thereof, within the boundaries of the state as
 listed in RCW 79A.60.470 or as designated by the commission under RCW
 79A.60.495.
     (34) "Human-propelled vessel" means a vessel that is oared and
 paddled including, but not limited to, canoes, kayaks, rafts, stand-
 up paddleboards, and dragon boats.
     Sec. 2.   RCW 79A.60.630 and 2019 c 293 s 1 are each amended to
 read as follows:
     (1) The commission shall establish and implement by rule a
 program to provide required boating safety education. The boating
 safety education program shall include training on preventing the
 spread of aquatic invasive species. The boating safety education
 program shall include educational materials regarding whale watching
 guidelines and other voluntary and regulatory measures related to
 whale watching. The boating safety education program must include
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 education and safety training for operators of human-propelled
 vessels. The program shall be phased in so that all boaters not
 exempted under RCW 79A.60.640(3) are required to obtain a boater
 education card by January 1, 2016. To obtain a boater education card,
 a boater shall provide a certificate of accomplishment issued by a
 boating educator for taking and passing an accredited boating safety
 education course, or pass an equivalency exam, or provide proof of
 completion of a course that meets the standard adopted by the
 commission.
     (2) As part of the boating safety education program, the
 commission shall:
     (a) Establish a program to be phased over eleven years starting
 July 1, 2005, with full implementation by January 1, 2016. The period
 July 1, 2005, through December 31, 2007, will be program development,
 boater notification of the new requirements for mandatory education,
 and processing cards to be issued to individuals having taken an
 accredited course prior to January 1, 2008. The schedule for phase-in
 of the mandatory education requirement by age group is as follows:
 January 1, 2008 - All boat operators twenty years old and younger;
 January 1, 2009 - All boat operators twenty-five years old and
 younger;
 January 1, 2010 - All boat operators thirty years old and younger;
 January 1, 2011 - All boat operators thirty-five years old and
 younger;
 January 1, 2012 - All boat operators forty years old and younger;
 January 1, 2013 - All boat operators fifty years old and younger;
 January 1, 2014 - All boat operators sixty years old and younger;
 January 1, 2015 - All boat operators seventy years old and younger;
 January 1, 2016 - All boat operators;
     (b) Establish a minimum standard of boating safety education
 accomplishment. The standard must be consistent with the applicable
 standard established by the national association of state boating law
 administrators;
     (c) Adopt minimum standards for boating safety education course
 of instruction and examination that ensures compliance with the
 national association of state boating law administrators minimum
 standards;
     (d) Approve and provide accreditation to boating safety education
 courses   operated  by   volunteers,   or  commercial   or   nonprofit
 organizations, including, but not limited to, courses given by the
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 United States coast guard auxiliary and the United States power
 squadrons;
     (e) Develop an equivalency examination that may be taken as an
 alternative to the boating safety education course;
     (f) Establish a fee of ten dollars for the boater education card
 to fund all commission activities related to the boating safety
 education program created by chapter 392, Laws of 2005, including the
 initial costs of developing the program. Any surplus funds resulting
 from the fees received shall be distributed by the commission as
 grants to local marine law enforcement programs approved by the
 commission as provided in RCW 88.02.650;
     (g) Establish a fee for the replacement of the boater education
 card that covers the cost of replacement;
     (h)   Consider  and   evaluate   public  agency  and   commercial
 opportunities to assist in program administration with the intent to
 keep administrative costs to a minimum;
     (i) Approve   and provide accreditation to boating safety education
 courses offered   online; and
     (j) Provide    a report to the legislature by January 1, 2008, on
 its progress of   implementation of the mandatory education program.
     Sec. 3.   RCW 79A.60.640 and 2005 c 392 s 4 are each amended to
 read as follows:
     (1) No person shall operate or permit the operation of motor
 driven boats and vessels with a mechanical power of fifteen
 horsepower or greater unless the person:
     (a) Is at least twelve years of age, except that an operator of a
 personal watercraft shall comply with the age requirements under RCW
 79A.60.190; and
     (b)(i) Has in his or her possession a boater education card,
 unless exempted under subsection (3) of this section; or
     (ii) Is accompanied by and is under the direct supervision of a
 person sixteen years of age or older who is in possession of a boater
 education card, or who is not yet required to possess the card as
 provided in the program phase in RCW 79A.60.630(2)(a).
     (2) Any person who can demonstrate they have successfully
 completed, prior to July 24, 2005, a boating safety education course
 substantially equivalent to the standards adopted by the commission
 shall be eligible for a boater education card upon application to the
 commission and payment of the fee, without having to take a course or
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 equivalency exam as provided in RCW 79A.60.630(1). Successful
 completion of a boating safety education course could include an
 original or copy of an original certificate issued by the commission,
 the United States coast guard auxiliary, or the United States power
 squadrons, or official certification by these organizations that the
 individual successfully completed a course substantially equivalent
 to the standards adopted by the commission.
     (3) The following persons are not required to carry a boater
 education card:
     (a) The operator of a vessel engaged in a lawful commercial
 fishery operation as licensed by the department of fish and wildlife
 under Title 77 RCW. However, the person when operating a vessel for
 recreational purposes must carry either a valid commercial fishing
 license issued by the department of fish and wildlife or a boater
 education card;
     (b) Any person who possesses a valid marine operator license
 issued by the United States coast guard when operating a vessel
 authorized by such coast guard license. However, the person when
 operating a vessel for recreational purposes must carry either a
 valid marine operator license issued by the United States coast guard
 or a boater education card;
     (c) Any person who is legally engaged in the operation of a
 vessel that is exempt from vessel registration requirements under
 chapter 88.02 RCW and applicable rules and is used for purposes of
 law enforcement or official government work. However, the person when
 operating a vessel for recreational purposes must carry a boater
 education card;
     (d) Any person at least twelve years old renting, chartering, or
 leasing a motor driven boat or vessel with an engine power of fifteen
 horsepower or greater who completes a commission-approved motor
 vessel safety operating and equipment checklist each time before
 operating the motor driven boat or vessel, except that an operator of
 a personal watercraft shall comply with the age requirements under
 RCW 79A.60.190;
     (e) Any person who is not a resident of Washington state and who
 does not operate a motor driven boat or vessel with an engine power
 of fifteen horsepower or greater in waters of the state for more than
 sixty consecutive days;
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     (f) Any person who is not a resident of Washington state and who
 holds a current out-of-state or out-of-country certificate or card
 that is equivalent to the rules adopted by the commission;
     (g) Any person who has purchased the boat or vessel within the
 last sixty days, and has a bill of sale in his or her possession to
 document the date of purchase;
     (h) Any person, including those less than twelve years of age,
 who is involved in practicing for, or engaging in, a permitted racing
 event where a valid document has been issued by the appropriate
 local, state, or federal government agency for the event, and is
 available for inspection on-site during the racing event; and
     (i) Any person who is not yet required to have a boater education
 card under the phased schedule in RCW 79A.60.630(2)(a)((; and
     (j) Any person born before January 1, 1955)).
     (4) Except as provided in subsection (3)(a) through (i) of this
 section, a boater must carry a boater education card while operating
 a vessel and is required to p