Exempts state and public corporations from liability for injuries and death of persons kayaking, surfboarding or scuba diving when lifeguards are not on duty.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7294
IN SENATE
May 9, 2014
___________
Introduced by Sen. ADDABBO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Judiciary
AN ACT to amend the general obligations law, in relation to exemption of
the state and public corporations from liability for injury to proper-
ty or personal injury, including death, of persons who use public
beaches for kayaking, surfboarding or scuba diving when lifeguards are
not on duty
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph a of subdivision 1 of section 9-103 of the gener-
2 al obligations law, as separately amended by chapters 141 and 286 of the
3 laws of 1984, is amended to read as follows:
4 a. an owner, lessee or occupant of premises, whether or not posted as
5 provided in section 11-2111 of the environmental conservation law, owes
6 no duty to keep the premises safe for entry or use by others for hunt-
7 ing, [fishing] kayaking, surfboarding, scuba diving, organized gleaning
8 as defined in section seventy-one-y of the agriculture and markets law,
9 canoeing, boating, trapping, hiking, cross-country skiing, tobogganing,
10 sledding, speleological activities, horseback riding, bicycle riding,
11 hang gliding, motorized vehicle operation for recreational purposes,
12 snowmobile operation, cutting or gathering of wood for non-commercial
13 purposes or training of dogs, or to give warning of any hazardous condi-
14 tion or use of or structure or activity on such premises to persons
15 entering for such purposes;
16 § 2. Section 9-103 of the general obligations law is amended by adding
17 a new subdivision 1-a to read as follows:
18 1-a. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the immunity
19 conferred by subdivision one of this section on the owners, lessees or
20 occupants of premises from liability for injury to property or personal
21 injury, including death, of persons who enter or use such premises for
22 kayaking, surfboarding or scuba diving shall apply to public beaches
23 owned or operated by the state or a public corporation during the hours
24 when lifeguards are not on duty.
25 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14690-02-4
