Mandates that all operators of mechanically propelled vessels obtain a boating safety certificate and prohibits children under the age of sixteen from operating such vessels unless accompanied by a certificated person sixteen or older except for the operation of certain vessels with small engines by persons between thirteen and fifteen years of age.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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7833
IN SENATE
August 8, 2012
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Introduced by Sen. AVELLA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend the navigation law, in relation to the operation of a
mechanically propelled vessel
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivisions 1 and 3 of section 49 of the navigation law,
2 as amended by chapter 805 of the laws of 1992, are amended to read as
3 follows:
4 1. a. No person [under the age of eighteen] sixteen years of age or
5 older shall operate a mechanically propelled vessel on the navigable
6 waters of the state or any tidewaters bordering on or lying within the
7 boundaries of Nassau and Suffolk counties, unless[:
8 a.] the operator is [accompanied therein by a person who is eighteen
9 years of age or older, or,] the holder of a boating safety certificate
10 issued to him by the commissioner, the United States Power Squadrons or
11 the United States coast guard auxiliary.
12 b. No person under sixteen years of age shall operate a mechanically
13 propelled vessel on the navigable waters of the state or any tidewaters
14 bordering on or lying within the boundaries of Nassau and Suffolk coun-
15 ties, unless the operator is [ten years of age or older and is] the
16 holder of a boating safety certificate issued to him by the commission-
17 er, the United States Power Squadrons or the United States coast guard
18 auxiliary and is accompanied therein by a person who is sixteen years of
19 age or older who also holds such a boating safety certificate, except
20 that a person who is under sixteen years of age but at least thirteen
21 years of age and possesses such a boating safety certificate may operate
22 (1) a mechanically propelled vessel powered solely by an electric motor;
23 or (2) a mechanically propelled vessel which is twelve feet or greater
24 in length and powered by a motor, or combination of motors, of less than
25 ten horsepower.
26 3. No person who is the owner of a mechanically propelled vessel shall
27 knowingly authorize or permit the operation thereof on the navigable
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD16433-01-2
S. 7833 2
1 waters of the state or any tidewaters bordering on or lying within the
2 boundaries of Nassau and Suffolk counties, unless[:
3 a.] the operator [is eighteen years of age or older or,
4 b. the operator is accompanied therein by a person eighteen years of
5 age or older or,
6 c. the operator is ten years of age or older and is the holder of a
7 boating safety certificate issued to him by the commissioner, the United
8 States Power Squadrons or the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary] meets
9 the requirements of subdivision one of this section.
10 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
11 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.
