CHAPTER 540
S.P. 137 - L.D. 416
An Act to Amend the Definition of Personal Watercraft, to Prohibit the Imprudent Operation of Watercraft on Inland Waters of the State and to Assess the Effectiveness of Industry-sponsored Watercraft Safety Training and Education Programs
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 12 MRSA §7791, sub-§11-A, as enacted by PL 1989, c. 469, §1, is amended to read:
11-A. Personal watercraft. "Personal watercraft" means any motorized watercraft that is less than 13 14 feet or less in hull length as manufactured, is capable of exceeding a speed of 20 miles per hour and has the capacity to carry not more than the operator and one other person while in operation has as its primary source of propulsion an inboard motor powering a jet pump and is capable of carrying one or more persons in a sitting, standing or kneeling position. The term "Personal watercraft" includes, but is not limited to, a jet ski, wet bike, surf jet, and miniature speedboat and hovercraft. "Personal watercraft" also includes motorized watercraft whose operation is controlled by a water skier.
Sec. 2. 12 MRSA §7801, sub-§11-A is enacted to read:
11-A. Imprudent operation of watercraft. A person is guilty of imprudent operation of a watercraft if that person, while operating a watercraft on the inland or coastal waters of the State, engages in prolonged circling, informal racing, wake jumping or other types of continued and repeated activities that harass another person. This subsection may be enforced by any law enforcement officer or a person may bring a private nuisance action for a violation of this subsection pursuant to Title 17, section 2802.
Sec. 3. 12 MRSA §7901, sub-§11, as enacted by PL 1985, c. 762, §24, is amended to read:
11. Violation. A violation of section 7801, subsection 11-A, section 7857, subsection 13, 13-A, 13-B, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20 or 21 or of section 7858 is a civil violation for which a forfeiture of not less than $100 nor more than $500 may be adjudged, of which not more than $50 may be suspended.
Sec. 4. 17 MRSA §2802, as amended by PL 1995, c. 65, Pt. A, §53 and affected by Pt. A, §153 and Pt. C, §15, is further amended to read:
§2802. Miscellaneous nuisances
The erection, continuance or use of any building or place for the exercise of a trade, employment or manufacture which, by noxious exhalations, offensive smells or other annoyances, becomes injurious and dangerous to the health, comfort or property of individuals, or of the public; causing or permitting abandoned wells or tin mining shafts to remain unfilled or uncovered to the injury or prejudice of others; causing or suffering any offal, filth or noisome substance to collect, or to remain in any place to the prejudice of others; obstructing or impeding, without legal authority, the passage of any navigable river, harbor or collection of water; corrupting or rendering unwholesome or impure the water of a river, stream, pond or aquifer; imprudent operation of a watercraft as defined in Title 12, section 7801, subsection 11-A; unlawfully diverting it from its natural course or state, to the injury or prejudice of others; and the obstructing or encumbering by fences, buildings or otherwise, of highways, private ways, streets, alleys, commons, common landing places or burying grounds are nuisances within the limitations and exceptions mentioned. Any places where one or more old, discarded, worn out or junked motor vehicles as defined in Title 29-A, section 101, subsection 42, or parts thereof, are gathered together, kept, deposited or allowed to accumulate, in such manner or in such location or situation, either within or without the limits of any highway, as to be unsightly, detracting from the natural scenery or injurious to the comfort and happiness of individuals and the public, and injurious to property rights, are declared to be public nuisances.
Sec. 5. Assessment of industry safety and training efforts. The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife shall coordinate with personal watercraft distributors, dealers, rental agents and users in the State to assess the awareness of boating laws among users of personal watercraft and the extent and effectiveness of industry-sponsored personal watercraft safety training and education programs. This assessment must include, but is not limited to, estimates of the level of awareness among personal watercraft operators of general boating laws, safe boating practices, the safe operation of personal watercraft and the rate of participation by those operators in industry-sponsored safety training and education programs. The Bureau of Warden Service shall develop those estimates by tracking personal watercraft-related complaints, warrants and summonses and by assessments of observations of and contacts with those operators by wardens. The bureau shall provide the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife with a written summary of its conclusions about the general level of awareness among personal watercraft operators of those issues and the effectiveness of the industry-sponsored safety training programs and materials.
The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife shall encourage personal watercraft distributors, dealers and rental agents to offer safety training programs and materials and shall undertake an evaluation of the current safety training and education programs offered by distributors, dealers and rental agents. That evaluation may include examples of the types of educational materials being distributed, descriptions of the training and education programs being offered, the number of distributors, dealers and rental agents offering those programs or materials and the number of people who participate in those programs or received those materials.
The Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife shall report to the Joint Standing Committee on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife on these assessment efforts by February 1, 1998.
Sec. 6. Report. The Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife shall report to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over inland fisheries and wildlife matters by January 1, 1999 on the number of enforcement actions taken by law enforcement officers for violations of Title 12, section 7801, subsection 11-A and the result of those enforcement actions and the number of private nuisance actions taken for those violations under Title 17, section 2802 and the result of those actions.
Effective September 19, 1997, unless otherwise indicated.
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