Nov 17, 2002 2 min read

Last Tuesday the Senate Game and Fisheries Committee approved legislation establishing a new mandatory boater education program for the Commonwealth. Senate Bill 463 was sponsored by Senator Richard A. Kasunic with strong bipartisan co-sponsorship. The bill will, if enacted, require operators of most motorboats born after January 1, 1982, to complete a boating safety course and have a boating safety certificate before running their boats on Pennsylvania waters. The new requirement would take effect on January 1, 2003. Operators of unpowered boats and boats powered by motors less than 25 horsepower would not be required to get certificates. Senate Bill 463 provides for a $10 fee for issuance of a boating safety certificate, good for a lifetime, and a $5 certificate replacement fee.

“The Fish and Boat Commission knows that boater safety education works, and Senate Bill 463 is an important step forward,” said Fish and Boat Commission Executive Director Peter A. Colangelo. “I want to thank Senator Kasunic, Chairman Ed Helfrick and the members of the Senate Game and Fisheries Committee for their persistence and foresight in pursuing this legislation,” Colangelo added.

Nearly 200,000 Pennsylvanians already possess boating safety education certificates. Since 1999, when the Fish and Boat Commission required operators of personal watercraft to obtain certificates, about 115,000 certificates have been issued. “Many boaters have taken safety courses and obtained certificates in an effort to become better informed and safer boaters,” noted John Simmons, Director of the Bureau of Boating and Education. “In fact, many of those taking courses were not doing so to meet requirements to operate personal watercraft such as jet skis, but in response to a sincere desire to become better boaters,” Simmons added.

“The Fish and Boat Commission is confident that, if Senate Bill 463 becomes law, boaters who need to take courses and earn certificates will be able to do so before the 2003 boating season,” Colangelo stated. “It’s easier than ever to find and take a boating safety course. We offer distance learning and home study alternatives through the Internet and video courses, and many classroom boating courses are offered during the winter months,” Colangelo concluded.

In order to become law, Senate Bill 463 will need to pass the State Senate and State House during the remaining days of the fall 2002 legislative session