Committee reviews draft boater-safety education bill that would require short annual course for renters and operators

Representative Michael J. Petersen (presenting as Representative Peterson in committee remarks) described draft legislation requiring a boater-safety education course intended to reduce accidents and improve safety on Utah waters. Peterson said the course was designed to focus on the most important behaviors and skills and estimated an average completion time of about 20 minutes. The draft would require annual completion and require proof of completion when renting a boat.

Ty Hunter, boating program manager for the Utah Division of Outdoor Recreation, explained that current statute allows a person 16 and older to operate a motorboat or sailboat; youth ages 12–15 may operate a personal watercraft under direct supervision if they take a separate personal-watercraft education course. Hunter said the draft boater course does not substitute for the specific personal-watercraft training required for some youth.

The draft includes an invasive-species education component; Representative Sahara Hayes (and others) and Rep. Peterson said the bill would allow the new course to satisfy Utah’s current invasive-species training requirement so operators would not need to take a separate quiz.

Representative Kristofferson, Senator Reby and other committee members asked about enforcement, whether proof can be carried electronically, and whether the annual timing should include a grace period to avoid “gotcha” enforcement. The committee speaker said the intent is education not surprise enforcement and agreed to add guardrails and reminders to reduce inadvertent fines.

David “Dave” Hammond, a member of the public, spoke against codifying a strict “less than 20 minutes” requirement. Hammond reported timing the existing Utah invasive-species course at 23 minutes and argued that combining boater safety and invasive-species instruction into a single course limited substantive content. He also said the bill’s language requiring “immediate possession” of proof of completion was impractical for sailboats such as Hobie Cat 16s, which lack a dry place for a certificate on the vessel; Hammond asked for language allowing presentation on request rather than physical possession while underway.

Representative Peterson and the Division of Outdoor Recreation said they would revise the draft to address the comments and return to the committee for further consideration. The committee did not take a vote; Representative Peterson said he will bring a revised draft back for consideration at a later meeting.