BILL NUMBER: AB 1725	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 8, 2010

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Swanson

                        FEBRUARY 3, 2010

    An act to add Section 5007.7 to the Public Resources
Code, relating to the state park system.   An act to add
Section 671 to the Harbors and Navigation Code, relating to boating.




	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1725, as amended, Swanson.  State park system: benches:
deaths in the water: warnings.   Boating: vessel
operation by a minor.  
   Existing law regulates the operation of vessels, including
imposing safety requirements on the operation of vessels, and
authorizes the Department of Boating and Waterways to issue
regulations to establish minimum safety standards for boats. 

   This bill would enact the Boating Certification and Child Safety
Act, which would prohibit a person under 18 years of age from
operating a vessel that is propelled by an engine unless that person
is being supervised by a person who is 18 years of age or older and
who has in his or her possession a vessel operator certificate issued
by the department.  
   The bill would require the department to issue a vessel operator
certificate to a person who provides the department with proof
satisfactory to the department that the person has passed a vessel
operator test approved by the department. The bill would require the
department to charge a fee of no more than $13 for the vessel
operator certificate, and would require the fee revenue to be used to
pay for the department's costs for implementing the act. The bill
also would require the department to provide a vessel operator test
on the department's Internet Web site and to provide links from its
Internet Web site to other vessel operator tests that are on the
Internet and have been approved by the department.  
   Under existing law, the Department of Parks and Recreation
administers and manages the state park system. The state park system
consists of specified units, including state beaches. 

   This bill would enact the Safe Waters Act, which would require the
department to erect on a state beach, or any other unit of the state
park system that encompasses a beach, signs that notify the public
of unsafe conditions, within 5 days of a death occurring in the
water. That requirement would not apply if the death occurring in the
water was the result of natural causes. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   SECTION 1.    Section 671 is added to the  
Harbors and Navigation Code   , to read:  
   671.  (a) This section shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Boating Certification and Child Safety Act.
   (b) A person under 18 years of age shall not operate a vessel that
is propelled by an engine, regardless of whether the engine is the
principal source of propulsion, unless that person is being
supervised by a person who is 18 years of age or older and who has in
his or her possession a vessel operator certificate issued by the
department pursuant to this section.
   (c) (1) The department shall issue a vessel operator certificate
to a person who provides the department with proof satisfactory to
the department that the person has passed a vessel operator test
approved by the department. The vessel operator certificate shall be
valid for the life of the person to whom it is issued.
   (2) The department shall charge a fee of no more than thirteen
dollars ($13) for a vessel operator certificate.
   (3) The fee revenue received pursuant to this section shall be
used to pay the department's costs for implementing this section.
   (d) The department shall provide a vessel operator test on the
department's Internet Web site and shall provide links from its
Internet Web site to other vessel operator tests that are on the
Internet and have been approved by the department.  
  SECTION 1.    Section 5007.7 is added to the
Public Resources Code, to read:
   5007.7.  (a) This section shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Safe Waters Act.
   (b) The department shall erect on a state beach, or any other unit
of the state park system that encompasses a beach, signs that notify
the public of unsafe conditions, within five days of a death
occurring in the water.
   (c) Subdivision (b) does not apply if the death occurring in the
water was the result of natural causes.