House Bill No. 5811

Public Act No. 13-98

AN ACT CONCERNING THE OPERATION OF VESSELS WITH ELECTRIC MOTORS ON INLAND WATERS OF THE STATE.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Subsection (a) of section 15-140e of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2013):

(a) No resident of the state, person owning real property in the state or person owning a vessel in the state shall operate on the waters of the state a vessel which is required to be registered or numbered pursuant to this chapter unless such person has a valid vessel operator license issued by the United States Coast Guard or has obtained a safe boating certificate issued by the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection. No owner of a vessel shall knowingly authorize or permit a person who is less than sixteen years of age who is required by this section to obtain a safe boating certificate issued by the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection to operate such vessel on the waters of the state without a safe boating certificate, unless such person is under the direct onboard supervision of a person who is at least eighteen years of age who has been issued a safe boating certificate and who has held such certificate for at least two years. A safe boating certificate may be suspended or revoked, pursuant to section 15-132a, 15-133, 15-140l or 15-140n, and shall be valid for the life of the person to whom it is issued unless otherwise suspended or revoked. (new)The provisions of this section shall not apply to any person who, between one hour before sunrise and one hour after sunset, operates a vessel propelled exclusively by an electric motor that is rated at one hundred six pounds of thrust or less on the inland waters of this state upon which motor powered vessels exceeding ten horsepower are prohibited.

So I need to take the safety class to operate an electric motor boat?

But that has always been the case.

The provisions of this section shall not apply to any person who, between one hour before sunrise and one hour after sunset, operates a vessel propelled exclusively by an electric motor that is rated at one hundred six pounds of thrust or less on the inland waters of this state upon which motor powered vessels exceeding ten horsepower are prohibited.

Means - you don't need the certificate to operate a vessel with an electric motor 106lbs of thrust or less on state waters where there is a 10hp limit. Doesn't exempt on federal waters but it does on inland lakes/ponds, etc.

so during the day you wouldn'thave tohave a license but at night you would???