Senate Fish, Game & Forestry Committee Amendment
S 96 - Session 125 (2023-2024)
Boating safety and education program

The Committee on Fish, Game and Forestry proposes the following amendment (SFGF-96.BC0006S):

Amend the bill, as and if amended, SECTION 1, by striking Section 50-21-10(22) through (29) and inserting:

(23) "Specialty propcraft" means a vessel that is similar in appearance and operation to a personal watercraft but is powered by an outboard or propeller-driven motor.

(22)(24) "Temporary certificate of number" is a temporary registration assigned to a vessel to allow operation for a limited purpose.

(23)(25) "Tender" means a small watercraft attendant to a larger vessel that meets United States Coast Guard requirements and is used solely for ferrying supplies or passengers and crew between its parent vessel and shore.

(24)(26) "Use" means operate, navigate, or employ.

(25)(27) "Vessel" means every description of watercraft, other than a seaplane regulated by the federal government, used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on water.

(26)(28) "Water device" means a motorboat, boat, personal watercraft or vessel, water skis, an aquaplane, surfboard, or other similar device.

(27)(29) "Waters of the State" means waters within the territorial limits of the State but not private lakes or ponds.

(28)(30) "Watercraft" means any thing used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on the water but does not include: a seaplane regulated by the federal government, water skis, aquaplanes, surfboards, windsurfers, tubes, rafts, and similar devices or any thing that does not meet construction or operational requirements of the state or federal government for watercraft.

(29)(31) "Wake surf" means to operate a vessel that is ballasted in the stern so as to create a wake that is, or is intended to be, surfed by another person.

Amend the bill further, by striking SECTION 4 and inserting:

SECTION X. Section 50-21-870(A) of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

(A) As used in this section:

(1) (a) "Personal watercraft" means a boat less than sixteen feet in length which:

(i) has an outboard motor or an inboard motor which uses an internal combustion engine powering a water jet pump as its primary source of motive propulsion;

(ii) is designed with the concept that the operator and passenger ride on the outside surfaces of the vessel as opposed to riding inside the vessel;

(iii) has the probability that the operator and passenger, in the normal course of use, may fall overboard.

(b) Personal watercraft includes, without limitation, a vessel where the operator and passenger ride on the outside surfaces of the vessel, even if the primary source of motive propulsion is a propeller, and a vessel commonly known as a "jet ski".

(2) "Specialty propcraft" means a vessel which is similar in appearance and operation to a personal watercraft but is powered by an outboard or propeller-driven motor.

(3) "Class 'A' boat" means a motorboat which is less than sixteen feet in length.

(4)(2) "Floating device" includes kneeboards, aqua planes, surfboards, saucers, inner tubes, and other similar equipment.

SECTION X. Section 50-21-870(B)(9) and (10) of the S.C. Code are amended to read:

(9) (a) operate a personal watercraft, specialty propcraft, or vessel if he is younger than sixteen years of age, unless accompanied by an adult, eighteen years or older, who is not under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or a combination of them. However, a person younger than sixteen years of age may operate a personal watercraft, specialty propcraft, or vessel without being accompanied by an adult if one or more of the following applies:

(i) the person completes a boating safety program as administered by the Department of Natural Resources; or

(ii) the person completes a boating safety program approved by the Department of Natural Resources;

(iii) anyone operating a vessel with less than fifteen horsepower engine will not be required to take the boating safety program.

(b) It is unlawful for a person who has temporary or permanent responsibility for a child to knowingly or wilfully violate item (9) of subsection (B).

(c) The Department of Natural Resources shall promulgate regulations relating to boating safety programs administered by the department or subject to its approval.

(10) wake surf in excess of idle speed within two hundred feet of a moored vessel, wharf, dock, bulkhead, pier, or person in the water.