| THREE OPPORTUNITIES STILL AVAILABLE TO PROVIDE COMMENT ON PROPOSED PWC AGE OF OPERATOR REGULATION |
| January 5, 2005 |
| The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is continuing
to seek public input on a proposal to establish 16 as the minimum age
for operators of a special class of boats known as Personal Watercraft (PWC)
and is offering three opportunities for interested individuals to
provide their thoughts.
The Commission’s Boating Advisory Board will meet Monday, January 10, at 9 a.m. at Commission Headquarters in Harrisburg. The board will discuss the proposal and will accept public comment at that time. The Commission will hold its winter quarterly meeting at agency headquarters January 23-25. As part of that meeting an open public comment period is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on Monday, January 24. Interested persons unable to attend either meeting are encouraged to submit written comments. Letters may be addressed to the Executive Director, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, P.O. Box 67000, Harrisburg, PA 17106-7000. Commentary may also be submitted via the Commission’s web site at http://www.state.pa.us/Fish/regcomments. The proposal looks to set January 1, 2008 as the date for establishing 16 as the minimum age for operators of PWC. Specifically, the Commission is contemplating regulations that if adopted would read in part “A person 12 years of age or younger may not operate a personal watercraft. Effective January 1, 2006, a person 13 years of age or younger may not operate a personal watercraft. Effective January 1, 2007, a person 14 years of age or younger may not operate a personal watercraft. Effective January 1, 2008, a person 15 years of age or younger may not operate a personal watercraft.” Also, the Commission is proposing that a person 15 years of age or younger may not operate a personal watercraft if there are any passengers onboard 17 years of age or younger. The term PWC refers to a boat less than 16 feet in length that uses an internal combustion motor powering a water jet pump as its primary source of propulsion. PWCs are designed to be operated by a person sitting, standing or kneeling in a position different from that used in conventional motorboats. PWCs often resemble motorcycles or snowmobiles more than they do conventional boats. They are known by their trade names such as Jet Ski®, Sea Doo®, Kawasaki®, or Bombardier®. The term "personal watercraft" is limited to the craft described above. It does not include all personally-owned watercraft. |
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