HB1562 (2024) Compare Changes


Unchanged Version

Text to be removed highlighted in red.

1 Navigation; Waters; Definition of Personal Watercraft. Amend RSA 270:73 to read as follows:

270:73 Definitions. In this subdivision:

I. "Bureau" means the department of safety, bureau of hearings, established pursuant to RSA 21-P:13.

II. "Department" means the department of safety.

III. "Operator" means a person who operates or who has charge of the navigation or use of a ski craft .

IV. "Private boat" means a boat as defined in RSA 270:2, V, including a ski craft .

V. "Ski craft" means any motorized watercraft or private boat which is less than 13 feet in length as manufactured, is capable of exceeding a speed of 20 miles per hour, and has the capacity to carry not more than the operator and one other person while in operation. The term includes a jet ski, surf ski, fun ski, or other similar device. "Ski craft" does not include any watercraft or boat with twin hulls and which is greater than 11 feet long, greater than 5 feet wide, and powered by an outboard motor.

VI. "Watercraft" means a motorized ski craft , capable of being used as a means of transportation on or in the water, except a seaplane.

2 Personal Water Craft; Prohibitions. Amend RSA 270:74-c to read as follows:

270:74-c Personal Water Craft .

*I. In this section, "personal water craft" means a motor boat 16 feet or less in length that is propelled by jet pump, not propellers, where the operator and riders stand, kneel, straddle, or sit on, rather than inside, the craft.

II. No person shall operate a personal water craft at more than headway speed within 300 feet of any marsh land or flat in the Hampton/Seabrook estuary, within 300 feet of the Rye marsh areas to include Witch Creek, Seavey Creek, Berry's Brook, Parson's Creek, Awcomin Marsh, and Rye Harbor Marsh, or within the New Castle Goat Island Back Channel Mooring Field as defined in rules adopted by the Pease Development Authority Pda 500, or that area marked between Shapleigh Island and Goat Island to Red Nun #4 to the Wentworth Bridge, to include the areas around Pest, Leaches, and Clampit Islands, without regard to tide height, or the landing in Hampton Falls to Hampton. Such water craft shall stay in marked channels. This paragraph* shall not apply to watercraft operated by police, fire, or other emergency services

3 Name Change; Ski Craft to Personal Watercraft. Amend the following RSA provisions by replacing the words "ski craft" with the words "personal watercraft": 72-A:4, I; the subdivision heading preceding RSA 270:73; 270:74; 270:74-a; 270:74-b; 270:113; and 487:16-c.

4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.

Changed Version

Text to be added highlighted in green.

1 Navigation; Waters; Definition of Personal Watercraft. Amend RSA 270:73 to read as follows:

270:73 Definitions. In this subdivision:

I. "Bureau" means the department of safety, bureau of hearings, established pursuant to RSA 21-P:13.

II. "Department" means the department of safety.

III. "Operator" means a person who operates or who has charge of the navigation or use of a personal watercraft .

IV. "Private boat" means a boat as defined in RSA 270:2, V, including a personal watercraft .

V. " Personal watercraft" means a motor boat 16 feet or less in length that is propelled by jet pump, not propellers, where the operator and riders stand, kneel, straddle, or sit on, rather than inside, the craft.

VI. "Watercraft" means a motorized personal watercraft , capable of being used as a means of transportation on or in the water, except a seaplane.

2 Personal Water Craft; Prohibitions. Amend RSA 270:74-c to read as follows:

270:74-c Personal Watercraft; Prohibition on Certain Waters .

No person shall operate a personal watercraft at more than headway speed within 300 feet of any marsh land or flat in the Hampton/Seabrook estuary, within 300 feet of the Rye marsh areas to include Witch Creek, Seavey Creek, Berry's Brook, Parson's Creek, Awcomin Marsh, and Rye Harbor Marsh, or within the New Castle Goat Island Back Channel Mooring Field as defined in rules adopted by the Pease Development Authority Pda 500, or that area marked between Shapleigh Island and Goat Island to Red Nun #4 to the Wentworth Bridge, to include the areas around Pest, Leaches, and Clampit Islands, without regard to tide height, or the landing in Hampton Falls to Hampton. Such water craft shall stay in marked channels. This section shall not apply to watercraft operated by police, fire, or other emergency services

3 Name Change; Ski Craft to Personal Watercraft. Amend the following RSA provisions by replacing the words "ski craft" with the words "personal watercraft": 72-A:4, I; the subdivision heading preceding RSA 270:73; 270:74; 270:74-a; 270:74-b; 270:113; and 487:16-c.

4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.