Tex. Parks and Wildlife Code § 31.003 — TX Code / Code pw / Chapter 31 / Section 31.003
§ 31.003. DEFINITIONS.
Status: repealed

In this chapter:

(1) "Boat" means a vessel not more than 65 feet in length, measured from the tip of the bow in a straight line to the stern.

(2) "Vessel" means any watercraft, other than a seaplane on water, used or capable of being used for transportation on water.

(2) "Vessel" means any watercraft used or capable of being used for transportation on water, except:

(A) a watercraft exempted by commission rule;

(B) a watercraft that operates only on a permanently fixed, manufactured course, the movement of which is restricted to or guided by means of a mechanical device to which the watercraft is attached or by which the watercraft is controlled;

(C) a seaplane; and

(D) a stationary floating structure that:

(i) does not have and is not designed to have a mode of propulsion of its own;

(ii) is dependent for utilities upon a continuous utility hookup to a source originating on shore; and

(iii) has a permanent, continuous hookup to a shoreside sewage system.

(3) "Motorboat" means any vessel propelled or designed to be propelled by machinery, whether or not the machinery is permanently or temporarily affixed or is the principal source of propulsion.

(4) "Owner" means the person who rightfully claims lawful possession of a vessel by virtue of the legal title or an equitable interest.

(5) "Water of this state" means any public water within the territorial limits of this state.

(6) "Operate" means to navigate or otherwise use a motorboat or a vessel.

(7) "Dealer" means a person engaged in the business of buying, selling, selling on consignment, displaying for sale, or exchanging at least five vessels, motorboats, or outboard motors during a calendar year.

(8) "Vessel livery" means a business establishment engaged in renting or hiring out vessels for profit.

(8) "Vessel livery" means a person engaged in advertising, renting, or hiring out vessels for consideration. The term includes a recreational equipment timeshare business that leases or rents vessels for consideration.

(9) Repealed by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1363, Sec. 12, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.

(10) "Reasonable time" means 15 days.

(11) "Manufacturer" means a person engaged in the business of manufacturing new and unused vessels and outboard motors for the purpose of sale or trade.

(11) "Manufacturer" means a person engaged in the business of manufacturing or importing new and unused vessels and outboard motors for the purpose of sale or trade.

(12) "New" means every vessel or outboard motor after its manufacture and before its sale or other transfer to a person not a manufacturer or dealer.

(13) "Outboard motor" means any self-contained internal combustion propulsion system, excluding fuel supply, which is used to propel a vessel and which is detachable as a unit from the vessel.

(14) "Personal watercraft" means a type of motorboat that is specifically designed to be operated by a person or persons sitting, standing, or kneeling on the vessel rather than in the conventional manner of sitting or standing inside the vessel.

(15) "Authorized agent" means a dealer who is authorized by the department under Section 31.006 of this code to collect taxes and fees and issue certificates of number.

(16) "Distributor" means a person who offers for sale, sells, or processes for distribution new vessels or outboard motors to dealers in this state.

(17) "Coast Guard" means the United States Coast Guard.

(18) "Abandoned vessel or outboard motor" means a vessel or outboard motor that has remained on private property without the consent of the owner or person in charge of the property for more than seven consecutive days.

(19) "Cancel" means, with respect to a certificate of title, to make the certificate ineffective.

(20) "Certificate of title" means, with respect to a vessel or outboard motor, a record, created by the department under this chapter or by a governmental agency of another jurisdiction under the law of that jurisdiction, that is designated as a certificate of title by the department or agency and is evidence of ownership of a vessel or outboard motor.

(21) "Electronic" means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities.

(22) "Hull identification number" means the alphanumeric designation assigned to a vessel under 33 C.F.R. Part 181.

(23) "Owner of record" or "recorded owner" means an owner indicated in the files of the department.

(24) "Purchase" means, with respect to a vessel or outboard motor, to take by any voluntary transaction that creates an interest in the vessel or outboard motor.

(25) "Purchaser" means a person who takes by purchase.

(26) "Record" means information inscribed on a tangible medium or stored in an electronic or other medium and retrievable in perceivable form.

(27) "Security interest" means, with respect to a vessel or outboard motor, an interest in the vessel or outboard motor that secures payment or performance of an obligation if the interest is created by contract or arises under Section 2.401, 2.505, 2.711(c), or 2A.508(e), Business & Commerce Code, except that the retention or reservation of title by a seller of a vessel or outboard motor notwithstanding shipment or delivery to the buyer under Section 2.401 of that code is limited in effect to a reservation of a security interest. The term:

(A) includes any interest of a consignor in a vessel or outboard motor in a transaction that is subject to Chapter 9, Business & Commerce Code; and

(B) does not include:

(i) the special property interest of a buyer of a vessel or outboard motor on identification of that vessel or outboard motor to a contract for sale under Section 2.501, Business & Commerce Code, unless a buyer acquires a security interest by complying with Chapter 9 of that code;

(ii) the right of a seller or lessor of a vessel or outboard motor under Chapter 2 or 2A, Business & Commerce Code, to retain or acquire possession of the vessel or outboard motor:

(a) except as otherwise provided by Section 2.505, Business & Commerce Code; or

(b) unless a seller or lessor acquires a security interest by complying with Chapter 9, Business & Commerce Code; or

(iii) an interest created by a transaction in the form of a lease, unless the transaction created a security interest under Section 1.203, Business & Commerce Code.