An Act To Save Lives on Maine Waters
Maine Legislature, Session 124, LD 0164
Committee: Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
Sponsors: WATSON, DAMON, PERCY, TRAHAN

MAINE STATE LEGISLATURE 
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124th MAl E LEGISLATURE 
FIRST P.£GULAR SESSION-2009 
Legislative Document 
No. 164 
H.P.143 
House of Representatives, January 20,2009 
An Act To Save Lives on Maine Waters 
Reference to the Committee on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife suggested and ordered 
printed. 
Presented by Representative WATSON of Bath. 
Cosponsored by Senator DAMON of Hancock and 
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MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Representative: PERCY of Phippsburg, Senator: TRAHAN of Lincoln. 
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 12 MRS A §13068-A, sub-§4, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 655, Pt. B, §380 
and affected by §422 and amended by c. 689, Pt. B, §6, is further amended to read: 
4. Operating watercraft without proper safety equipment. Except as provided in 
paragraph B, a person may not operate or be a passenger in a watercraft without proper 
safety equipment as described in paragraph A. 
A. 
A person operates or is a passenger in a watercraft without proper safety 
equipment if the person operates or is a passenger in a watercraft and: 
(1) Fails to comply with the same requirements pertaining to lights, life-saving 
devices, fire extinguishers and other safety equipment as required by federal laws 
and regulations on federal navigable waters, as promulgated under the Federal 
Boat Safety Act of 1971, Public Law 92-75, as amended; 
(2) Fails to comply with requirements peltaining to additional equipment not in 
conflict with federal navigation laws, which the commissioner may prescribe if 
there is a demonstrated need; or 
(3) Fails to wear a Coast Guard approved Type I, Type II or Type III personal 
flotation device while canoeing or kayaking on the Saco River betv,reen Hiram 
Dam and the Atlantic Ocean behveen January 1 st and June 1 st; oroperating or 
being a passenger in a watercraft. 
(4) Fails to ',vear a Coast Guard approved Type I, Type II, Type III or Type V 
personal flotation device ,,vhile operating a 'Natercraft on: 
(a) The Penobscot River, behveen the gorge and the head of Big Eddy; or 
(b) The Kennebec River, betv,reen Harris Station and Turtle Island, at the 
foot of Black Brook Rapids. 
B. 
Notwithstanding paragraph A: 
(1) Canoes, owned by a boys or girls summer camp located upon internal waters 
in the State and duly licensed by the Department of Health and Human Services 
and utilized by campers under the direction and supervision of a camp counselor 
at least 18 years of age or older during training and instruction periods on waters 
adjacent to the main camp within a distance of 500 feet from the shoreline of that 
camp, are exempt from this subsection; and 
(2) Log rafts, carrying not more than 2 persons and used on ponds or lakes or 
internal waters of less than 50 acres in area, are exempt from carrying personal 
flotation devices";"~ 
(3) Watercraft carrying people to a watercraft at a mooring site are exempt from 
this subsection; and 
(4) Commercial watercraft carrying passengers when the commercial watercraft 
is required by law to have personal flotation devices on board are exempt from 
this subsection. 
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C. The following penalties apply to violations of this subsection. 
(1) A person who violates this subsection commits a civil violation for which a 
fine of not less than $100 nor more than $500 may be adjudged. 
(2) A person who violates this subsection after having been adjudicated as 
having committed 3 or more civil violations under this Part within the previous 5-
year period commits a Class E crime. 
Sec. 2. Rules adopted. The Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife shall 
adopt rules to reflect the requirement that all persons who operate or are passengers in a 
watercraft wear Type I, Type II or Type III personal flotation devices. Rules adopted 
pursuant to this section are routine technical rules as defined in the Maine Revised 
Statutes, Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A. 
SUMMARY 
This bill makes it mandatory, with celiain exceptions, that everyone in a watercraft 
wear a personal flotation device.