Opinion ID: 1426747
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Regulation of Power Vessels in General, and PWCs in Particular, is a Matter of Statewide Concern

Text: This county ordinance applies directly, and almost exclusively, to the marine waters of the State and, by its terms (with few exceptions), absolutely prohibits upon those waters a certain class of vessels duly licensed by the State pursuant to RCW 88.02.020. Personal watercraft is expressly regulated state-wide in detail by RCW 88.12 and is specifically defined under RCW 88.12.010(15). These state regulations are uniform and general throughout the State and are not in the least local. The regulations include requirements for mufflers and underwater exhaust systems (RCW 88.12.085), use of personal flotation devices (RCW 88.12.095), as well as various other very specific requirements relating to the operation of personal watercraft codified in RCW 88.12.145 (personal flotation device required, use of lanyard-type engine cutoff switch, no operation during darkness, no operation by person under 14 years of age, reckless operation prohibition, rental to person under 16 years of age prohibition, etc.). Here it is essential to recall the ordinance in question does not merely supplement or add to these regulations, it simply prohibits any use of these personal watercraft on state waters within San Juan County's boundaries. Such a prohibition makes the state regulations utterly pointless because all such regulations are premised on the existence and operation, not prohibition, of such craft. Whether or not this ordinance is in conflict with general laws, at an irreducible minimum it is an ordinance which deals directly, forcefully, and broadly with a subject matter of intrinsically general, not just local, concern as evidenced by statewide affirmative licensure and regulation of these craft.