HB0054 • 2026

Boating Safety Education

Education

Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor: Rep. Petersen, Michael J.
Last action: 2026-03-25
Official status: Governor Signed
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

Boating Safety Education

This bill creates an education requirement to operate a watercraft.

What This Bill Does

This bill creates an education requirement to operate a watercraft.

Limits and Unknowns

This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

2026-03-25 Lieutenant Governor's office for filing
Governor Signed
2026-03-16 Clerk of the House
House/ received enrolled bill from Printing
2026-03-16 Executive Branch - Governor
House/ to Governor
2026-03-12 Clerk of the House
Enrolled Bill Returned to House or Senate
2026-03-12 Clerk of the House
House/ enrolled bill to Printing
2026-03-10 Legislative Research and General Counsel / Enrolling
Bill Received from House for Enrolling
2026-03-10 Legislative Research and General Counsel / Enrolling
Draft of Enrolled Bill Prepared
2026-03-07 House Speaker
House/ received from Senate
2026-03-07 Legislative Research and General Counsel / Enrolling
House/ signed by Speaker/ sent for enrolling
2026-03-06 Senate President
House/ concurs with Senate amendment
2026-03-06 House Concurrence Calendar
House/ placed on Concurrence Calendar
2026-03-06 Clerk of the House
House/ received from Senate
2026-03-06 Conference Committee
House/ received from Senate
2026-03-06 Senate President
House/ to Senate
2026-03-06 Senate 2nd Reading Calendar
Senate/ 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension
2026-03-06 Clerk of the House
Senate/ passed 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension
2026-03-06 Senate President
Senate/ received from House
2026-03-06 House Speaker
Senate/ signed by President/ returned to House
2026-03-06 House Speaker
Senate/ to House
2026-03-06 Clerk of the House
Senate/ to House with amendments
2026-03-05 Senate 2nd Reading Calendar
Senate/ Rules to 2nd Reading Calendar
2026-03-04 Senate Rules Committee
Senate/ 2nd Reading Calendar to Rules
2026-02-27 Released
LFA/ fiscal note publicly available for HB0054S01
2026-02-26 Version Sponsor
LFA/ fiscal note sent to sponsor for HB0054S01
2026-02-26 Senate Transportation, Public Utilities, Energy, and Technology Committee
Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation
2026-02-26 Senate Transportation, Public Utilities, Energy, and Technology Committee
Senate Comm - Substitute Recommendation
2026-02-26 Senate Transportation, Public Utilities, Energy, and Technology Committee
Senate/ comm rpt/ substituted
2026-02-26 Senate 2nd Reading Calendar
Senate/ placed on 2nd Reading Calendar
2026-02-25 Legislative Fiscal Analyst
LFA/ bill assigned to staff for fiscal analysis for HB0054S01
2026-02-25 Legislative Fiscal Agency
LFA/ bill sent to agencies for fiscal input for HB0054S01
2026-02-04 Senate Transportation, Public Utilities, Energy, and Technology Committee
Senate Comm - Held
2026-01-27 Senate Transportation, Public Utilities, Energy, and Technology Committee
Senate/ to standing committee
2026-01-23 Senate Rules Committee
Senate/ 1st reading (Introduced)
2026-01-22 House 3rd Reading Calendar for House bills
House/ 3rd reading
2026-01-22 Senate Secretary
House/ passed 3rd reading
2026-01-22 Senate Secretary
House/ to Senate
2026-01-22 Waiting for Introduction in the Senate
Senate/ received from House
2026-01-20 House Rules Committee
House/ 1st reading (Introduced)
2026-01-20 House 3rd Reading Calendar for House bills
House/ 2nd reading
2026-01-20 House 3rd Reading Calendar for House bills
House/ Rules to 3rd Reading Calendar
2026-01-14 Clerk of the House
House/ received bill from Legislative Research
2026-01-14 Clerk of the House
House/ received fiscal note from Fiscal Analyst
2026-01-13 Released
LFA/ fiscal note publicly available for HB0054
2026-01-13 Version Sponsor
LFA/ fiscal note sent to sponsor for HB0054
2025-12-19 Legislative Research and General Counsel
Bill Numbered but not Distributed
2025-12-19 Legislative Fiscal Analyst
LFA/ bill assigned to staff for fiscal analysis for HB0054
2025-12-19 Legislative Fiscal Agency
LFA/ bill sent to agencies for fiscal input for HB0054
2025-12-19 Legislative Research and General Counsel
Numbered Bill Publicly Distributed

Official Summary Text

This bill creates an education requirement to operate a watercraft.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

4
73-18-15.6
0
Boating Safety Education
2026 GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Michael J. Petersen
Senate Sponsor: Daniel McCay
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill creates an education requirement to operate a watercraft.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
creates a watercraft operator safety course;
establishes guidelines for the course;
prohibits the operation of a watercraft without evidence of completion of the course; and
grants rulemaking authority to the Division of Outdoor Recreation to create and manage a
safety briefing for liveries.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
This bill provides a special effective date.
Utah Code Sections Affected:
ENACTS:
73-18-15.6
, Utah Code Annotated 1953
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section
73-18-15.6
is enacted to read:
73-18-15.6
. Watercraft operator safety course.
(1)
As used in this section, "watercraft" means a motorboat or sailboat.
(2)
The division shall create a watercraft operator safety course for the purpose of
developing and instilling the knowledge, attitudes, habits, and skills necessary for the
safe and ethical operation of a watercraft.
(3)
The course shall include:
(a)
instruction on personal flotation devices as described in Subsection
73-18-8(1)
;
(b)
instruction on driving under the influence, as described in Title 41, Chapter 6a, Part 5,
Driving Under the Influence and Reckless Driving, in relation to the operation of a
watercraft while under the influence of alcohol, any drug, or the combined influence
of alcohol and any drug;
(c)
instruction on best practices for safe operation and navigation of watercraft;
(d)
information about aquatic invasive species necessary to fulfill the requirements
described in Subsection
23A-10-304(4)
; and
(e)
other safety information determined by the division.
(4)
A watercraft operator shall complete the course once every calendar year.
(5)
The division shall ensure that an individual may complete the course in less than 20
minutes on average.
(6)
(a)
The division shall issue proof of completion of the watercraft safety course to a
watercraft operator upon completion of the watercraft operator safety course.
(b)
The proof of completion expires the day after December 31 in the calendar year
which the operator completes the watercraft operator safety course.
(7)
Except as provided in Subsection
(9)(b)
, an individual may not operate a watercraft
unless the individual has in the individual's immediate possession proof that the
individual completed the watercraft operator safety course described in this section
within the current calendar year.
(8)
Completion of the watercraft operator safety course does not satisfy the requirements of
the personal watercraft safety course described in Section
73-18-15.2
.
(9)
A livery may not rent a watercraft to an individual unless:
(a)
the individual provides proof to the livery that the individual completed the
watercraft operator safety course within the current calendar year; or
(b)
the livery provides the individual with a safety briefing as described in Subsection
(10)
.
(10)
(a)
In accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act,
the division, after notifying the commission, shall make rules to create and manage a
watercraft operator safety briefing.
(b)
The watercraft operator safety briefing described in Subsection
(10)(a)
shall cover
topics contained in the safety course described in Subsection
(2)
appropriate for
liveries.
(c)
If an individual attempts to rent a watercraft from a livery and the individual does not
have proof of completion of the watercraft operator safety course, the livery shall
provide a watercraft operator safety briefing before renting a watercraft to the
individual.
(11)
An individual who violates Subsection
(7)
is guilty of an infraction.
Section 2.
Effective Date.
This bill takes effect on
January 1, 2027
.
3-11-26 10:32 AM