HB 5332 — AN ACT CONCERNING CERTAIN BOATING REGULATIONS.

Substitute House ofBill Representatives General Assembly File No.

2385332 FebruaryPublic Session,Act 2026 Substitute House Bill No.

533226-60 HouseAN ofACT Representatives,CONCERNING MarchCERTAIN 30,BOATING 2026REGULATIONS. The Committee on Environment reported through REP.

PARKER of the 101st Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on the part of the House, that the substitute bill ought to pass.

AN ACT CONCERNING CERTAIN BOATING REGULATIONS.

(NEW)Section (Effective15-133 October 1, 2026) No operator of athe motorboat2026 undersupplement power shall allow any person in such motorboat to hangthe anygeneral portionstatutes ofis theamended bodyby overadding thesubsection top(m) ofas thefollows gunwale(Effective whilefrom underway.passage):

The(NEW) provisions(m) ofNo thisoperator section shall notallow apply to any person inaboard a recreational motorboat thatunder ispower engagedto insit anchoring,on mooringthe gunwale with one or dockingboth activitieslegs andover thattheoutsideofthegunwale,or to standonthe gunwale while such vessel is proceedingunderway at deadgreater slowthan slow-no-wake speed.

Subsection (m)(b) of section 15-140c15-140j of the general statutes is repealed andthefollowingand issubstitutedthe inlieuthereof(EffectiveOctoberfollowing 1,is 2026):substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):

(m)(b)NopersonshalloperateapersonalwatercraftoraJAVunlesssuch Any person whohas abandonsbeen aissued vessel shall have committed a violationandshallbefinednotcertificate lessthanof [threepersonal hundred]sevenhundredwatercraft fiftyoperation dollarsby northe moreCommissioner thanof [fiveEnergy hundred] one thousand dollars, except if such abandonment occurred during a declared emergency and asEnvironmental aProtection. result of the conditions that caused such emergency to be declared.

NotwithstandingNo theperson provisionsless ofthan thissixteen section,years the Commissioner of Energyage andshall Environmentaloperate Protectiona mayJAV. authorize the recovery of sHB5332 / File No.

238No 1owner sHB5332of Filea personal watercraft or a JAV shall knowingly authorize or permit a person who [is less than sixteen years of age who] does not have a certificate of personal watercraft operation issued by the commissioner Substitute House Bill No.

2385332 reasonableto costsoperate againstsuch thepersonal lastwatercraft owneror ofJAV recordon of a vessel for the recoverywaters of anthe abandonedstate. vessel and any associated environmental remediation by any state or municipal law enforcement agency.

Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, the commissioner may modify or suspend, by written permission, any age or certification requirement set forth in this section for the purpose of a marine event held pursuant to section 15-140b.

In those waters where the United States Coast Guard has jurisdiction over marine events, such permit shall not be valid unless and until the commissioner receives a copy of the United States Coast Guard authorization for a marine event.

Subsection(NEW) (l)(Effective from passage) No owner shall allow a vessel to be placed on the waters of sectionthe 15-140jstate unless current and valid contact informationfortheownerofsuchvesselislegiblyprintedonsuchvessel or attached to such vessel, as prescribed by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, except any vessel for which the generalowner statutesholds isa repealedvalid andthefollowingand issubstitutedeffective inlieuthereof(EffectiveOctobercertificate 1,of 2026):number awarded by the state, another state or the federal government.

(l) Any person who violates any provision of this section shall be fined not less than sixty dollars or more than two hundred fifty dollars for each such violation.

In the event that the person who violated any provision of this section cannot be determined, any such fine for such violation shall be issued to the registrant of such personal watercraft.

SubsectionSection (g)15-136b of section 15-140e of the 2026 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective Octoberfrom 1,passage): 2026):

(g)[Notwithstanding Anyany personprovision whoof violatesthe anygeneral provisionstatutes, the period of thistimeforoperationofmotorboatsonWyassupLake,inthetownofNorth sectionStonington, shall be finedfrom notthe lessSaturday thanprior sixtyto orMemorial moreDay thanto twoSeptember hundredfifteenth.] fifty(a) dollarsFor forthe period commencing on the Saturday prior to Memorial Day to the fifteenth day of September of each suchyear, violation.between the hours of eleven o'clock in the morning and six o'clock in the evening, motorboats may be operated on Wyassup Lake, in the town of North Stonington, at speeds in excess of eight miles per hour and persons may waterski or operate a vessel towing a water skier.

In(b) Notwithstanding the eventprovisions thatof thesubsection (a) of this section, no person whoshall violatedwaterski anyor provisionoperate ofa thisvessel sectiontowing cannota bewater determined,skier anybetween suchthe fineislands forand suchthe violationeast shallshore beof issuedWyassup toLake in the registranttown of suchPublic vessel.Act No.

This26-60 act2 shallof take4 effectSubstitute asHouse followsBill andNo. shall amend the following sections:

Section5332 1North OctoberStonington. 1, 2026 New section Sec.

2 October 1, 2026 15-140c(m) Sec.

35. October 1, 2026 15-140j(l) Sec.

4Subsection October(d) 1,of 2026section 15-140e(g)15-140c ENVof Jointthe Favorablegeneral Subst.statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):

sHB5332(d) /Any Fileparty No.with standing may seek full cost recovery from the person who abandoned the vessel for any unpaid expense or cost incurred as a result of, or incidental to, such vessel abandonment.

238Any 2party sHB5332with Filestanding No.that is a state or municipal law enforcement agency may additionally recover any associated environmental remediation costs or expenses and any expense or cost associated with, or incidental to, the removal of such vessel, including, but not limited to, any legal or court cost or expense incurred in the recovery and removal of such abandoned vessel.

238Any Theperson followingwho Fiscalacts Impactin Statementgood faith and Billwithout Analysismalicious areintent preparedin for the benefitprocessing, ofstorage theor membersmovement of theany Generalabandoned Assembly,vessel solelypursuant forto purposesthis ofsection information,shall summarizationbe andimmune explanationfrom andcivil doliability notfor representdamage theto intentsuch ofvessel. the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose.

InSec. general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional knowledge.

Whenever6. applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFASubdivision Fiscal(1) Noteof Statesubsection Impact:(h) of section 15-140c of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):

Agency(1) Affected(A) Fund-EffectThe FYparty 27with $standing FYshall 28file $a Resourcesnotarized notice of theabandonedvessel GeneralwiththeCommissioner FundofEnergy GFandEnvironmental -Protection Revenuein Minimalperson, Minimalby Gainmail, Note:by paid delivery service or electronically, as prescribed by the commissioner.

GF=GeneralSuch Fundfiling Municipalshall Impact:be on forms as prescribed by the commissioner.

None Explanation The billfee increasesfor variousfiling finessuch associatednotice withshall boatingbe lawtwenty violations,dollars. and results in a minimal revenue gain to the resources of the General Fund.

The(B) billNotwithstanding increases the rangeprovisions (fromof $300-$500subparagraph to(A) $750-of $1,000)this subdivision, any such notarization and filing fee shall not be required of theany fineparty with standing that mayis bethe imposedstate, fora abandoningmunicipality or a boat.law enforcement agency of the state or any such municipality.

Additionally,Public theAct billNo. requires fines for certain boating violations (current law subjects someone who violates these provisions to a fine between $60 and $250) to be issued to the person the boat is registered to, whenthepersonwho committedtheviolationcannot bedetermined, which will result in additional fines and corresponding revenue.

Between26-60 FY3 22 and FY 25, there were a total of 4864 offensesSubstitute recordedHouse andBill $47,277No. in fines collected under the statutes related to the changes impacted by the bill.

The5332 OutSec. Years The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would continue into the future subject to the number of offenses and the fines imposed and collected.

sHB53327. / File No.

238Subsection 3(m) sHB5332of Filesection No.15-140c of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):