Senate Study Bill 1197 - Introduced SENATE FILE _____ BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT BILL BY CHAIRPERSON SWEENEY) A BILL FOR An Act creating boat permits for boat liveries, and including 1 retroactive applicability provisions. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 2924XC (5) 91 sb/js
S.F. _____ Section 1. NEW SECTION . 462A.10A Boat liveries permits. 1 1. This section shall only apply to boat liveries that 2 provide watercraft for use on lakes operated by the United 3 States army corps of engineers that are located on the Des 4 Moines river and to the waters of those lakes. For purposes 5 of this section, boat livery includes boat clubs and similar 6 operations. 7 2. a. An owner of a boat livery shall not rent, lease, or 8 otherwise allow the use of any watercraft in waters regulated 9 under this section without sufficient boat permits issued 10 pursuant to this section. 11 b. To obtain a boat permit, an owner of a boat livery shall 12 submit an application to the department that shall include the 13 number of permits the owner is requesting to be issued and any 14 other information the department deems relevant. 15 c. Each boat permit issued to an owner of a boat livery 16 authorizes the owner to allow the use of one watercraft in 17 waters regulated under this section at any given time. 18 3. a. A three-member committee shall be created consisting 19 of a member of the senate chosen by the president of the 20 senate, a member of the house of representatives chosen by the 21 speaker of the house of representatives, and a member of the 22 department appointed by the director. 23 b. The committee created pursuant to this subsection shall, 24 by unanimous consent, determine the number of boat permits to 25 be issued to each applicant and recommend to the commission any 26 rules the committee deems necessary for the safety of rental 27 watercraft users and other watercraft users in the lakes. The 28 permits issued shall be valid for two years. 29 c. The committee shall meet annually before April 1 of each 30 year to review the number of boat permits currently in use, 31 new permit requests, and existing rules. Additional meetings 32 may be called without limitation at the discretion of the 33 committee. 34 d. Any boat permit issued under this subsection may be 35 -1- LSB 2924XC (5) 91 sb/js 1/ 3
S.F. _____ revoked at the discretion of the committee. 1 e. Section 4A.5 does not apply to the committee created 2 pursuant to this subsection. 3 4. The commission shall adopt and the department shall 4 enforce rules pursuant to this section and decisions made by 5 the committee. 6 5. A watercraft registered in a different state but used 7 in waters regulated under this section shall be subject to the 8 requirements of this section. 9 Sec. 2. RETROACTIVE APPLICABILITY. This Act applies 10 retroactively to the rental, lease, or other allowance of 11 use by the owner of a boat livery of any watercraft on lakes 12 operated by the United States army corps of engineers that are 13 located on the Des Moines river on and after January 1, 2025. 14 EXPLANATION 15 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 16 the explanations substance by the members of the general assembly. 17 This bill creates boat permits for boat liveries providing 18 watercraft for use on lakes operated by the United States army 19 corps of engineers that are located on the Des Moines river. 20 The bill prohibits an owner of a boat livery from renting, 21 leasing, or otherwise allowing the use of any watercraft 22 without a sufficient number of boat permits. 23 The bill provides that to obtain boat permits, the owner must 24 submit an application to the department of natural resources 25 (DNR) that will include the number of permits the owner 26 requests to be issued and other information deemed relevant by 27 DNR. The bill explains that each permit issued authorizes the 28 owner to allow the use of one watercraft at any given time. 29 The bill creates a committee that determines the number of 30 permits to be allocated and then allocates those permits to 31 applicants. The committee may also recommend rules for the 32 safety of rental boat users and other boaters on the lakes. 33 The permits issued are valid for two years, though they may be 34 revoked at the discretion of the committee. 35 -2- LSB 2924XC (5) 91 sb/js 2/ 3
S.F. _____ The bill requires the committee to meet annually to review 1 the number of permits in use, new permit requests, and existing 2 rules; however, the committee may choose to call additional 3 meetings at the committees discretion. 4 The bill requires the natural resource commission to adopt 5 and DNR to enforce rules pursuant to the bill and decisions 6 made by the committee. 7 The bill expounds that watercraft registered in a different 8 state, but used in waters regulated under the bill, are subject 9 to the requirements of this section. 10 The bill applies retroactively to the rental, lease, or 11 other allowance of use by the owner of a boat livery of any 12 watercraft on the specified lakes on and after January 1, 2025. 13 -3- LSB 2924XC (5) 91 sb/js 3/ 3