I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 2772
To direct the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is
operating to study and report to the Congress regarding recreational
vessel operator training.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL9, 2025
Mr. G
ARBARINO(for himself and Mr. LALOTA) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of the department in which the
Coast Guard is operating to study and report to the
Congress regarding recreational vessel operator training.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Brianna Lieneck Boat-4
ing Safety Act of 2025’’. 5
SEC. 2. RECREATIONAL VESSEL OPERATOR EDUCATION 6
AND TRAINING. 7
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 8
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the depart-9
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•HR 2772 IH
ment in which the Coast Guard is operating shall study 1
and report to the Committee on Transportation and Infra-2
structure of the House of Representatives and the Com-3
mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 4
Senate regarding recreational vessel operator training. 5
The study and report shall include a review of— 6
(1) Coast Guard Auxiliary and Power Squadron 7
training programs; 8
(2) existing State boating education programs, 9
including programs by the National Association of 10
State Boating Law Administrators (in this section 11
referred to as ‘‘NASBLA’’); and 12
(3) other hands-on training programs available 13
to recreational vessel operators. 14
(b) I
NCLUDEDSUBJECTS.—The study shall specifi-15
cally examine— 16
(1) course materials; 17
(2) course content; 18
(3) training methodology; 19
(4) assessment methodology; and 20
(5) relevancy of course content to risks for rec-21
reational boaters. 22
(c) C
ONTENTS OFREPORT.—The report under this 23
section shall include— 24
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(1) a section regarding steps the Coast Guard 1
and NASBLA have taken to encourage States to 2
adopt mandatory recreational vessel operator train-3
ing; 4
(2) an evaluation of the ability of the States to 5
harmonize their education programs and testing pro-6
cedures; 7
(3) an analysis of the extent States have pro-8
vided reciprocity among the States for their respec-9
tive mandatory and voluntary education require-10
ments and programs; 11
(4) a section examining the level of uniformity 12
of education and training between the States that 13
currently have mandatory education and training 14
programs; 15
(5) a section outlining the minimum standards 16
for education of recreational vessel operators; 17
(6) a section analyzing how a Federal training 18
and testing program can be harmonized with State 19
training and testing programs; 20
(7) an analysis of course content and delivery 21
methodology for relevancy to risks for recreational 22
boaters; 23
(8) a description of the current phase-in periods 24
for mandatory boater education in State mandatory 25
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education programs and recommendation for the 1
phase-in period for a mandatory boater education 2
program including an evaluation as to whether the 3
phase-in period affects course availability and cost; 4
(9) a description of the extent States allow for 5
experienced boaters to bypass mandatory education 6
courses and go directly to testing; 7
(10) recommendations for a bypass option for 8
experienced boaters; 9
(11) a section analyzing how the Coast Guard 10
would administer a Federal boating education, train-11
ing, and testing program; and 12
(12) an analysis of the extent to which a Fed-13
eral boating education, training, and testing pro-14
gram should be required for all waters of a State, 15
including internal waters. 16
Æ
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