Maryland House Bill 140 on Mandatory Life Jacket Wear Feb. 8, 2006 BoatU.S. Government Affairs Vice President Margaret Podlich testified before the Maryland House Environmental Matters Committee today on H.B. 140, a bill that originally proposed to require everyone on the outside of a boat to wear a life jacket. The bill was introduced by Baltimore Del. Catherine Pugh. BoatU.S. also submitted written testimony on behalf of more than 34,000 BoatU.S. members in Maryland, to oppose this bill. Yesterday, BoatU.S. spoke with Pugh’s staff that there would be substantial changes in the bill. These changes were not made available in writing prior to or during the committee hearing. However, at the beginning of the hearing there was clarification from Del. Pugh on her intent to address safety issues of water taxis only. Because of the potential impact on recreational boating, the hearing room was packed and, in addition to BoatU.S., there were representatives of many boating groups, commercial captains and dozens of boaters. Of three pages of witnesses signed up to testify, no one supported H.B. 140 as introduced. Because the bill had substantially been altered from its previous draft, much of the verbal testimony that recreational boating representatives planned was shortened, however BoatU.S. made a point of thanking the committee for its work to remove recreational boaters from the bill. Last year, an accident with multiple fatalities occurred in Baltimore Harbor when a water taxi capsized. Del. Pugh wants to require safety briefings and demonstrations on how to don a life jacket at the beginning of water taxi trips of any length. At the hearing, representatives of water taxis and tour boats presented information on existing U.S. Coast Guard regulations requiring safety briefings to passengers. In the event of shorter trips (less than 15 minute segments), the taxi is allowed to display this information on written placards. This is existing law, and commercial captains work with their local USCG inspectors to assure compliance. Differences between federal law and Del. Pugh’s bill will have to be worked out. BoatU.S. appreciates the high level of interest and involvement that members have shown on this issue in the last two weeks. BoatU.S. will continue to monitor this bill and insure that any rewrite of this bill, or newly introduced bills, are acceptable to boating interests.

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