[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4468 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4468

 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

                           November 28, 2017

   Mr. King of New York (for himself, Miss Rice of New York, and Mr. 
   Suozzi) 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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. RECREATIONAL VESSEL OPERATOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the department in which the 
Coast Guard is operating shall study and report to the Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and 
the Committees on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 
regarding recreational vessel operator training. The study and report 
shall included a review of--
            (1) Coast Guard Auxiliary and Power Squadron training 
        programs;
            (2) existing State boating education programs, including 
        programs by the National Association of State Boating Law 
        Administrators (in this section referred to as ``NASBLA''); and
            (3) other hands-on training programs available to 
        recreational vessel operators.
    (b) Included Subjects.--The study shall specifically examine--
            (1) course materials;
            (2) course content;
            (3) training methodology;
            (4) assessment methodology; and
            (5) relevancy of course content to risks for recreational 
        boaters.
    (c) Contents of Report.--The report under this section shall 
include--
            (1) a section regarding steps the Coast Guard and NASBLA 
        have taken to encourage States to adopt mandatory recreational 
        vessel operator training;
            (2) an evaluation of the ability of the States to harmonize 
        their education programs and testing procedures;
            (3) an analysis of the extent States have provided 
        reciprocity among the States for their respective mandatory and 
        voluntary education requirements and programs;
            (4) a section examining the level of uniformity of 
        education and training between the States that currently have 
        mandatory education and training programs;
            (5) a section outlining the minimum standards for education 
        of recreational vessel operators;
            (6) a section analyzing how a Federal training and testing 
        program can be harmonized with State training and testing 
        programs;
            (7) analysis of course content and delivery methodology for 
        relevancy to risks for recreational boaters;
            (8) a description of the current phase-in periods for 
        mandatory boater education in State mandatory education 
        programs and recommendation for the phase-in period for a 
        mandatory boater education program including an evaluation as 
        to whether the phase-in period affects course availability and 
        cost;
            (9) a description of the extent States allow for 
        experienced boaters to by-pass mandatory education courses and 
        go directly to testing;
            (10) recommendations for a by-pass option for experienced 
        boaters;
            (11) a section analyzing how the Coast Guard would 
        administer a Federal boating education, training, and testing 
        program; and
            (12) the extent to which a Federal boating education, 
        training, and testing program should be required for all waters 
        of a State, including internal waters.
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