Sec.15-140f-3. Issuance of safe boating certificates

(a) Any person required by subsection (a) of Section 15-140e of the Connecticut General Statutes to obtain a safe boating certificate shall apply to the Commissioner for such certificate on a form provided by the Commissioner. The applicant shall provide the following information on the form: the applicant's name, address, date of birth, place of birth, phone number, sex, hair color, eye color, and height. Proof of identity shall be required as provided in subsection (a) of Section 14-137-67 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies, except that a valid Connecticut motor vehicle operator's license with photograph of the applicant, or an acknowledgment of the identity of the applicant, taken by a person authorized by Section 1-29 of the Connecticut General Statutes to take such acknowledgment, if submitted as part of the application shall be conclusive proof of the identity of the applicant.

(b) A safe boating certificate issued to any person less than twelve years of age shall have a notation thereon that the holder of such certificate shall not operate a vessel with a motor of greater than ten horsepower unless he is under the on-board supervision of a person at least eighteen years of age who has been issued a safe boating certificate.

(c) Each safe boating certificate issued by the Commissioner shall be assigned a boat operator number unique to the person to whom such certificate is issued and the same number shall be assigned to any duplicates of such certificate. Only one safe boating certificate and boat operator number shall be assigned to any person and no person shall apply for or obtain more than one such certificate or number.

(d) No person shall make a material false statement on an application to obtain a safe boating certificate or duplicate certificate and every statement made on any such application shall be upon oath or affirmation. The certificate of any person who knowingly makes a material false statement, or provides insufficient funds for payment of applicable fees, or obtains any certificate to which he is not entitled, shall be null and void.

(e) No person shall alter or deface a safe boating certificate or a duplicate certificate, and no person shall exhibit to any enforcement officer identified in Section 15-154 of the Connecticut General Statutes, a certificate or duplicate certificate which has been altered or defaced, or a certificate or duplicate certificate other than the one issued to him.

(f) Duplicates of safe boating certificates may be issued by the Commissioner only to applicants who change their legal name or to applicants whose certificate is lost, stolen, or destroyed upon application to the Commissioner on a form provided by the Commissioner. Every statement made on any such application shall be upon oath or affirmation. Information to be provided by the applicant may include any or all of the items which the Commissioner, in his sole discretion, deems required for issuance of an original certificate. Any person to whom a duplicate certificate is issued who subsequently finds or has returned to him the original or previous duplicate of such certificate shall, within five days, return his last-issued certificate to the Boating Division of the Department of Environmental Protection.

(g) Temporary safe boating certificates shall be subject to the same provisions regarding issuance of safe boating certificates set forth in subsections (a) through (f) of this section. Each application for a temporary certificate shall be accompanied by a certificate of number or certificate of decal issued to the applicant for his vessel on the date of vessel registration. Temporary certificates shall expire in three months from the date of vessel registration as is provided for in Section 15-140e(c) of the Connecticut General Statutes. No person shall be issued more than one temporary safe boating certificate and issuance of a temporary certificate shall not entitle the holder thereof to issuance of a lifetime certificate as provided for by subsection (a) of Section 15-140e of the Connecticut General Statutes.

(h) Any person applying for a safe boating certificate by providing proof that he has successfully completed an approved course in safe boating operation shall provide with his application the original document demonstrating successful course completion, or a copy thereof, or an original statement, written on the letterhead of and signed by an authorized representative of the agency or organization which gave such course, attesting to the existence of records which show that the applicant successfully completed such course. The Commissioner may waive such requirement of proof when verification is obtained from records of the Commissioner which show such approved course in safe boating operation was successfully completed.

(i) Any person applying for a safe boating certificate by providing proof that he has successfully passed an equivalency examination shall provide with his application the original document demonstrating that the applicant passed such examination. The Commissioner may waive such requirement of proof when verification is obtained from records of the Commissioner which show such examination was passed.

(Effective September 24, 1992; Transferred and AmendedSeptember 8, 1998; Amended January 3, 2007; Amended July 8, 2011)