An Act amending Title 30 (Fish) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, providing for at-risk, derelict and abandoned boats; and imposing penalties.

Boat owners face deadlines and penalties

Pennsylvania sets rules for unsafe and abandoned boats, effective 180 days after enactment. At-risk boats include those taking on water, exposed to extreme weather, breaking loose, or lacking safe propulsion. Derelict boats include sunken, stranded, wrecked, or badly deteriorated boats. When owners cannot be contacted, boats are presumed abandoned under several conditions. These include being inoperable and unattended, or illegally left, on state waters or public property for more than 48 hours. Other triggers are being unattended there without valid registration or remaining on an authorized salvage dealer’s property beyond 30 calendar days. Owners can challenge that presumption by showing abandonment is more likely than not untrue. Municipalities and law enforcement work with the Fish and Boat Commission and must report identified boats within 7 calendar days. Officials must try to notify owners through certified mail, personal delivery, or verifiable direct electronic contact. Public digital posts can supplement those methods. When owners cannot be identified, notice must appear in a newspaper and through verifiable electronic means. Owners have 14 calendar days after receiving notice, or publication, to remove, repair, salvage, securely store, or junk the boat. They can instead arrange another solution with officials, including giving up custody. Otherwise, officials can remove and store or junk the boat at the owner’s expense. Owners can reclaim stored at-risk boats within 30 calendar days after notice by paying removal, storage, and applicable fines. Owners lose the right to claim derelict or abandoned boats after that period. A first violation is a summary offense with a $500 fine; a second carries a $1,000 fine. Both also require restitution, which can cover towing, storage, notices, and removal or junking costs. A third or later violation is a third-degree misdemeanor with restitution; this provision states no fine amount for that tier. For derelict or abandoned boat owners, intentionally ignoring proper notice counts as a violation. Officials can use authorized salvage dealers, and the Commission can issue forms and rules for carrying out these procedures.