Title HNC, California Harb. & Nav. Code

A district may impose a special tax pursuant to Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 50075) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 1 of Title 5 of the Government Code. The special taxes shall be applied uniformly to all taxpayers or all real property within the district, except that …

(a) The district may, in any year, levy assessments, reassessments, or special taxes and issue bonds to finance waterway construction projects and related operations and maintenance, or operations and maintenance projects independent of construction projects in accordance with, a…

It is the policy of this state to promote safety for persons and property in and connected with the use and equipment of vessels and to promote uniformity of laws relating thereto. (Amended by Stats. 1976, Ch. 744.)

(a) This chapter shall apply to vessels and associated equipment used, to be used, or carried in vessels used on waters subject to the jurisdiction of this state. (b) This chapter, except those sections that expressly indicate otherwise, shall not apply to the following: (1) Fore…

As used in this chapter, the following definitions apply unless the context clearly requires a different meaning: (a) “Alcohol” means any form or derivative of ethyl alcohol (ethanol). (b) “Alcohol concentration” means either grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood or grams…

As used in this chapter, unless the context clearly requires a different meaning, “bather” or “bathing” means a person floating, swimming, wading, or bodysurfing, with or without the use of a flotation device, including, but not limited to, floating upon or with the aid of a surf…

The Department of Motor Vehicles shall provide every person who originally registers, or who acquires the ownership certificate of, a vessel required to be numbered pursuant to Division 3.5 (commencing with Section 9840) of the Vehicle Code with a copy of guidelines for safe vess…

(a) The department may issue regulations to do all of the following: (1) Establish minimum safety standards for boats and associated equipment. (2) Require the installation, carrying, or using of associated equipment. (3) Prohibit the installation, carrying, or using of associate…

(a) The use of a distinctive blue light as prescribed by the department is reserved for public safety vessels and may be displayed during the day or night whenever the vessel may be engaged in direct law enforcement activities, including, but not limited to, those activities spec…

(a) (1) For the purposes of this section, a “muffler” or “muffler system” is a sound suppression device or system that is designed and installed to abate the sound of exhaust gases emitted from an internal combustion engine and prevents excessive or unusual noise. (2) For the pur…

(a) A person may not manufacture for sale a motorized recreational vessel that is not equipped with a muffler or muffler system, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 654, that brings the vessel into compliance with paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 654.05, except as…

(a) The owner of a motorized recreational vessel that is numbered pursuant to Section 9850 of the Vehicle Code, or that is documented by an agency of the federal government, shall not operate, or authorize the operation of, the vessel in or upon the inland waters, or in or upon o…

No person shall sell or offer for sale at retail any internal combustion engine for use on any motorized recreational vessel which, when operated, exceeds the following noise levels: (a) For engines manufactured on or after January 1, 1974, and before January 1, 1976, a noise lev…

Boating facilities constructed with funds derived from the state shall be required as a condition for the receipt of such funds to provide shoreside facilities for purposes of emptying waste matter holding tanks from vessels in accordance with needs and standards as established b…

(a) Each diesel powered vessel operating exclusively in California, engaged in the commercial transport of passengers with the capacity to transport 75 passengers or more, shall use only California diesel fuel formulated as specified in Sections 2281 and 2282 of Title 13 of the C…

A person who maliciously throws, hurls, or projects an object by manual, mechanical, or other means at a vessel or an occupant of a vessel on any of the waters within or bordering on this state, which act does not constitute a violation of either Section 242 or 594 of the Penal C…

(a) No person shall use any vessel or manipulate water skis, an aquaplane, or a similar device in a reckless or negligent manner so as to endanger the life, limb, or property of any person. The department shall adopt regulations for the use of vessels, water skis, aquaplanes, or …

(a) No person shall operate a vessel other than a recreational vessel for 24 hours if the person is found by a peace officer to have an alcohol concentration of 0.01 percent or more in his or her blood. The peace officer shall order the person out of service for 24 hours. (b) Thi…

(a) As used in this section, “mechanically propelled vessel” means any vessel actively propelled by machinery, whether or not the machinery is the principal source of propulsion. (b) (1) A peace officer, having reasonable cause to believe that any person was operating a mechanica…

(a) Every owner, operator, or person in command of any vessel propelled by machinery is guilty of an infraction who uses it, or permits it to be used, at a speed in excess of five miles per hour in any portion of the following areas not otherwise regulated by local rules and regu…

The department may adopt regulations to establish and maintain for the use of vessels and the equipment on vessels on the waters of this state rules of the road and pilot rules in conformity with those contained in the federal navigation laws or the navigation rules promulgated b…

(a) No person shall serve as a crew member on any charter boat while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, any drug, or the combined influence of intoxicating liquor and any drug. (b) No person shall serve as a crew member on any charter boat while under the influence of in…

(a) Whenever a person convicted of any violation of subdivision (b), (c), (d), (e), or (f) of Section 655 is found by the court to have willfully refused the request of a peace officer to submit to chemical testing of the blood, breath, or urine pursuant to Section 655.1, the cou…

(a) It is an infraction for a person under the age of 21 years who has 0.01 percent or more, by weight, of alcohol in his or her blood to operate any motorized vessel or manipulate water skis, an aquaplane, or a similar device. (b) A person may be found to be in violation of subd…

(a) A person operating a personal watercraft equipped by the manufacturer with a lanyard-type engine cut-off switch shall attach the lanyard to themselves, their clothing, or their personal flotation device, as appropriate for the specific vessel, while operating on plane or abov…

(a) It is the duty of the operator of a vessel involved in a collision, accident, or other casualty, so far as the operator can do so without serious danger to his or her own vessel, crew, and passengers, to render to other persons affected by the collision, accident, or other ca…

The operator of any vessel involved in an accident in the waters of this state who knows or has reason to know that the accident resulted in damage to other property shall, if reasonable to do so under the circumstances, stop at the scene of the accident and shall do either of th…

In addition to the requirements of Section 656.1, the operator of any vessel involved in an accident in the waters of this state who knows or has reason to know that the accident resulted in injury to any person shall furnish his or her name, address, and the registration number …

In addition to the requirements of Sections 656.1 and 656.2, the operator of any vessel involved in an accident in the waters of this state who knows or has reason to know that the accident resulted in the death or disappearance of any person shall, after fulfilling the requireme…

The department is authorized to develop a program of public information and research in the interest of reducing loss of life and property in the operation of vessels covered by this chapter. (Added by renumbering Section 685.4 by Stats. 1967, Ch. 842.)

In accordance with any request duly made by an authorized official or agency of the United States, any information compiled or otherwise available to the department pursuant to Section 656 shall be transmitted to said official or agency of the United States. (Amended by Stats. 19…

(a) No person shall operate a vessel on any waters for towing a person or persons on water skis, an aquaplane, or a similar device unless there is in the vessel a person at least 12 years of age, in addition to the operator, in a position to observe the progress of the persons be…

(a) A person shall not use a recreational vessel unless all of the following requirements are met: (1) There is at least one wearable personal flotation device on board the vessel for each person on the vessel. (2) Each personal flotation device is used in accordance with the req…

(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), no person under 16 years of age shall operate a vessel powered by a motor of greater than 15 horsepower, except for a vessel that does not exceed 30 feet in length and is designed to use wind as its principal source of propulsion, or a d…

(a) Failure of the operator of a vessel involved in towing a skier to display or cause to be displayed a ski flag, as described in subdivision (a) of Section 7009 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, to indicate any of the following conditions, is an infraction puni…

The department may make rules and regulations for the uniform navigational marking of the waters of this state. Such rules and regulations shall not be in conflict with markings prescribed by the United States Coast Guard. No city, county, or person shall mark the waters of this …

(a) Any ordinance, law, regulation, or rule relating to vessels, which is adopted pursuant to provisions of law other than this chapter by any entity other than the department, including, but not limited to, any county, city, port authority, district, or any state agency other th…

(a) Every owner of an undocumented vessel numbered under this code is liable and responsible for the death of or injury to person or property resulting from negligence in the operation of such vessel, in the business of the owner or otherwise, by any person using and operating th…

A copy of the ordinances or local laws adopted pursuant to this chapter, and of any amendments thereto, shall be filed in the office of the department. (Added by Stats. 1959, Ch. 1454.)

Every peace officer of this state or of any city, county, city and county, or other political subdivision of the state shall enforce this chapter and any regulations adopted by the department pursuant to this chapter and in the exercise of that duty shall have the authority to st…

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a peace officer may, without a warrant, arrest a person who is involved in an accident in the waters of this state involving a vessel when the officer has reasonable cause to believe that the person had been operating the vessel while u…

Within the territorial limits of a county, city, or district, a harbor policeman regularly employed and paid as such by the county, city, or district shall also enforce the provisions of this chapter and any rules or regulations adopted by the department pursuant to this chapter …

Every vessel subject to this chapter, if under way and lawfully ordered to stop and lie to by a peace officer or harbor policeman authorized to enforce the provisions of this chapter who is either in a uniform of a law enforcement agency or the harbor police or in a vessel that i…

(a) Each county of the state is entitled to receive state financial aid for boating safety and enforcement programs on waters under its jurisdiction as provided in this section. A boating safety and enforcement program, as used in this section, includes search and rescue operatio…

(a) When any person is arrested for a violation of this chapter or any regulation adopted by the department pursuant to this chapter or any ordinance or local law relating to the operation and equipment of vessels, and that person is not immediately taken before a magistrate, the…

Any person willfully violating his written promise to appear in court is guilty of a misdemeanor regardless of the disposition of the charge upon which he was originally arrested. (Added by Stats. 1959, Ch. 1454.)