Substitute House Bill No. 5259
AN ACT REQUIRING THE INSPECTION OF VESSELS AND VESSEL TRAILERS FOR AQUATIC INVASIVE SPECIES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 15-180 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2012):
(a) No person shall transport a vessel, as defined in section 15-127, or any trailer used to transport such vessel, in the state without first inspecting such vessel for the presence of vegetation and aquatic invasive species, as determined by the commissioner, and properly removing and disposing of any such vegetation and aquatic invasive species that are visible and identifiable without optical magnification from such vessel or trailer.
(b) Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be fined not more than one hundred dollars for each such violation.
Sec. 2. Subsection (g) of section 15-140e of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2012):
(g) Any course in safe boating operation approved by the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection, as described in subsection (b) of this section, shall include instruction on the proper means of: (1) Inspecting a vessel and trailers used for transporting such vessels for the presence of vegetation and aquatic invasive species, as determined by the commissioner pursuant to subsection (a) of section 15-180, as amended by this act; and (2) properly disposing of such vegetation and such aquatic invasive species.