Chapter 30

30.49(1)(f)4. 4. If the alleged violator fails to comply with the warning notice, the law enforcement officer or warden may issue a citation. If the alleged violator complies with the warning notice, the law enforcement officer or warden may not issue a citation.

30.49(1)(f)5. 5. The department shall record the issuances of warning notices for purposes of this paragraph.

30.49(2) (2) Civil remedies.

30.49(2)(a) (a) The state, board or a municipality may file a civil action to enforce ss. 30.44 to 30.46.

30.49(2)(b) (b) If the plaintiff prevails in a civil action under par. (a), the court may grant:

30.49(2)(b)1. 1. Injunctive relief under ch. 813.

30.49(2)(b)2. 2. A declaratory judgment under s. 806.04.

30.49(2)(b)3. 3. A decree for specific performance for which the court may supervise compliance.

30.49(3) (3) Other rights, remedies. This section does not limit any other right or remedy provided by law.

30.49 History History: 1989 a. 31.

subch. V of ch. 30 SUBCHAPTER V

REGULATION OF BOATING

30.50 30.50 Definitions. In ss. 30.50 to 30.80:

30.50(1e) (1e) “Alcohol beverage” has the meaning specified under s. 125.02 (1).

30.50(1g) (1g) “Alcohol concentration” has the meaning given in s. 340.01 (1v).

30.50(1j) (1j) “Application” includes the form designated by the department and any supporting document or other information that is submitted to the department.

30.50(1m) (1m) “Approved public treatment facility” has the meaning specified under s. 51.45 (2) (c).

30.50(1s) (1s) “Associated equipment” means any system, part or component of a boat as originally manufactured or any similar system, part or component manufactured or sold for replacement, repair or improvement of the system, part or component; any accessory or equipment for, or appurtenance to, a boat and any marine safety article, accessory or equipment intended for or used by a person on board a boat except radio equipment.

30.50(2) (2) “Boat” or “vessel” means every description of watercraft used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on water, except a seaplane on the water and a fishing raft.

30.50(3) (3) “Certificate of number” means the certificate of number card, certification decal, and identification number issued by the department under the federally approved numbering system unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

30.50(3b) (3b) “Certification or registration document” means a certificate of number card, certification decal, registration certificate, registration card, temporary operating receipt, or registration decal.

30.50(3d) (3d) “Commercial motorboat” means a motorboat while it is being operated to transport property or passengers for hire or while it is being used by its operator or owner to earn a livelihood or to gain a profit or both.

30.50(3g) (3g) “Controlled substance” has the meaning specified under s. 961.01 (4).

30.50(3h) (3h) “Controlled substance analog” has the meaning given in s. 961.01 (4m).

30.50(3r) (3r) “Drug” has the meaning specified under s. 450.01 (10).

30.50(4) (4) “Employ” means to make use of for any purpose other than maintenance.

30.50(4b) (4b) “Great bodily harm” has the meaning given in s. 939.22 (14).

30.50(4c) (4c) “Hazardous inhalant” means a substance that is ingested, inhaled, or otherwise introduced into the human body in a manner that does not comply with any cautionary labeling that is required for the substance under s. 100.37 or under federal law, or in a manner that is not intended by the manufacturer of the substance, and that is intended to induce intoxication or elation, to stupefy the central nervous system, or to change the human audio, visual, or mental processes.

30.50(4e) (4e) “Intoxicant” means any alcohol beverage, hazardous inhalant, controlled substance, controlled substance analog or other drug, or any combination thereof.

30.50(4m) (4m) “Intoxicated boating law” means s. 30.681 (1) or a local ordinance in conformity with that subsection, s. 30.681 (2) or, if the operation of a motorboat is involved, s. 940.09 or 940.25.

30.50(4q) (4q) “Lake sanitary district” means a town sanitary district that has within its boundaries at least 60 percent of the footage of shoreline of a public inland lake, as defined in s. 60.782 (1), for which a public inland lake protection and rehabilitation district is not in effect.

30.50(4s) (4s) “Law enforcement officer” has the meaning specified under s. 165.85 (2) (c) and includes a person appointed as a conservation warden by the department under s. 23.10 (1).

30.50(5) (5) “Manufacturer” means any person engaged in the manufacture, construction or assembly of boats or associated equipment; the manufacture or construction of components for boats and associated equipment to be sold for subsequent assembly and the importation into this state for sale of boats, associated equipment or components for boats.

30.50(6) (6) “Motorboat” means any boat equipped with propulsion machinery, whether or not the machinery is the principal source of propulsion.

30.50(7) (7) “Nonmotorized boat” means a boat which is not a motorboat but which is designed and constructed to be used as a boat for transportation of a person or persons on water. This term includes, but is not limited to, any canoe, sailboat, inflatable boat or similar device, row boat, raft and dinghy which is not a motorboat.

30.50(8) (8) “Operate” or “use” when used with reference to a motorboat, boat or vessel means to navigate or otherwise employ.

30.50(8g) (8g) “Operation of a motorboat” means controlling the speed or direction of a motorboat, except a sailboat operating under sail alone.

30.50(8r) (8r) “Operator” means a person who is engaged in the operation of a motorboat, who is responsible for the operation of a motorboat or who is supervising the operation of a motorboat.

30.50(9) (9) “Owner” means the person who has lawful possession of a boat by virtue of legal title or equitable interest therein which entitles the person to lawful possession.

30.50(9b) (9b) “Patrol boat” means a boat authorized by this state or by a local governmental unit for the purpose of law enforcement, search and rescue, fire fighting, emergency response, or water safety operations, including a water safety patrol unit.

30.50(9d) (9d) “Personal watercraft” means a motorboat that uses an inboard motor powering a water jet pump or a caged propeller as its primary source of motive power and that is designed to be operated by a person standing on, kneeling on or sitting astride the watercraft.

30.50(9f) (9f) “Proof,” when used in reference to evidence of a certification or registration document or safety certificate, means the original certification or registration document or safety certificate issued by the department or an agent appointed under s. 30.52 (1m) (a) 3. or any alternative form of proof designated by rule under s. 23.47 (1).

30.50(9g) (9g) “Purpose of authorized analysis” means for the purpose of determining or obtaining evidence of the presence, quantity or concentration of alcohol or other intoxicant in a person’s blood, breath or urine.

30.50(9x) (9x) “Refusal law” means s. 30.684 (5) or a local ordinance in conformity with that subsection.

30.50(10) (10) “Registration” means the registration certificate, registration card, and registration decal issued by the department.

30.50(10m) (10m) “Restricted controlled substance” means any of the following:

30.50(10m)(a) (a) A controlled substance included in schedule I under ch. 961 other than a tetrahydrocannabinol.

30.50(10m)(b) (b) A controlled substance analog, as defined in s. 961.01 (4m), of a controlled substance described in par. (a).

30.50(10m)(c) (c) Cocaine or any of its metabolites.

30.50(10m)(d) (d) Methamphetamine.

30.50(10m)(e) (e) Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, excluding its precursors or metabolites, at a concentration of one or more nanograms per milliliter of a person’s blood.

30.50(11) (11) “Sailboard” means a sailboat with a hull resembling a surfboard which has little or no cockpit or seating area and which is designed to be sailed by a person in a standing position.

30.50(12) (12) “Slow-no-wake” means that speed at which a boat moves as slowly as possible while still maintaining steerage control.

30.50(13) (13) “State of principal use” means the state where the boat is used or is to be used most during the year.

30.50(13d) (13d) “Temporary operating receipt” means a receipt issued by the department or an agent under s. 30.52 (1m) (ag) 1. a. that shows that an application and the required fees for a certificate of number or registration have been submitted to the department or an agent appointed under s. 30.52 (1m) (a) 3.

30.50(13m) (13m) “Test facility” means a test facility or agency prepared to administer tests under s. 343.305 (2).

30.50(14) (14) “Waters of this state” means any waters within the territorial limits of this state, including the Wisconsin portion of boundary waters.

30.50 History History: 1979 c. 275; 1983 a. 27, 100; 1985 a. 279, 331; 1987 a. 3, 374; 1989 a. 145; 1991 a. 39, 257, 316; 1995 a. 290, 349, 436, 448; 1997 a. 198; 1999 a. 9; 2001 a. 16; 2003 a. 97; 2005 a. 25, 308; 2013 a. 83; 2015 a. 89; 2019 a. 68.

30.50 Annotation Recreational boating law in Wisconsin. Whipple. 61 MLR 425.

30.50 Annotation Wisconsin’s Boating Rules of the Road. Whipple. Wis. Law. June 2000.

30.501 30.501 Capacity plates on boats.

30.501(1) (1) Every vessel less than 20 feet in length designed to carry 2 or more persons and to be propelled by machinery as its principal source of power or designed to be propelled by oars shall, if manufactured or offered for sale in this state, have affixed permanently thereto by the manufacturer a capacity plate as required by this section. As used in this section “manufacture” means to construct or assemble a vessel or alter a vessel so as to change its weight capacity.

30.501(2) (2) A capacity plate shall bear the following information permanently marked thereon so as to be clearly visible and legible from the position designed or normally intended to be occupied by the operator of the vessel when under way:

30.501(2)(a) (a) For all vessels designed for or represented by the manufacturer as being suitable for use with outboard motor:

30.501(2)(a)1. 1. The total weight of persons, motor, gear and other articles placed aboard which the vessel is capable of carrying with safety under normal conditions.

30.501(2)(a)2. 2. The recommended number of persons commensurate with the weight capacity of the vessel and the presumed weight in pounds of each such person. In no instance shall such presumed weight per person be less than 150 pounds.

30.501(2)(a)3. 3. Clear notice that the information appearing on the capacity plate is applicable under normal conditions and that the weight of the outboard motor and associated equipment is considered to be part of total weight capacity.

30.501(2)(a)4. 4. The maximum horsepower of the motor the vessel is designed or intended to accommodate.

30.501(2)(b) (b) For all other vessels to which this section applies:

30.501(2)(b)1. 1. The total weight of persons, gear and other articles placed aboard which the vessel is capable of carrying with safety under normal conditions.

30.501(2)(b)2. 2. The recommended number of persons commensurate with the weight capacity of the vessel and the presumed weight in pounds of each such person. In no instance shall such presumed weight per person be less than 150 pounds.

30.501(2)(b)3. 3. Clear notice that the information appearing on the capacity plate is applicable under normal conditions.

30.501(3) (3) The information relating to maximum capacity required to appear on capacity plates by sub. (2) shall be determined in accordance with such methods and formulas as are prescribed by rule promulgated by the department. In prescribing such methods and formulas, the department shall be guided by and give due regard to the necessity for uniformity in methods and formulas lawful for use in determining small vessel capacity in the several states and to any methods and formulas which may be recognized or recommended by the U.S. coast guard.

30.501(4) (4) Any vessel to which this section applies not having a capacity plate, meeting the requirements of law, affixed thereto by the manufacturer thereof may have such affixed by any other person in accordance with such rules as the department promulgates, and may thereafter be offered for sale in this state, but no action taken pursuant to this subsection, or as described herein, shall relieve any manufacturer from liability for failure to comply with this section.

30.501(5) (5) The information appearing on a capacity plate shall be deemed to warrant that the manufacturer, or the person affixing the capacity plate as permitted by sub. (4), has correctly and faithfully employed a method and formula for the calculation of maximum weight capacity prescribed by the department and that the information appearing on the capacity plate with respect to maximum weight capacity and recommended number of persons is the result of applying such method and formula, and with respect to information concerning horsepower limitations that such information is not a deliberate or negligent misrepresentation.

30.501(6) (6) If any vessel required by this section to have a capacity plate affixed thereto is of such design or construction as to make it impracticable or undesirable to affix such plate, the manufacturer, or other person having the responsibility for affixing the plate, may represent such impracticability or undesirability to the department in writing. Upon determination by the department that such representation has merit and that a proper and effective substitute for the capacity plate which will serve the same purpose is feasible, the department may authorize such alternative compliance and such alternative compliance shall thereafter be deemed compliance with the capacity plate requirements of this section.

30.501(7) (7) The department may by rule exempt from the requirements of this section vessels which it finds to be of such unconventional design or construction that the information required on capacity plates would not assist in promoting safety or is not reasonably obtainable.

30.501(8) (8) The department may promulgate rules to carry out the purposes of this section, but rules on vessel capacity requirements shall conform with appropriate federal regulations.

30.501(9) (9) This section applies to vessels manufactured after January 1, 1966 and prior to November 1, 1972. All vessels manufactured after November 1, 1972, shall comply with appropriate federal regulations and the capacity information shall be displayed as required.

30.501 History History: 1979 c. 275; 1985 a. 332 ss. 44, 251 (1); 1987 a. 403; 1997 a. 198.

30.501 Cross-reference Cross-reference: See also s. NR 5.12, Wis. adm. code.

30.505 30.505 Certificate of number system to conform to federal system. The certificate of number system and the issuance of identification numbers employed by the department shall be in conformity with the overall system of identification numbering for boats established by the U.S. government. The department shall promulgate rules as are necessary to bring the state certificate of number system and the issuance of identification numbers into conformity with this federal system.

30.505 History History: 1983 a. 27 s. 858; 1997 a. 198.

30.51 30.51 Certificate of number and registration; requirements; exemptions.

30.51(1) (1) Requirements.

30.51(1)(a) (a) Certificate of number. No person may operate, and no owner may give permission for the operation of, any boat on the waters of this state unless the boat is covered by a certificate of number issued under this chapter or is exempt from the certificate of number requirements of this chapter.

30.51(1)(b) (b) Registration. No person may operate, and no owner may give permission for the operation of, any boat on the waters of this state unless the boat is covered by a registration issued under this chapter or is exempt from the registration requirements of this chapter.

30.51(2) (2) Exemptions.

30.51(2)(a) (a) Exemptions from both certificate of number and registration requirements. A boat is exempt from both the certificate of number and the registration requirements of this chapter if it is: