Chapter 30

30.71(1) (1) In this section, “outlying waters” has the meaning given in s. 29.001 (63).

30.71(2) (2) No person may, while maintaining or operating any boat equipped with toilets on the waters of this state, dispose of any toilet wastes in any manner into the water.

30.71(3) (3) No person may operate for compensation or reward an establishment that has the capacity of providing berths or moorings to 5 or more boats that are equipped with toilets and that is located on an outlying water of this state unless the establishment provides adequate fixed onshore disposal facilities for disposal of toilet wastes from the boats for which the establishment provides berths or moorings. If the establishment is unable to provide fixed onshore disposal facilities due to problems of accessibility to the boats, the establishment shall provide adequate portable disposal facilities for these toilet wastes.

30.71(4) (4) Any rules necessary to carry out the purposes of this section shall be promulgated jointly by the department of safety and professional services and the department of natural resources.

30.71 History History: 1977 c. 395; 1979 c. 221; 1983 a. 27 s. 2202 (38); 1985 a. 332 s. 251 (1); 1995 a. 27 ss. 1691, 9116 (5); 1997 a. 248, 330; 1999 a. 32; 2011 a. 32.

30.71 Annotation The Mississippi River is an inland water of Wisconsin. The boat toilet law may be enforced on the entire width of the river bordering Minnesota and up to the center of the main channel bordering Iowa. 61 Atty. Gen. 167.

30.72 30.72 Watercraft use rules, Lower St. Croix River.

30.72(1) (1) Water surface use rules.

30.72(1)(a) (a) The department shall promulgate rules to govern the operation of boats on the Lower St. Croix River. The rules may restrict any or all of the following:

30.72(1)(a)1. 1. The type of boats which may be used on the waters affected by the rules;

30.72(1)(a)2. 2. The areas of water which may be used by boats;

30.72(1)(a)3. 3. Speed of boats; or

30.72(1)(a)4. 4. The hours during which boating is permitted.

30.72(1)(b) (b) In promulgating the rules required under par. (a), the department shall consider the physical characteristics of the waters affected, their historical uses, shoreland uses and classification, the classification of river segments under the Lower St. Croix national scenic riverway master plan, and any other features unique to the Lower St. Croix River, as well as the views of appropriate officials of counties, cities, villages and towns lying within the affected area, and of appropriate officials of agencies of the federal government and the state of Minnesota which have jurisdiction over the waters of the Lower St. Croix River.

30.72(2) (2) Concurrent regulations required. Rules promulgated under this section are effective upon adoption of laws, rules or regulations providing for similar limitations or prohibitions on the operation and use of boats on the same segments of the Lower St. Croix River by the state of Minnesota or its agencies. In exercising the authority granted by this section, the department may enter into necessary agreements with the federal government and its agencies, or with the state of Minnesota and its agencies under s. 66.0303.

30.72(3) (3) Enforcement. In addition to the enforcement powers granted to the department under s. 30.74 (3), the rules promulgated under this section may be enforceable by officers of water safety patrol units having jurisdiction on waters of the Lower St. Croix River under s. 30.79 (3). All officers so empowered by this section may exercise reciprocal powers which may be conferred upon them by the state of Minnesota or its agencies or political subdivisions relating to enforcement of regulations governing the use or operation of boats on the Lower St. Croix River.

30.72 History History: 1975 c. 208; 1985 a. 332 s. 251 (7); 1989 a. 159; 1999 a. 150 s. 672.

30.72 Note NOTE: Chapter 208, laws of 1975, which created this section, contains a statement of legislative purpose in section 1. See the 1975 session law volume.

30.72 Cross-reference Cross-reference: See also ss. NR 5.30, 5.31, 5.32, 5.33, 5.34, and 5.36, Wis. adm. code.

30.73 30.73 Use regulations, Brule River.

30.73(1) (1) Prohibited uses. No person may operate, occupy or use any motorboat or any pneumatic inner tube, inflatable raft or similar device on the Brule River or any of its stream tributaries in Douglas County. This subsection does not prohibit a person from operating, occupying or using a noninflatable nonmotorized boat, canoe or kayak.

30.73(2) (2) Exceptions. Subsection (1) does not apply to:

30.73(2)(a) (a) Peace officers or rescue units engaged in emergency operations.

30.73(2)(b) (b) Agents of the department while engaged in fish management or law enforcement activities.

30.73(2)(c) (c) Persons on the Brule River within one mile of its mouth.

30.73(3) (3) Enforcement; littering. The department shall enforce this section and restrictions on littering in the area of the Brule River and its stream tributaries in Douglas County.

30.73(4) (4) Penalty. A person who violates this section is subject to the penalties provided under s. 30.80 (1).

30.73 History History: 1981 c. 303.

30.74 30.74 Additional functions of department.

30.74(1) (1) Boating safety programs.

30.74(1)(a) (a) The department shall establish a program of comprehensive courses on boating safety and operation. These courses shall be offered in cooperation with schools, including tribal schools, as defined in s. 115.001 (15m), private clubs and organizations, and may be offered by the department in areas where requested and where other sponsorship is unavailable. The department shall issue certificates to persons 10 years of age or older successfully completing such courses. The department shall prescribe the course content and the form of the certificate.

30.74(1)(am) (am) The department may promulgate rules to establish minimum standards and procedures for the instruction given under s. 30.625 (1) (a).

30.74(1)(b) (b) The department by rule shall set the instruction fee for the course. A person conducting a course or giving instruction under this subsection shall collect the instruction fee from each person who receives instruction. The department may determine the portion of this fee, which may not exceed 50 percent, that the person may retain to defray expenses incurred by the person in conducting the course or giving the instruction. The person shall remit the remainder of the fee or, if nothing is retained, the entire fee to the department. The department shall issue a duplicate certificate of accomplishment to a person who is entitled to a duplicate certificate of accomplishment and who pays a fee of $2.75.

30.74(1)(bn) (bn) A certificate issued to a person under this subsection is valid for life unless revoked by a court under s. 30.80 (2m) or (6) (e) or 938.343 (5).

30.74(1)(c) (c) A valid certificate issued by another state, as defined in s. 115.46 (2) (f), or a province of Canada that is held by a person will be honored if the course content substantially meets that established by the department.

30.74(1)(d) (d) The department shall also prepare and disseminate information on water safety to the public, including the informational pamphlets specified in s. 30.52 (5) (a) 4. and (b) 3.

30.74(2) (2) Uniform navigation aids.

30.74(2)(a) (a) The department by rule shall establish uniform marking of the water areas of this state through the placement of aids to navigation and regulatory markers. These rules shall establish a marking system compatible with the system of aids to navigation prescribed by the U.S. coast guard and shall give due regard to the system of uniform waterway markers approved by the advisory panel of state officials to the merchant marine council, U.S. coast guard. No municipality or person may mark the waters of this state in any manner in conflict with the marking system prescribed by the department. Any regulatory marker or aid to navigation that does not comply with this marking system is considered an unlawful obstruction to navigable waters and may be removed in accordance with law. The department may not prohibit the placement of a regulatory marker or an aid to navigation if it complies with this marking system and if it is being placed pursuant to an ordinance that has been enacted in compliance with s. 30.77.

30.74(2)(b) (b) For purposes of this section “aids to navigation” means buoys, beacons and other fixed objects in the water which are used to mark obstructions to navigation or to direct navigation through safe channels; “regulatory markers” means any anchored or fixed marker in the water or anchored platform on the surface of the water, other than aids to navigation, and shall include but not be limited to bathing beach markers, speed zone markers, information markers, mooring buoys, fishing buoys and restricted activity area markers.

30.74(3) (3) Enforcement. The department shall assist in the enforcement of ss. 30.50 to 30.80 and in connection therewith maintain patrol boats and operate such patrol boats at such times and places as the department deems necessary in the interest of boating safety and the effective enforcement of boating laws.

30.74 History History: 1973 c. 302; 1983 a. 27 s. 2202 (38); 1995 a. 152; 1997 a. 198; 1999 a. 9; 2005 a. 356 ss. 1e, 10g, 10r; 2007 a. 20; 2009 a. 302; 2015 a. 89.

30.74 Cross-reference Cross-reference: See also ss. NR 5.09 and 5.18, Wis. adm. code.

30.742 30.742 Water exhibitions and races; rules. For water exhibitions or races, the department may promulgate rules that provide exemptions from any of the requirements or restrictions under s. 30.61, 30.62, 30.65, 30.66, 30.678, 30.68 or 30.69.

30.742 History History: 1991 a. 257; 2005 a. 356.

30.745 30.745 Limited jurisdiction for administration and enforcement of navigation aids by municipalities.

30.745(1) (1) Definitions. As used in this section:

30.745(1)(a) (a) “Adjacent outlying waters” means the outlying waters adjacent to the boundaries of a municipality and extending outward for a distance of one-half mile.

30.745(1)(b) (b) “Municipality” means any town, village or city.

30.745(2) (2) Exercise of limited jurisdiction.

30.745(2)(a) (a) Authority to enact ordinances. A municipality may enact by ordinance a navigation aids system and regulations affecting moorings, markers and buoys in adjacent outlying waters if the system and regulations are not in conflict with the uniform navigation aids system established by the department under s. 30.74 (2) or with any county ordinance.

30.745(2)(b) (b) Conflicts. Any municipal ordinance enacted under this section which conflicts with the uniform navigation aids system established by the department under s. 30.74 (2) or with any county ordinance is void.

30.745(2)(c) (c) Administration and enforcement. Except as provided under s. 62.23 (7a) (am), a municipality may exercise jurisdiction over adjacent outlying waters for the purpose of administering and enforcing an ordinance enacted under this section.

30.745 History History: 1981 c. 222; 1983 a. 27 s. 2202 (38); 1997 a. 248; 2021 a. 198.

30.75 30.75 Service of process on nonresident.

30.75(1) (1) How served. Service of process upon a nonresident defendant in any action claiming injury to person or property arising out of the operation of a boat in this state may be either by personal service within or without this state or by registered mail as provided in sub. (2).

30.75(2) (2) Service by registered mail. If service of process is to be by registered mail, the original and necessary copies of the summons shall be left with the clerk of circuit court in which the action is to be brought, together with a sum of 75 cents to cover the cost of mailing. The clerk of circuit court shall mail a copy to the defendant at the defendant’s last address as known to the plaintiff or clerk of circuit court, with the return receipt signed by the addressee requested. Service of the summons is considered completed when it is mailed. The clerk of circuit court shall enter upon the court record the date when the summons is mailed and the name of the person to whom mailed.

30.75 History History: 1991 a. 316; 1995 a. 224.

30.77 30.77 Local regulation of boating.

30.77(1) (1) Local regulation prohibited; exceptions. Sections 30.50 to 30.71 shall be uniform in operation throughout the state. No municipality, public inland lake protection and rehabilitation district or town sanitary district may:

30.77(1)(a) (a) Enact any ordinance or local regulation requiring local numbering, registration or licensing of boats or any ordinance or local regulation charging fees for inspection, except as provided in sub. (3) (e); or

30.77(1)(b) (b) Except as provided in subs. (2) and (3), enact any ordinance or local regulation that in any manner excludes any boat from the free use of the waters of this state or that pertains to the use, operation or equipment of boats or which governs any activity regulated by ss. 30.50 to 30.71.

30.77(2) (2) Ordinances conforming to state law. Any municipality may enact ordinances which are in strict conformity with ss. 30.50 to 30.71 or rules of the department promulgated under those sections.

30.77(3) (3) Ordinances.

30.77(3)(a) (a) Except as provided in par. (ab), any town, village, or city may, in the interest of public health, safety, or welfare, including the public’s interest in preserving the state’s natural resources, enact ordinances applicable on any waters of this state within its jurisdiction if the ordinances are not contrary to or inconsistent with this chapter and if the ordinances relate to the equipment, use, or operation of boats or to any activity regulated by ss. 30.60 to 30.71.

30.77(3)(ab) (ab) Any town, village, or city may enact an ordinance to prohibit a person operating a motorboat towing a person on water skis, aquaplane, or similar device without an observer, as provided in s. 30.69 (1) (a) 1., if all of the following apply:

30.77(3)(ab)1. 1. The ordinance would apply to an inland lake within the jurisdiction of the town, village, or city that has a water safety patrol unit, as defined in s. 30.79.

30.77(3)(ab)2. 2. The water safety patrol unit identified in subd. 1. biennially performs on the lake not less than 1,500 hours of enforcement or search and rescue activities, as determined by the department.

30.77(3)(ac) (ac) Except as provided under s. 33.455 (3) (b), no ordinance that pertains to the equipment, use or operation of a boat on an inland lake is valid unless one of the following occurs:

30.77(3)(ac)1. 1. All towns, villages and cities having jurisdiction over the lake have enacted an identical ordinance.

30.77(3)(ac)2. 2. At least 50 percent of the towns, villages and cities having jurisdiction over the lake have enacted an identical ordinance and at least 60 percent of the footage of shoreline of the lake is within the boundaries of these towns, villages and cities.

30.77(3)(ae) (ae) If a town, village or city proposes to amend or repeal an ordinance that it enacted under par. (ac), and if the amendment or repeal will result in less than 50 percent of the towns, villages or cities with jurisdiction over the lake still having in effect the current ordinance or if the amendment or repeal will result in less than 60 percent of the footage of shoreline of the lake being within the boundaries of the towns, villages and cities with the current ordinance still in effect, the town, village or city proposing the amendment or repeal shall hold a hearing on the issue at least 30 days before the amendment or repeal will take effect and shall give notice as required under par. (aw) 2. If, after holding the hearing, the town, village or city amends or repeals the ordinance that it enacted under par. (ac), all of the identical ordinances are void.

30.77(3)(am) (am)

30.77(3)(am)1. 1. A public inland lake protection and rehabilitation district may, in the interest of public health, safety or welfare, including the public’s interest in preserving the state’s natural resources, enact and enforce ordinances applicable to a lake entirely within its boundaries if one of the following occurs:

30.77(3)(am)1.a. a. Each town, village and city having jurisdiction over the lake adopts a resolution authorizing the lake district to do so.

30.77(3)(am)1.b. b. At least 50 percent of the towns, villages and cities having jurisdiction over the lake adopt resolutions authorizing the lake district to enact and enforce ordinances, and at least 60 percent of the footage of shoreline of the lake is within the boundaries of these towns, villages and cities.

30.77(3)(am)1m. 1m. A town sanitary district may, in the interest of public health, safety or welfare, including the public’s interest in preserving the state’s natural resources, enact and enforce ordinances applicable to a lake if at least 60 percent of the footage of shoreline of the lake is within its boundaries, if no public inland lake protection and rehabilitation district has in effect any ordinances enacted under subd. 1. for the lake and if any one of the following occurs:

30.77(3)(am)1m.a. a. Each town, village and city having jurisdiction over the lake adopts a resolution authorizing the town sanitary district to do so.

30.77(3)(am)1m.b. b. At least 50 percent of the towns, villages and cities having jurisdiction over the lake adopt resolutions authorizing the town sanitary district to enact and enforce ordinances, and at least 60 percent of the footage of shoreline of the lake is within the boundaries of these towns, villages and cities.

30.77(3)(am)2. 2. An ordinance enacted under subd. 1. or 1m. may not be contrary to or inconsistent with this chapter and shall relate to the equipment, use or operation of boats or to an activity regulated by ss. 30.60 to 30.71.

30.77(3)(am)3. 3. If a public inland lake protection and rehabilitation district enacts an ordinance under this paragraph, the lake district ordinance supersedes all conflicting provisions of a town, village or city ordinance enacted under par. (a) that are applicable to the lake.

30.77(3)(am)3m. 3m. If a town sanitary district enacts an ordinance under this paragraph, the town sanitary district ordinance supersedes all conflicting provisions of a town, village or city ordinance enacted under par. (a) that are applicable to the lake.

30.77(3)(am)3r. 3r. If a public inland lake protection and rehabilitation district is created for an inland lake after a town sanitary district has enacted ordinances under subd. 1m. for the lake, any ordinances enacted by the public inland lake protection and rehabilitation district supersede all of the following:

30.77(3)(am)3r.a. a. Any conflicting provisions of a town, village or city ordinance enacted under par. (a) that are applicable to the lake.

30.77(3)(am)3r.b. b. Any conflicting provisions of a town sanitary district ordinance enacted under subd. 1m. that are applicable to the lake.

30.77(3)(am)4. 4. If a town, village or city proposes to rescind a resolution that it adopted under subd. 1. or 1m., and if the recision will result in less than 50 percent of the towns, villages or cities with jurisdiction over the lake still having in effect resolutions adopted under subd. 1. or 1m. or will result in less than 60 percent of the footage of shoreline of the lake being within the boundaries of the towns, villages and cities with resolutions still in effect, the town, village or city proposing to rescind the resolution shall hold a hearing on the recision at least 30 days before the recision will take effect and shall give notice as required under par. (aw) 2. If, after holding the hearing, the town, village or city rescinds the resolution that it adopted under subd. 1. or 1m., the public inland lake protection and rehabilitation district ordinances or the town sanitary district ordinances are void.

30.77(3)(aw) (aw)

30.77(3)(aw)1. 1. If one or more towns, villages or cities propose to enact an ordinance for an inland lake under par. (ac) 2. or a public inland lake protection and rehabilitation district or town sanitary district proposes to enact an ordinance for an inland lake under par. (am) 1. b. or 1m. b., it shall hold a public hearing on the proposed ordinance at least 30 days before its enactment.

30.77(3)(aw)2. 2. The town, village or city that has the most footage of shoreline of the lake within its boundaries and that is supporting the proposal shall publish a notice of the public hearing under subd. 1. or par. (ae) or (am) 4. at least 30 days before the date of the hearing in one or more newspapers likely to give notice of the hearing in all towns, villages or cities that have jurisdiction over the lake. The notice shall be a class 1 notice under ch. 985. The town, village or city publishing the notice shall send a copy of the notice at least 30 days before the date of the hearing to the department, each municipality having jurisdiction over the lake and each lake association for the lake.

30.77(3)(b) (b) Any county may, in the interest of public health, safety or welfare, including the public’s interest in preserving the state’s natural resources, enact an ordinance applicable on any river or stream within its jurisdiction if the ordinance is not contrary to or inconsistent with this chapter, and if the ordinance relates to the equipment, use or operation of boats or to any activity regulated by ss. 30.60 to 30.71. If a county enacts an ordinance under this paragraph, the county ordinance supersedes all provisions of a town, village or city ordinance enacted under par. (a) that is inconsistent with the county ordinance.