S. 3985

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3985 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3985

To allow States to require payment of State fees related to boating as 
a condition for issuance of a vessel number and to collect such fees in 
conjunction with other fees related to vessel numbering.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

March 4, 2026

Mr. Crapo (for himself and Mr. Welch) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To allow States to require payment of State fees related to boating as 
a condition for issuance of a vessel number and to collect such fees in 
conjunction with other fees related to vessel numbering.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``State Boating Act''.

SEC. 2. COLLECTION OF STATE FEES RELATED TO BOATING.

Section 12307 of title 46, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1)--
(A) by striking ``The authority'' and inserting 
``(a) In General.--The authority''; and
(B) by striking ``that are--'' and inserting 
``that--'';
(2) in paragraph (1)--
(A) by inserting ``are'' before ``prescribed''; and
(B) by striking ``; or'' and inserting a semicolon;
(3) in paragraph (2)--
(A) by inserting ``are'' before ``related''; and
(B) by striking the period and inserting ``; or''; 
and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
``(3) require the payment of State fees related to boating, 
which may include fees for search and rescue operations, 
boating safety measures, or efforts to address aquatic invasive 
species.
``(b) State Fees Related to Boating.--A State issuing authority may 
collect a fee described in subsection (a)(3) in conjunction with the 
collection of any other fee established under this section.
``(c) Use of Fees.--Fees collected by States under the authority of 
this section may only be used to fund activities directly related to 
improving recreational boating, boater safety, boater access, use of 
waterways by recreational boaters, and aquatic invasive species 
mitigation.''.
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