Re: Need info from a Spectrum 1700 owner - USCG Capacity Plate
I'll try to answer your question. I worked in the USCG Office of Boating Safety for over 20 years, Part of my job was interpreting regulations. interpreting is the correct word since they seem to be written in a foreign language, and for most of us they are. They aren't written for you and me. they are written by lawyers for lawyers, and they are in the language of the law. If you tried to write it in a common snese way as you have said, the Judge would throw it out saying it was vague. laws have to be specific.
I helped hundreds of boat owners where the plate for their boat had gone missing. Usually this happens during rebuilding or sometimes a power washer will wreck or remove the plate. Sometimes they are just bad quality and fade away.
So what are they doing here? They are trying to do several things. First, the requirement for a boat to have a capacity label is Federal requirement that cannot be preempted by the state and cannot exceed the federal requirements unless the state is willing to do what Pennsylvania does. They want every boat to have a capacity label and so for boats that don't have one, they issue one. Most states don't want that financial burden so they say, you gotta have one and if it's missing, well you can make a new one and put it on the boat yourself.
Also, The Federal requirement applies ONLY to boat manufacturers, not boat owners, so the state has to word their law in a way to make it both a manufacturer requirement and an owner requirement. This is what I call "weasel wording" it sounds vague but in legalese it is very specific.
And promulgate, in plain english, means to write the law and publish it so that the public can see it.
prom?ul?gate (prml-gt, pr-mlgt)
tr.v. prom?ul?gat?ed, prom?ul?gat?ing, prom?ul?gates
1. To make known (a decree, for example) by public declaration; announce officially. See Synonyms at announce.
2. To put (a law) into effect by formal public announcement.
This is a legal way of saying announce.
Anyway, I dealt with hundreds of cases of people with boats that had no capacity label.
1. The capacity label is only required on Monohull boats under 20 feet in length with either manual propulsion (oars, paddles, paddle wheels) or an engine. You will see it on other boats such as canoes and sailboats, and boats over 20 ft but if you look at the top of the label the words US COAST GUARD are omitted because it is done voluntarily.
2. It is the USCG position that if the state wants you to have a capacity plate they have to issue it. Wisconsin is trying to make it your responsibility, but only on boats where it was required to begin with. They are doing this because then a law enforcement officer can look at the plate, count the heads on the boat and say, you're overloaded. The problem with that is, it isn't that simple. The number of people is NOT the federal requirement, the weight of the people is, and there is no Federal law that says you can't exceed it. Some states have passed laws saying you can't exceed the values on the label but at the Federal level it is a recommendation by the boat manufacturer to advise the boater of a safe level of loading. It is a judgement call for the boarding Officer to decide if your boat is overloaded or not. Plus you can't be cited by the USCG for overloading, only for negligent operation. Overloading is a subset of negligent operation.
3. Yes you can have a plate made and put it on the boat. it doesn't even have to meet all the Federal requirements for durability, fading, etc, because the law doesn't apply to you. But it is easy enough to do. Make one and print it out on your home printer and laminate it in plastic. That is what I have done and what I often did for many boat owners whose plates were missing. look here to see what they look like
http://newboatbuilders.com/pages/labels.html, or you can have a professional label maker gin one up for you in plastic or metal if you want to go to that expense.
Many states now have laws similar to this but it is my opinion they would never stand up in court. But it is a misdemeanor in most states and not worth fighting in the courts because of the expense, so they get away with it. Some day some one will take it to court and the lawyers will have to start rewording these laws.