The proposed rule amendments seek to clarify design and construction of waterway markers and provide uniformity in design, construction and coloring for better aid vessel operators in marker identification. The rules are ....

 

FISH AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION COMMISSION

Vessel Registration and Boating Safety

RULE NO.:RULE TITLE:

68D-23.103Definitions

68D-23.104Permits Required; Application for Permits

68D-23.106Marker Placement Requirements

68D-23.109Additional Specifications for Information, Danger, and Regulatory Markers

PURPOSE AND EFFECT: The proposed rule amendments seek to clarify design and construction of waterway markers and provide uniformity in design, construction and coloring for better aid vessel operators in marker identification. The rules are also being updated to provide conformity with federal regulations for navigational aids.

SUMMARY: With the proposed rule amendments, waterway markers will be more uniform in design, color, and construction which will assist vessel operators in being able to more readily recognize the markers and ensure consistency with federal regulations for navigational aids.

SUMMARY OF STATEMENT OF ESTIMATED REGULATORY COSTS AND LEGISLATIVE RATIFICATION:

The Agency has determined that this will not have an adverse impact on small business or likely increase directly or indirectly regulatory costs in excess of $200,000 in the aggregate within one year after the implementation of the rule. A SERC has not been prepared by the Agency.

The Agency has determined that the proposed rule is not expected to require legislative ratification based on the statement of estimated regulatory costs or if no SERC is required, the information expressly relied upon and described herein: the nature of the rule and the preliminary analysis conducted to determine whether a SERC was required

Any person who wishes to provide information regarding a statement of estimated regulatory costs, or provide a proposal for a lower cost regulatory alternative must do so in writing within 21 days of this notice.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY: 327.04, 327.40, 327.41, 327.46, 379.2431, FS.

LAW IMPLEMENTED: 327.40, 327.41, 327.46, 379.2431, FS.

IF REQUESTED WITHIN 21 DAYS OF THE DATE OF THIS NOTICE, A HEARING WILL BE SCHEDULED AND ANNOUNCED IN THE FAR.

THE PERSON TO BE CONTACTED REGARDING THE PROPOSED RULE IS: Kate Grimes, Boating and Waterways Section, Division of Law Enforcement, 620 South Meridian Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399, [e-mail], [phone].

 

THE FULL TEXT OF THE PROPOSED RULE IS:

 

68D-23.103 Definitions.

For purposes of this chapter and Chapters 68C-22 and 68D-24, F.A.C., the following definitions shall apply:

(1) Types of markers:

(a) “Aid to navigation” means any device external to a vessel intended to assist an operator in determining a navigator to determine position or safe course, or to warn of dangers or obstructions to navigation.

(b) “Information marker” means a device external to a vessel intended to provide an operator the mariner with information concerning matters other than dangers or obstructions to navigation, or regulatory matters.

(c) “Danger marker” means a device external to a the vessel intended to provide an operator the mariner with information concerning dangers or obstructions to navigation such as shoals, shallows, rocks, submerged pipes or cables, dams, or low clearance obstructions above the water such as power lines, trestles, or bridges.

(d) “Regulatory marker” means a device used to alert an operator the mariner to various regulatory matters such as horsepower, speed, wake, anchorages, or entry restrictions.

(e) “Special mark” means a marker not primarily intended to assist safe navigation, but to indicate special areas or features referred to in charts or other nautical publications. They may be used, for example, to mark anchorages, mooring fields, park boundaries, cable or pipeline areas, marine events, etc. Special marks are colored solid yellow.

(f) No change.

(g) “Buoy” means any device designed to float which is anchored in the waters of the state and which is used to convey a message, carry a sign, or support a mooring pennant.

(h) “Sign” means an device object which displays a message and which is attached to another object such as a piling, buoy, structure, or shore the land itself.

(i) No change.

(j) No change.

(k) “Piling” means a device constructed of sufficient sturdiness (such as concrete, steel, wood, or composite material) embedded in the sea floor or shoreline for the purpose of displaying and/or supporting a sign.

(2) No change.

(3) No change.

(4) No change.

 

Rulemaking Authority 327.04, 327.40, 327.41, 327.46, 379.2431 FS. Law Implemented 327.40, 327.41, 327.46, 379.2431 FS. History–New 12-23-01, Amended 10-5-06, 10-6-10, ______.

 

68D-23.104 Permits Required; Application for Permits.

(1) No change.

(2) Any person, municipality, county, or other governmental entity desiring to place a marker shall apply to the Boating and Waterways Section on the Florida Uniform Waterway Marker Application form, FWCDLE 153 (07/2010), which is adopted and incorporated herein by reference. Application forms may be obtained by submitting a request to: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Division of Law Enforcement, Boating and Waterways Section, 620 South Meridian Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1600 or [e-mail] or by downloading the application from the Commission website at: https://www.myfwc.com/boating/waterways/markers. Each application must include:

(a) through (f) No change.

 

Rulemaking Authority 327.04, 327.40, 327.41 FS. Law Implemented 327.40, 327.41 FS. History–New 12-23-01, Amended 10-5-06, 10-6-10, _______.

 

68D-23.106 Marker Placement Requirements.

(1) All persons placing or maintaining in place any markers must comply with the following requirements:

(a) No change.

(b) The permittee must display the permit number (except as provided below) on each marker and the ordinance number, code section number, statute number, regulation or rule number (etc.) on each regulatory marker. These numbers must be displayed in black, block characters approximately one inch in height.

1. No change.

2. On all markers other than regulatory markers, the permit number must be displayed in the lower left corner on the face of each marker on the marker at any location on the marker where it can easily be read, including the reverse side of a sign, provided that it does not interfere with the message of the marker.

3. No change.

(c) No change.

(d) All markers must be maintained in proper condition at all times. A discrepancy exists whenever a marker is not exactly as described in the approved application or is destroyed, damaged, moved, or is otherwise unserviceable or not watching properly. The permittee must immediately report any discrepancy in the marker to the Boating and Waterways Section by telephone, by sending an email to [e-mail], telefacsimile or by other similarly rapid means of communication. The permittee must correct any discrepancy within not more than 30 calendar days and must notify the Boating and Waterways Section when the correction is accomplished.

(e) though (i) No change.

(2) No change.

(3) No change.

(4) No change.

(5) No change.

 

Rulemaking Authority 327.04, 327.40, 327.41 FS. Law Implemented 327.40, 327.41, 327.70 FS. History–New 12-23-01, Amended 10-5-06, 10-6-10, _____.

 

68D-23.109 Additional Specifications for Information, Danger, and Regulatory Markers.

(1) No change.

(2) No change.

(3) When a sign is used for an information, danger, or regulatory marker it must be white with an international orange border. The display area is that portion of the sign within the border. Symbols must be centered within the display area for danger and regulatory markers. When a sign is used for information markers, the international orange border shall serve as the symbol and no additional symbol shall be displayed. The size of the sign must be appropriate to the size of the waterway where the sign is located and the nature of the vessels transiting the waterway, however, no such sign shall be smaller than three feet by three feet.

(a) Information or regulatory marker signs shall be rectangular or square. FWC can review and approve, on a case-by-case basis, smaller informational signs if there is evidence showing a smaller sign would be more appropriate based on the size of the waterway, where the sign is located, and the nature of the vessels transiting the waterway.

(b) Danger marker signs shall be rectangular, square, or diamond-shaped (a square sign rotated 45 degrees so that one corner is pointed straight down). If a diamond-shaped sign is used, the international orange border shall serve as the vertical open-faced diamond symbol and no additional symbol shall be displayed.

(4) No change.

 

Rulemaking Authority 327.04, 327.40, 327.41 FS. Law Implemented 327.40, 327.41 FS. History–New 12-23-01, Amended 10-5-06, 10-6-10, ______.

 

NAME OF PERSON ORIGINATING PROPOSED RULE: Kate Grimes, Boating and Waterways Section, Division of Law Enforcement, 620 South Meridian Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399, [e-mail], [phone].

NAME OF AGENCY HEAD WHO APPROVED THE PROPOSED RULE: FISH AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION COMMISSION

DATE PROPOSED RULE APPROVED BY AGENCY HEAD: February 22, 2024

DATE NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULE DEVELOPMENT PUBLISHED IN FAR: April 11, 2024