68D-24.003. Criteria for Establishing Boating Restricted Areas.

(1) Appropriate boating restricted areas are established for the purpose of regulating the speed and operation of vessel traffic for the safety of the public.

(2) Such boating restricted areas shall be marked in accordance with Chapter 68D-23, F.A.C., Florida Intracoastal Waterway Markers.

(3) Boating restricted areas established by the Commission will be the least restrictive necessary to maintain public safety, and may be year-round, seasonal, or limited to holidays and weekends. Boating Restricted Areas established by the Commission will be either “Idle Speed, No Wake or Slow Speed, Minimum Wake.”

(4) When the Commission is determining whether a boating restricted area is necessary to protect public safety under the statutory criteria of boating accidents, visibility, hazardous water levels or currents, vessel traffic congestion, and/or other navigational hazard, the following data, as applicable, will be considered.

(a) Visibility:

1. A blind corner is presented where an intervening obstruction to visibility prevents the operator of a vessel on one of the water bodies from seeing a vessel on the other water body at a distance of 300 feet or less from the confluence.

2. A bend, intersection, or other intervening obstruction to visibility in a narrow channel, fairway, or other similar water body within the meaning of Inland Navigation Rule 9 (33 U.S.C. §2009) as adopted by Section 327.33, F.S., is presented where a decision sight distance of less than 300 feet exists and prevents the operator of a vessel from seeing other vessels or other users of the waterway.

(b) Hazardous Water Levels or Currents:

1. A boating-restricted area may be established only when the water levels are at or above flood stage on a river gauge operated or reported by the National Weather Service’s River Forecast Center (http://www.srh.noaa.gov/serfc/) or at the equivalent level on a river gauge operated or reported by the United States Geological Survey’s National Water Information System (http://waterdata.usgs.gov/fl/nwis/rt) and the specific gauge and flood stage water level is specified in the rule.

2. A navigation chart published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Ocean Service identifies the area as being subject to hazardous tides or currents.

3. Competent substantial data demonstrates that the area is subject to water levels or currents that endanger vessels operating in the area or the occupants of such vessels.

(c) Other Navigational Hazards:

1. For the purposes of this section, Hazard to Navigation is as defined in 33 CFR 64.06, and means an obstruction, usually sunken, that presents sufficient danger to navigation so as to require expeditious, affirmative action such as marking, removal, or redefinition of a designated waterway to provide for navigational safety.

(d) Vessel Traffic Congestion:

1. Traffic density, including concentration of fishing vessels or any other vessels, requires that vessels slacken speed under Inland Navigation Rule 6(a)(ii) (33 U.S.C. §2006) as adopted by Section 327.33, F.S. or

2. The traffic density establishes a significant risk of collision or a significant threat to boating safety.

3. Unsafe levels of vessel traffic density or congestion for purposes of this subsection shall be considered based upon one or more of the following:

a. Accident reports – The following reports of boating accidents will be considered if prepared contemporaneously with the boating accident being reported and if such reports establish that vessel traffic congestion or the speed, wake, or operation of a vessel involved in the accident was a primary contributing factor in the accident:

(I). Florida Boating Accident Investigation Reports, FWCDLE form146 or Florida Boating Accident Self Reports, FWCDLE form146C both of which are incorporated by reference in Rule 68D-21.004(7), F.A.C. and may be obtained from Boating and Waterways Section, 620 South Meridian Street, Tallahassee, FL 32399-1600; or any official United States Coast Guard report form pertaining to boating accidents or casualty

b. Multiple Uniform Boating Citations issued on citation forms supplied by the Commission as provided in Section 327.74, F.S., or written warnings if the violation alleged in the citation or warning is related to the cited vessel’s speed, wake, or operation. Citations and written warnings unrelated to vessel speed, wake, or operation will not be considered, nor will verbal warnings. In no event will citations or written warnings issued for violations of Chapter 328, or Sections 327.50, 327.53, 327.54, 327.65, 327.66, F.S., be considered.

c. Vessel traffic studies substantially demonstrating that vessel traffic congestion or the speed, wake, or operation of vessels in the area create unsafe levels of vessel traffic congestion, a significant risk of collision, or a significant threat to boating safety. The Commission will accept and review vessel traffic studies under this rule. Video surveillance made during a vessel traffic study shall include a corresponding log documenting the number of vessels, vessel types, examples of careless or reckless operation of vessels, navigation rule violations, actions taken to avoid collisions, unsafe vessel speeds, near misses of navigational hazards by vessels, or any other specific criteria the applicant wants considered, along with relevant video time stamps for each item.

(I). When vessel traffic studies alone are relied upon to establish a boating restricted area, the Commission shall rely on documentation of vessel traffic within the area for a minimum of fourteen (14) consecutive days.

(II). Vessel traffic studies will not be considered unless they identify the number of vessels transiting the proposed boating restricted area each hour for no less than six hours out of each twenty-four-hour period documented and identify the area of the study by longitude and latitude. When this minimum threshold is met, the Commission will evaluate the area taking all other relevant factors into consideration, including width of the waterway, vessel types using the waterway, navigational hazards, and will also consider evidence provided demonstrating the existence of conditions specific to the proposed boating restricted area impacting vessel traffic or vessel operations.

(III). In assessing the creditability of a vessel traffic study, the following factors (as applicable) shall be among those considered:

(A). Whether the study’s methodology can be or has been tested (i.e., whether the study’s methodology can be challenged in some objective sense, or whether it is instead simply a subjective, conclusory approach that cannot reasonably be assessed for reliability);

(B). Whether the study’s methodology has been subject to peer review and publication;

(C). The known or potential rate of error of the study’s methodology;

(D). The existence and maintenance of standards and controls; and,

(E). Whether the methodology has been generally accepted in the scientific community.

d. Other creditable data. For the purposes of this subparagraph, “other creditable data” means facts or data that are of a type reasonably relied upon by experts in the fields of boating safety, maritime safety, navigation safety, ports and waterways safety assessments, or vessel traffic management, as contemplated in section 90.704, F.S.

(5) The drawings provided in this chapter are intended to provide information to assist the boat operator in locating the boating restricted areas depicted. The drawings are not to scale and should not be used for navigation purposes. The text of these rules is controlling and dispositive of the exact location of the boundaries of each boating restricted area.

Rulemaking Authority 327.04, 327.46 FS. Law Implemented 327.46 FS. History–New 8-30-83, Formerly 16N-24.03, Amended 6-14-93, Formerly 16N-24.003, 62N-24.003, Amended 6-12-00, 3-16-06, 2-22-24.