The huge bill Congress passed at the end of 2020 included the provision that operators of boats 26 feet and under attach their lanyard kill switch or use their wireless lanyard if either is available on their vessel on Federal waters.
Cabin boats and vessels with less than 115 pounds of thrust are exempted from the regulation.
The bill was part of the Elijah E. Cummings Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2020 that was rolled into the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (H.R. 6395). The House and Senate voted December 28, 2020 and 1 January 2021 respectively) to overturn the 23 December 2020 Veto of President Trump. President Trump had wanted the bill to include the elimination of protections for social media platforms and increase the $600 stimulus payments in the bill to $2,000.
The actual law was written as an addition to the law passed in December 2018 requiring installation of kill switches on new boats of 26 feet and under.
The new mandatory wear law as passed is below: Read More →
