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ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Seventh Legislature, Second Regular Session
watercraft; insurance requirements; penalties
Purpose
Requires a watercraft owner who provides a watercraft for rent in Arizona and a boat livery owner who provides a watercraft for hire on a waterway in Arizona to maintain a commercial boat liability policy and prescribes coverage requirements for the policy. Classifies a failure to adhere to the insurance requirements as a class 3 misdemeanor or a class 1 misdemeanor, if the watercraft is involved in an accident in Arizona.
Background
Statute regulates the operation of watercraft on all waterways in Arizona, excluding vessels owned by federal government agencies in performance of their official duties (A.R.S. Title 5, Chapter 3).
A watercraft
is any boat designed to be propelled by machinery, oars, paddles or wind action
on a sail for navigation on the water, or as may be defined by rule of the
Arizona Game and Fish Commission (Commission). A waterway is any body of
water, public or private, on which a watercraft can be navigated. A livery is
a business authorized to rent or lease watercraft with or without an operator
for recreational, non-commercial use as prescribed by law (A.A.C.
R12-4-501; A.R.S.
§ 5-301).
Statute requires a boat livery owner to keep a record of the name and address of the person or persons hiring any watercraft, the person's identification number, the departure date and time and the expected and actual time of return and to preserve the record for at least three months (A.R.S. § 5-371).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
1. Requires a watercraft owner who provides a watercraft for rent in Arizona to maintain a commercial boat liability policy.
2. Requires a boat livery owner to maintain a commercial boat liability policy for persons who hire a watercraft for use on a waterway in Arizona and requires the liability coverage to be in effect at any time the watercraft is operated on a waterway in Arizona.
3. Requires a watercraft owner's and boat livery owner's commercial boat liability policy to provide primary boat liability insurance coverage as follows:
a) $25,000 because of bodily injury to or death of one person in any one accident;
b) subject to the limit for one person, $50,000 because of bodily injury to or death of two or more persons in any one person in any one accident; and
c) $20,000 because of injury to or destruction of property of others in any one accident.
4. Requires a watercraft owner who provides a watercraft for rent in Arizona to maintain, at all times, the specified coverage for injuries to persons and for loss or damage to property by reason of the rental or operation of the watercraft provided by the owner for rent.
5. Requires the owner of a boat livery to maintain, at all times, the specified coverage amounts.
6. Allows the Commission to require a watercraft or boat livery owner who is subject to the outlined insurance coverage requirements to certify the existence of insurance in the form and at the time the Commission deems necessary.
7. Allows the Commission to forward the watercraft owner's or boat livery owner's certification of insurance to the named insurer to determine if the certification is correct.
8. Specifies that civil liability does not accrue to the insurer or any of its employees for reports made to the Commission if the reports are made in good faith based on the most recent information available to the insurer.
9. Classifies a failure to adhere to the outlined insurance coverage requirements as a class 3 misdemeanor or class 1 misdemeanor, if the watercraft is involved in an accident in Arizona.
10. Makes technical changes.
11. Becomes effective on the general effective date.
House Action
TI 1/28/26 DP 7-0-0-0
3rd Read 2/24/26 42-13-5
Prepared by Senate Research
March 19, 2026
MG/SJ/hk