REPRESENTATIVES Kearns, Collier, Damschroder, Schmidt, Seitz, Sulzer, Flowers

To amend section 1547.08 of the Revised Code to limit

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the prohibition against operating a vessel at

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greater than idle speed or at a speed that creates

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a wake within three hundred feet of certain dock

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and harbor areas to vessels operating on Lake Erie

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or the Ohio River.

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BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section 1. That section 1547.08 of the Revised Code be	7
amended to read as follows:	8

Sec. 1547.08.  (A) No person shall operate a vessel within	9
or through a designated bathing area or within or through any area	10
that has been buoyed off designating it as an area in which	11
vessels are prohibited.	12

(B)(1) No person shall operate a vessel at greater than idle	13
speed or at a speed that creates a wake withinunder any of the	14
following circumstances:	15

(a) Within three hundred feet of any marina, boat docking	16
facility, boat gasoline dock, launch ramp, recreational boat	17
harbor, or harbor entrance, or duringon Lake Erie or on the Ohio	18
river;	19

(b) During the period from sunset to sunrise according to	20
local time within any water between the Dan Beard bridge and the	21
Brent Spence bridge on the Ohio river for any vessel not	22
documented by the United States coast guard as commercial, or	23
within;	24

(c) Within any area buoyed or marked as a no wake area on	25
the waters in this state.	26

(2) Division (B)(1) of this section does not apply in any	27
either of the following places:	28

(a) The Muskingum river unless the river is marked by a buoy	29
or sign as a no wake or idle speed area;	30

(b) Any otherAn area designated by the chief of the	31
division of watercraft unless it is marked by a buoy or sign as a	32
no wake or idle speed area;	33

(c)(b) Within any water between the Dan Beard bridge and the	34
Brent Spence bridge on the Ohio river when the United States coast	35
guard has authorized the holding of a special event of a community	36
nature on that water.	37

(C) No person shall operate a vessel in any area of	38
restricted or controlled operation in violation of the designated	39
restriction.	40

(D) No person shall operate a vessel within three hundred	41
feet of an official diver's flag unless the person is tendering	42
the diving operation.	43

(E) All areas of restricted or controlled operation as	44
described in division (A) of this section or as provided for in	45
section 1547.14 or 1547.61 of the Revised Code shall be marked by	46
a buoy or sign designating the restriction. All waters surrounded	47
by or lying between such a buoy or sign and the closest shoreline	48
are thereby designated as an area in which the designated	49
restrictions shall apply in the operation of any vessel.	50

Markings on buoys designating areas of restricted or	51
controlled operation shall be so spaced as to show all around the	52
horizon. Lineal spacing between the buoys shall be such that	53
under normal conditions of visibility any buoy shall be readily	54
visible from the next adjacent buoy. No colors or symbols, except	55
as provided for in rules of the chief, shall be used on buoys or	56
signs for marking closed or controlled areas of boating waters.	57

Any state department, conservancy district, or political	58
subdivision having jurisdiction and control of impounded boating	59
waters may place such buoys or signs on its waters. Any political	60
subdivision may apply to the chief for permission to place such	61
buoys or signs on other waters within its territorial limits. No	62
person shall place or cause to be placed a regulatory buoy or sign	63
on, into, or along the waters in this state unless the person has	64
complied with all the provisions of this chapter.	65

(F) No person shall permit any vessel to be operated on the	66
waters in this state in violation of this section.	67

Section 2. That existing section 1547.08 of the Revised Code	68
is hereby repealed.	69