Sponsors (3)
The bill provides states a way to consolidate and dedicate boating fees to improve safety, access, and invasive-species control, at the cost of higher or less-transparent charges for boaters and reduced fiscal flexibility for local governments.
States and local boating programs can consolidate and collect boating fees, giving them steadier, more reliable funding for boating infrastructure, access, and services.
Recreational boaters and communities will have fee revenue legally restricted to boating-related uses, so money is directed to improving boater safety, public access, and recreational waterways and to combating aquatic invasive species.
Recreational boaters and local authorities gain an explicit funding mechanism to cover search-and-rescue operations and aquatic invasive species (AIS) efforts, improving emergency response and invasive-species control.
Recreational boaters (and related small businesses) may face higher or consolidated fees, increasing out-of-pocket costs for boat ownership and use.
Local and state governments may have reduced budget flexibility because fee revenue is limited to specified boating uses, potentially straining other local priorities.
Boaters and customers could face bundled or administratively combined charges that are less transparent, making it harder to see what fees pay for.
Based on analysis of 1 section of legislative text.
Allows States to collect and combine certain boating fees and restricts those fee revenues to boating safety, access, recreation, and aquatic invasive species activities.
Official title: To allow States to require payment of State fees related to boating as a condition for issuance of a vessel number and to collect such fees in conjunction with other fees related to vessel numbering.
Introduced April 28, 2026 by Jennifer Kiggans · Last progress April 28, 2026
Authorizes States to collect certain boating-related fees, clarifies that a State may collect a fee for search and rescue, boating safety, or aquatic invasive species together with other fees, and limits how those State-collected fees may be used. Fee revenue must be spent only on activities directly related to improving recreational boating, boater safety and access, recreational use of waterways, and addressing aquatic invasive species.