Title 9 Part 451

In general, every person who is required to carry a boating safety certificate must:

The instructor issues the temporary boating safety certificate directly to a student who successfully completes the course requirements and the instructor notifies the agency. The temporary certificate is valid for 90 days. The instructor shall not issue more than one temporary certificate nor issue a replacement certificate to a student.

The agency issues the permanent boating safety certificate as follows:

Only persons who have received an instructor certification issued by the agency may teach the course. The instructor or the commercial organization must comply with the following requirements:

At least two weeks before a course is scheduled to begin and before it is advertised the instructor or the commercial organization shall pre-register the course with the agency by providing the following information: dates, times, name of training facility and its location, names of lead instructor and names of any additional instructors that are scheduled to teach the course, number of classroom sessions, age restrictions (if any), class sizes, total enrollment; instructional fees charged to students (if any) and any other information required by the agency.

A minimum eight hours total classroom instruction taught by an instructor with at least one 10-minute break per hour is required. During an all-day session three 10-minute breaks may be accumulated and a 30-minute meal substituted for the breaks. The eight hours of instruction must include a review period and the final examination. Instructors-in-training or qualified and recognized experts in the safe boating field may occasionally teach all or part of the lessons but a certified instructor must be present and the lesson plans must be followed.

Instructors must follow the lesson plans, policies, procedures and use the textbook supplied by the agency. These course materials are based on or meet the current requirements of the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA) and the New York Safe Boating Instructor Guide issued by the agency. Instructors shall not focus the instruction to cover only points covered on the final examination nor provide students with the answers to questions in lieu of following the lesson plans. The New York course materials provided by the agency may not be used to satisfy any other certificate required by any other commercial or governmental entity.

The final examination shall be a closed-book test supplied by the agency and administered only after the instructional phase of the course has been completed. No examinations for other certificates or licenses may be administered or taken during the course. The student must obtain a 76 percent grade on the examination.

The commercial instructor or commercial organization must provide a receipt to the student for any fee collected. The volunteer instructor must provide a receipt to the student for any charge or donation collected. All instructors must maintain copies of these receipts for five years after issuance and make them available to the agency when requested. Alternatively, commercial instructors’ receipts may be maintained for five years by their affiliated commercial organizations.

The agency will provide the required student record forms and course attendance forms to each instructor or to a commercial organization for those courses that the instructor or commercial organization pre-registers with the agency.

A person interested in teaching the course must apply directly to the agency for certification as a safe boating instructor before commencing course instruction. The application must be completed on forms prescribed and supplied by the agency. The application is available from and must be filed with the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, Marine Services Bureau, Agency Building 1, Empire State Plaza, Albany, New York 12238.

An applicant for an initial instructor certification must demonstrate to the agency’s satisfaction that he or she is:

The agency reviews the initial application and requirements and may issue or deny the instructor certification. The certification is in the form of a card and includes a specific instructor number and an expiration date. The instructor must carry this card during class instruction and may hold it in lieu of a boating safety certificate (if one is required) when operating personal watercraft. The instructor must present the instructor certification upon request at any time to agency staff or the agency’s designee along with photo identification.

The instructor in receipt of an initial instructor certification is subject to probation that ends after the initial two years or sooner if agency staff or the agency’s designee issues a satisfactory evaluation after auditing the instructor’s classroom teaching performance.

An instructor’s certification is valid for a term of two calendar years and an instructor must apply for renewal prior to expiration of the certification. If an instructor has taught at least one course during the two-year term, has complied with the requirements of this Part and has obtained satisfactory evaluations if audited by the agency, then the certification will be automatically renewed.

The agency may deny an application for initial instructor certification or a renewal or re-issuance if the applicant conceals relevant information or knowingly makes a partial or false entry on any part of the initial, renewal or re-issuance application, or if the applicant fails to disclose a prior boating safety certificate or instructor certification suspension or revocation, or if the applicant has been convicted of or has any pending charges related to any felony, misdemeanor or violation, except a traffic infraction.

The agency may immediately suspend or revoke an instructor’s certification under section 451.13 of this Part if the instructor:

The agency may deny any application for an initial, a renewal or a re-issued commercial organization certification or suspend or revoke it for any of the following reasons:

The commercial organization may request a hearing by the commissioner on the suspension or revocation by certified mail within 10 days as outlined in subdivision (c) of this section.

The agency may immediately suspend an instructor’s certification or commercial organization’s certification on written notice for a period not to exceed 90 days when it has reasonable cause to believe that the health or safety of the public would be jeopardized by allowing an individual to continue to be certified as an instructor or by allowing a commercial organization to continue to be certified to provide the course.

The agency shall provide written notice of intent to suspend or revoke an instructor certification or commercial organization certification on a certain future date by certified mail return receipt requested to the instructor’s or commercial organization’s address on the application forms. The notice shall include a brief explanation of the basis for the suspension or revocation. The instructor or commercial organization may (within 10 days of receipt of the notice) send a request for a hearing on the suspension or revocation to the commissioner by certified mail. If the instructor or commercial organization does not request a hearing the suspension or revocation shall be final on the date in the agency’s notice.

Failure to comply with this Part constitutes a violation under section 73-c of the Navigation Law.

If a court of competent jurisdiction determines that any provision of this Part or its application to any person, commercial organization or circumstance is contrary to law, then that determination shall not affect or impair the validity of the other provisions of this Part or application of the disputed provision or other provisions to other persons, commercial organizations or circumstances.