Amendment #103 to H4599
Snowmobile Educational Safety Program
Mr. Kulik of Worthington moves to amend the bill by adding the following sections:
SECTION XX. Section 2 of chapter 21 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 2, the figure “13” and inserting in place the following figure:- 14.
SECTION XX. Section 2A of said chapter 21, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the first paragraph the following paragraph:- The commissioner shall request the board of directors of the Snowmobile Association of Massachusetts, or its successor organization, to nominate 3 candidates for additional member of the council. From the nominations received from the board, the commissioner shall select 2 candidates whom he shall recommend to the governor. The governor shall appoint the 1 additional member of the council from the candidates recommended.
SECTION XX. Section 20 of chapter 90B of the General Laws, as so appearing in the 2012 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting, after the definition of “directly supervised” the following definition:- “Director” the director of law enforcement of the office of law enforcement, or his authorized designee.
SECTION XX. Said section 20 of said chapter 90B is hereby further amended by inserting, after the definition of “Law Enforcement Officer” the following definition:- “Office of Law Enforcement” or “Office of Environmental Law Enforcement”, the office of law enforcement established under section 10A of chapter 21A, also commonly known as the Massachusetts Environmental Police.
SECTION XX. Said chapter 90B is hereby further amended by inserting after section 21 the following 3 sections:- Section 21A. No person under 14 years of age shall operate a snow vehicle. Notwithstanding this provision,
(i) a person who is under 14 years of age and no younger than 12 years of age, may operate a snow vehicle when under the direct supervision of another who is 18 years of age or older;
(ii) a person who is under 12 years of age and no younger than 10 years of age, may
operate a snow vehicle on land where he is domiciled, when under the direct supervision of
another who is 18 years of age or older; and
(iii) a person who is under 10 years of age may operate a size and age appropriate snow
vehicle on land where he is domiciled, when under direct supervision of another who is 18 years
of age or older, provided the snow vehicle has a stock engine capacity of no greater than 150 cubic centimeters.
A person who is allowed to operate a snow vehicle under clause (ii) or (iii) may operate
the vehicle only at such specified location and with the permission of the land owner,
notwithstanding any other law or regulation to the contrary.
Section 21B. (a) No person who is 12 years of age and older, and was born after July 1,
2001, shall operate a snow vehicle in the Commonwealth unless such person has successfully
completed a director approved safety education program for the operation of snow vehicles, and
has obtained in his name, a certificate of completion issued for such program.
Notwithstanding, the requirements of the prior paragraph shall not apply when such
person is: (i) 14 years of age or older, and is operating a snow vehicle on land owned by such
person or his spouse, or on land owned by a parent, sibling, grandparent, step-parent, step-sibling
or legal guardian, of such person or his spouse; (ii) operating a snow vehicle under the direct
supervision of an instructor for such program certified by the director; or (iii) exempted by regulation of the office of law enforcement.
A person who is required to obtain a certificate of completion to operate a snow vehicle,
shall, when operating the vehicle, possess the certificate, and upon demand of a law enforcement
officer, shall produce the certificate and allow the officer to examine the document. A person shall have an affirmative defense against a charge for the failure to produce the certificate as required, if before or at trial on such charge, the certificate that was issued in the person’s name and that is considered to be valid when the violation occurred, is given to the court or trial justice.
(b) The director shall establish a safety education program for the operation of snow vehicles. Such program shall include a minimum of 6 hours of instruction and be available to the public in various director approved locations across the Commonwealth. The director shall
consult with the Snowmobile Association of Massachusetts for advice prior to the establishment
or substantial change of such program, including content and curriculum, identification of best
snow vehicle operator’s safety practices and standards, and public access to such program.
Notwithstanding, a segment of such program shall provide information on certain laws relative to
snow vehicle safety and other operator requirements. The office of law enforcement shall make
available on its public website any written educational program materials that the public may
access and print. No fee shall be charged to participate in such program or to obtain related
program information on such website.
The director or an authorized instructor designee for such program, shall issue a
certificate of completion to a person in his name, who successfully completes such program. The
certificate shall be valid for the lifetime of the person in whose name it was issued. Upon
request, the director shall replace a prior issued certificate that was lost or destroyed, provided
the office of law enforcement issued the certificate or has a record that the certificate had been
issued in such person’s name. A replacement certificate shall be considered a valid substitute for
the prior issued certificate. The director may impose a minimal fee for such replacement
certificate. A certificate of completion issued in the name of a person by another state, province
or country that represents the successful completion of its equivalent safety education program
for snow vehicles, as determined by the director, shall be valid in the Commonwealth to satisfy
the safety education and certification requirements under this section. A list of other jurisdictions
as determined to meet the requirements under the prior sentence shall be posted on the office of
law enforcement’s public website
The director shall adopt regulations related to the statewide establishment and
administration of such program, to include, the required qualifications to certify program
instructors.
SECTION XX. Subsection (e) of section 26 of said chapter 90B, as so appearing, is hereby
amended by inserting after the second paragraph the following 2 paragraphs:-
A person who operates a snow vehicle on publicly-owned property shall be required to
have displayed on the vehicle a valid membership trail decal or label issued by a club, association or other organization that actively throughout the Commonwealth, promotes snow
vehicle safety, performs maintenance of snow vehicle recreational trails on publicly-owned and
privately-owned property, and obtains certain authorizations to access property as described
under clause (ii) of the first paragraph to further snow vehicle recreation. Said decal or label shall
be issued to the vehicle of the member owner, by a club, association or organization that is
approved by the director, and shall be affixed to the vehicle in the manner prescribed by
regulation of the office of law enforcement. Provided a required decal or label is so displayed, a
person who is not the member issued said affixed decal or label, shall not be in violation of the
provisions of this paragraph when operating the vehicle. This requirement shall not apply to a
person who: (i) is an employee, agent or representative of any governmental entity when
operating a snow vehicle for official use, (ii) has been issued a waiver subject to any restrictions,
by the director, (iii) has been issued a waiver subject to any restriction, by the commissioner of
the department of conservation and recreation when so operating on property under the custody
and control of the department, (iv) is operating a snow vehicle on publicly-owned property for a
non recreational purpose, which was authorized by the property owner or a law enforcement
official, or (v) is exempt by regulation of the office of law enforcement.
For the purpose of this subsection, the term “publicly-owned property” shall mean any
ownership, easement and lease in real property, owned or acquired by the commonwealth or other governmental entity.
SECTION XX. Said chapter 90B is hereby amended by inserting after section 26E the
following section:-
Section 27F. Whoever, without right, knowingly operates a motor vehicle on wheels over
a snow vehicle trail on public property shall be subject to a fine of $250 for the first offense and
a fine of $500 for any subsequent offense. The provisions of this section shall not apply where the operation of the wheeled vehicle onto a snow vehicle trail occurred from an adjoining public way or place, or private way or place which members of the public are allowed access; unless, signage that prohibits the public use of a wheeled vehicle on the trail is posted conspicuously at such location. For the purposes of this section, the words, “snow vehicle trail”, shall mean a path or road on publicly-owned property that is designated and marked as a trail for snow vehicles by the property owner, provided that during any period of such allowed use as may be established by the owner, the trail is closed to the public use of motor vehicles other than snow vehicles; and the words, “motor vehicle on wheels” or “wheeled vehicle”, shall mean a recreational vehicle as defined under this chapter, and a motor vehicle as defined under chapter 90, not excluding any motor vehicle used exclusively in the building repair and maintenance of highways; provided, such vehicle is designed to travel on one or more wheels in contact with the ground.
SECTION XX. Notwithstanding the second paragraph of section 2A of chapter 21, as added by section 2 of this act, or any general or special law to the contrary, the appointment of the additional member to the stewardship council under said second paragraph of said section 2A of said chapter 21A shall be made within 90 days of the enactment of this act.
SECTION XX. Notwithstanding section 21A of chapter 90B, as added by section 6 of this act, or any general or special law to the contrary, no penalty or liability shall be assessed or imposed, for a violation related directly to the snow vehicle operator age requirements and prohibitions under said section 21A of said chapter 90B or any related regulation, occurring before November 1, 2018.
SECTION XX. On or before December 1, 2018, the director of the office of law enforcement in the executive office of energy and environmental affairs shall establish requirements for the authorization of safety education program instructor designees under section 21B of chapter 90B, as added by section 6 of this act.
SECTION XX. On and after February 1, 2019, the office of law enforcement in the executive office of energy and environmental affairs shall post information on its public web site, as required under subsection (b) of section 21B of chapter 90B, as added by section 6 of this act, any written educational materials for the snow vehicle safety education program and a list of acceptable completion certifications issued by other jurisdictions, which represents the successful completion of an equivalent snow vehicle safety education program; subject to the additional requirement that notice of any change to such information shall be posted on the website not less than 30 days in advance of the change.
SECTION XX. Notwithstanding section 21B of chapter 90B, as added by section 6 of this
act, or any general or special law to the contrary, no penalty or liability shall be assessed or imposed, for a violation related directly to the requirement for snow vehicle operators to complete successfully an approved safety education program and to possess and produce the required certification for such program under said section 21B of said chapter 90B or any related regulation, occurring before November 1, 2019.
SECTION XX. Notwithstanding the third paragraph of subsection (e) of section 26 of chapter 90B, as added by section 7 of this act, or any general or special law to the contrary, no penalty shall be assessed or imposed for a violation of said third paragraph of said subsection (e) of said section 26 of said chapter 90B or any related regulation, occurring before November 1, 2018.
SECTION XX. Notwithstanding section 27F of chapter 90B as added by section 8 of this act, or any general or special law to the contrary, no penalty shall be assessed or imposed for a violation by an operator of a motor vehicle of said section 27F of said chapter 90B or any related regulation, occurring before November 1, 2018.