Governor Signs Long-awaited Boater Licensing Law

Under a long-anticipated bill signed into law on Jan. 8, most boaters will be required to pass a boating safety test and obtain a certificate to legally operate on the water, starting next year.

Though the exact implementation details have yet to be announced, the Hanson-Milone Act will require people born after Jan. 1, 1989 to obtain a certificate by April 1, 2026; and people born on or before that date have until April 1, 2028 to get certified.

“It will ensure that all boaters in the Commonwealth have some base level of boating safety training,” Chatham Harbormaster Jason Holm said. Holm and various regional harbormaster groups endorsed the bill, which also won the support of Chatham’s waterways advisory committee and select board.

Many experienced mariners will be exempt from the requirement, including those operating commercial fishing boats, people who previously held boater safety certificates and operators of rented boats. Active-duty military members who are qualified boat operators are also exempt, as are merchant mariners and merchant marine students.

Versions of the bill have been in talks for around 20 years; the most recent was resubmitted by State Rep. Kathleen LaNatra, D–Plymouth, and former State Senator Susan Moran, D–Plymouth and Barnstable. 

“I was surprised to see it go through this quickly, given the history of it,” Holm said. “But I’m certainly excited that it passed. It’s a great step.”

The bill is named in honor of David Hanson, a 20-year-old Kingston man who died in a boating accident in 2010, and a former colleague of Holm’s, the late Weymouth Harbormaster Paul Milone, a vocal advocate of the bill.

“Stuart [Smith, the former Chatham Harbormaster] and I knew him pretty well,” Holm said.

The most recent draft of the bill was filed after a boat accident in Dennis that claimed the life of a teenager in July 2023. The Chatham Waterways Advisory Committee weighed in on the legislation shortly thereafter, with some members saying there is a particular need for better education among recreational boaters.

“COVID brought out a lot of people who bought boats who didn't know the bow from the stern,” committee Chair Dick Hosmer said at the time.

Others on the committee argued that some boaters will continue to operate recklessly or while intoxicated regardless of whether they hold a safety certificate. Holm acknowledged that point of view.

“Much like a driver’s license, you’re still not going to stop every boating accident because they have a boating license,” he said. But the legislation will raise the average level of safety awareness on the water, and it will at least introduce boaters to the rules of the road.

“I think it’s a great step in the right direction to improve boating safety,” he said.

Questions remain about how the new law will be enforced, he noted.

“Guidance is going to come out later this year, as far as what that entails,” Holm said. The state’s Office of Law Enforcement is expected to publish that guidance no later than Oct. 1. With the certification requirements to be phased in over two years, there will be time for boaters and for law enforcement to prepare.

“Everyone has time to get a good plan together,” Holm said.