Title of Regulation: 4VAC15-410. Watercraft: Boating Safety Education (amending 4VAC15-410-50).

Statutory Authority: §§ 29.1-701, 29.1-735, and 29.1-735.2 of the Code of Virginia.

Public Hearing Information:

October 20, 2011 - 9 a.m. - Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, 4000 West Broad Street, Board Room, Richmond, VA

Public Comment Deadline: October 3, 2011.

Agency Contact: Phil Smith, Regulatory Coordinator, Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, 4016 West Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23230, telephone (804) 367-8341, or email phil.smith@dgif.virginia.gov.

Summary:

The proposed regulation updates Virginia's boating safety education course provider requirements by (i) amending the date for the referenced National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA) National Education Standards from January 1, 2008, to January 1, 2012; and (ii) eliminating language pertaining to education course requirements that will become redundant when addressed in the NASBLA National Education Standards commencing January 1, 2012.

4VAC15-410-50. Boating safety education course provider requirements.

A. To be an approved course provider, any individual, business, or organization that instructs or provides a boating safety education course shall execute and have on file a cooperative agreement with the department. It shall be the responsibility of the state boating law administrator to develop and execute such agreements. A list of approved course providers and boating safety education courses shall be kept by the department and made available to the public. Such list does not constitute any endorsement of any course or course provider by the department or the board.

B. As of January 1, 2009, boating safety education courses offered through the Internet and accepted by the department shall:

1. Be approved by NASBLA in accordance with the National Boating Education Standards, updated January 1, 2008 2012, for course content/testing; and

2. Be provided only by an approved course provider who has executed a valid cooperative agreement with the department. Such agreements may be amended at any time by the department and may be cancelled with 30 days notice upon failure of the course provider to comply with the terms and conditions of the agreement or its amendments;.

3. Be formatted and made available to the student only in instructional/training modules;

4. Consist of no less than six instructional/training modules with each module having no less than 10 test questions, randomly selected from a pool of questions that contains at least three times the number of questions presented in the module test in 2009 and four times the number of questions presented in the module test in 2010 and each following year;

5. Allow for the student to advance through the modules only in a sequential, chronological order and only upon successful completion of the test questions for the module. Successful completion shall be by a score of at least 90% correct on the test questions;

6. Be designed so that the student should spend at least six hours of active involvement in completing the course. Completing the course shall include familiarization with the course material, completion of any review questions, and completion of the test questions. The course design shall also include the provision of at least 50 separate web pages of course content and material for presentation to the student. Active involvement shall require the student to click on a "Next" or "Forward" button to progress through the course material;

7. Be designed so that the student is directed to repeat the entire module if the student has not scored at least 90% correct on the test questions for that module. The student shall also be provided with a reference to the applicable course text material for any missed questions on the module test; and

8. Be designed to promote the presentation, understanding and comprehension of boating safety information and safe practices and not the simple completion of an end-of-course test.

C. Any material and/or products to be used by an approved course provider that make reference to the department must be approved by the department, through the state boating law administrator, before publishing and/or distribution to the public.

D. Any fees charged by a course provider are set by the course provider, but must be clearly communicated to the student prior to taking the course.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE (4VAC15-410)

National Boating Education Standards, updated January 1, 2008, National Association of State Boating Law Administrators.

National Boating Education Standards, updated January 1, 2012, National Association of State Boating Law Administrators.