NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1979 SESSION

 

 

CHAPTER 761

SENATE BILL 564

 

 

AN ACT TO AMEND G.S. 75A-5 WITH RESPECT TO THE NUMBERING OF MOTORBOATS.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

 

Section 1.  Subsection (a) of G.S. 75A-5 is hereby amended by rewriting the second sentence thereof to read as follows: "The application shall be signed by the owner of the motorboat, or his agent, and shall be accompanied by a fee of five dollars and fifty cents ($5.50) for a one-year period or by a fee of thirteen dollars ($13.00) for a three-year period."

Sec. 2.  Subsection (c) of G.S. 75A-5 is hereby amended by deleting the words and figures "one dollar ($1.00)" as they appear in the first and second sentences of said subsection and by inserting in lieu thereof, in each case, the words and figures "two dollars ($2.00)".

Sec. 3.  Subsection (e) of G.S. 75A-5 is hereby amended by adding two new sentences at the end thereof to read as follows: "As compensation for his services any such agent shall be allowed to retain for his own use fifty cents (50˘). It is a misdemeanor punishable in the discretion of the court for any such agent to charge or accept any additional fee, remuneration, or other thing of value for such services."

Sec. 4.  Subsection (g) of G.S. 75A-5 is hereby rewritten to read as follows:

"(g)       Each certificate of number awarded pursuant to this Chapter, unless sooner terminated or discontinued in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter, shall continue in full force and effect to and including the last day of the same month during which the same was awarded after the lapse of one year in the case of a one-year certificate or three years in the case of a three-year certificate. In addition to the year of expiration, the validation decal required by subsection (a) of this section shall indicate the last month during which the certificate is valid. No person shall willfully remove a validation decal from any vessel during the continuance of its validity or alter, counterfeit, or otherwise tamper with a validation decal attached to any vessel for the purpose of changing or obscuring the indicated date of expiration of the certificate of number of such vessel."

Sec. 5.  Subsection (h) of G.S. 75A-5 is hereby rewritten to read as follows:

"(h)       Each certificate of number awarded pursuant to this Chapter must be renewed on or before the first day of the month next succeeding that during which the same expires; otherwise, such certificate shall lapse and be void until such time as it may thereafter be renewed. Application for renewal shall be submitted on a form approved by the Wildlife Resources Commission and shall be accompanied by a fee of five dollars and fifty cents ($5.50) for a one-year period or by a fee of thirteen dollars ($13.00) for a three-year period; provided, there shall be no fee required for renewal of certificates of number which have been previously issued to commercial fishing boats as defined in G.S. 75A-5.1, upon compliance with all of the requirements of that section."

Sec. 6.  Subsection (k) of G.S. 75A-5 is hereby amended by changing the period at the end thereof to a comma and by adding the following: "except the validation decal required by subsection (a) of this section."

Sec. 7.  G.S. 75A-5 is hereby further amended by adding at the end thereof a new subsection (l) reading as follows:

"(l)        When certificates of number are to be issued by agents as provided by subsection (e) of this section, the Wildlife Resources Commission is authorized by regulation to establish the qualifications of such agents, including, but not limited to, their financial responsibility, the locations and types of business operated by them and their facilities for safekeeping of unused certificates of number, validation decals, and the monetary proceeds of certificates which have been issued; to prescribe the duties of such agents, including, but not limited to, the methods of issuing certificates of number and validation decals, the evidence of ownership of vessels to be numbered by applicants for number, the times and methods of making periodic and final reports of certificates and decals issued and remaining unissued and remittances of public moneys and unissued certificates and decals; to establish methods and procedures of ensuring accountability of such agents for the proceeds of certificates and decals issued and for certificates and decals remaining unissued; to require individual or blanket bonds of such agents in amounts sufficient to protect the State against loss of public moneys and unissued certificates and decals, the premiums for such bonds to be paid by the agents; to permit such agents to issue both original certificates of number and validation decals and renewals thereof or to limit such agents, or any of them, to the issuance of the originals only; to authorize some or all of such agents to issue temporary certificates of number for use during a limited time pending delivery of regular certificates of number and validation decals; to establish methods and procedures, including submission of the amounts and kinds of evidence which the commission may deem sufficient, whereby any such agent may be relieved of accountability for the value of unissued certificates and validation decals, or of the monetary proceeds of those which have been issued, which have been lost or destroyed as the result of any occurrence which is beyond the control of such agent; and to prescribe such other reasonable requirements and conditions as the commission may, in its discretion, deem necessary or desirable to expedite and control the issuance of certificates of number by such agents. In accordance with such regulations, the executive director is authorized to prepare and distribute all forms necessary or convenient for application for and the appointment and bonding of such agents and for receipts, reports and remittances by such agents; to select and appoint such agents in areas most convenient to the boating public and to limit the number of such agents in any locality; to require prompt and accurate reporting and remission of public moneys and unissued certificates and decals by such agents, and to require periodic or special audits of their accounts; to revoke or terminate any such agency for failure to make timely reports and remittances or to comply with any administrative directive or regulation of the commission, or when he has reason to believe that State money or property is in jeopardy; and to require immediate surrender of all agency accounts, forms, certificates, decals and State moneys in the event of such revocation or termination of any such agency. The Administrative Procedure Act as contained in Chapter 150A of the General Statutes shall not apply in any case of revocation or termination of any agency to issue certificates of boat number and validation decals. Any violation of the regulations authorized by this subsection shall be a misdemeanor punishable in the discretion of the court. If any check or draft of any agent for the issuance of certificates of boat number shall be returned by the banking facility upon which the same is drawn for lack of funds, such agent shall be liable to the Wildlife Resources Commission for a penalty of five percent (5%) of the amount of such check or draft, but in no event shall such penalty be less than five dollars ($5.00) or more than two hundred dollars ($200.00)."

Sec. 8.  Subsection (a) of G.S. 75A-18 is hereby amended by adding at the end thereof the following:

"The limitation prescribed by the preceding sentence shall not apply in any case where a more severe penalty may be prescribed in any of said sections."

Sec. 9.  This act shall become effective on July 1, 1979, provided that nothing in this act shall have the effect of extending the date of termination of any certificate of boat number which has been issued prior to the effective date of this act.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 4th day of June, 1979.