This part prescribes requirements for the certification of boats and associated equipment and identification of boats to which 46 U.S.C. chapter 43 applies. The regulations in this part have the preemptive effect described in 46 U.S.C. 4306.

As used in this part:

Associated equipment means:

(1) Any system, part, or component of a boat as originally manufactured or any similar part or component manufactured or sold for replacement, repair, or improvement of such system, part, or component;

(2) Any accessory or equipment for, or appurtenance to, a boat; and

(3) Any marine safety article, accessory, or equipment intended for use by a person on board a boat; but

(4) Excluding radio equipment.

Boat means any vessel—

(1) Manufactured or used primarily for noncommercial use;

(2) Leased, rented, or chartered to another for the latter's noncommercial use; or

(3) Operated as an uninspected passenger vessel subject to the requirements of 46 CFR chapter I, subchapter C.

Date of certification means the date on which a boat or item of associated equipment is certified to comply with all applicable U.S. Coast Guard safety standards in effect on that date.

Date of manufacture means the month and year during which construction or assembly of a boat or item of associated equipment begins.

Manufacturer means any person engaged in—

(1) The manufacture, construction, or assembly of boats or associated equipment; or

(2) The importation of boats, associated equipment, or the components thereof, into the United States for sale.

Private label merchandiser means any person engaged in the business of selling and distributing, under his own trade name, boats, or items of associated equipment manufactured by another.

State means a State of the United States, Guam, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and any other territory or possession of the United States.

(a) Certain materials are incorporated by reference into this part with the approval of the Director of the Federal Register in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552(a). To enforce any edition other than the one listed in paragraph (b) of this section, notice of change must be published in the Federal Register and the material made available to the public. All approved material is available for inspection at the Coast Guard Headquarters. Contact Commandant (CG-ENG-4), Attn: Lifesaving and Fire Safety Division, U.S. Coast Guard Stop 7509, 2703 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20593-7509. It is also available at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). For information on the availability of this material at NARA, call 202-741-6030, or go to: http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/code_of_federal_regulations/ibr_locations.html. All approved material is available from the sources listed in paragraph (b) of this section.

(b) The materials approved for incorporation by reference in this part, and the sections affected are: