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Public Act 102-1036
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| HB4165 Enrolled | LRB102 20009 AWJ 28935 b |
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AN ACT concerning water safety.
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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represented in the General Assembly:
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Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Lake |
Michigan Rescue Equipment Act.
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Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act: |
"Drop-off" means an area of a lake's shoreline that is |
intended to facilitate direct public access to the water. |
"High-incident drowning area" means an area within 100 |
feet of a pier or drop-off where more than one fatal drowning |
incident has occurred in the span of 5 years. |
"Pier" means a man-made, raised structure (such as a |
breakwater) extending into navigable water for use as a |
landing place or promenade or to protect or form a harbor. |
"Public rescue equipment" includes a range of water rescue |
devices available for public use in case of emergency, such as |
ring life buoys, throw bags, rescue tubes, and rescue poles.
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Section 10. Public rescue equipment on piers and |
drop-offs. |
(a) The owner of a pier or drop-off on Lake Michigan shall |
install public rescue equipment, including, at a minimum, ring |
life buoys, on each of the owner's piers or drop-offs along the |
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Lake Michigan coast. The ring life buoy must not be |
permanently secured in any way to the station, rack, or pier. |
Each ring life buoy must be stowed inside a station to protect |
it from constant weather exposure. The station must be a |
bright orange or yellow color for high visibility and to allow |
for quick access to the ring. |
To reduce vandalism and theft, the station shall have |
signage that warns lakefront patrons that tampering with or |
misuse of public rescue equipment is strictly prohibited. |
(b) The owner of the pier or drop-off on Lake Michigan |
shall oversee the installation and maintenance of the public |
rescue equipment. The State or unit of local government owning |
a pier or drop-off shall also provide public education |
regarding public rescue equipment.
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Section 15. Ring life buoy requirements. Ring life buoys |
installed under Section 10 must meet the following: |
(1) The ring life buoy shall meet the requirements of |
46 CFR Part 160 Subpart 160.050 or 46 CFR Part 160 Subpart |
160.150 for SOLAS-approved equipment or successor |
standards issued by the United States Coast Guard. |
(2) There shall be attached to each ring life buoy a |
buoyant line of at least 100 feet in length with a breaking |
strength of at least 5 kilonewtons. The end of the line |
must not be secured to the shore. |
(3) Each ring life buoy shall be marked with type II |
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retroreflective material meeting the requirements of 46 |
CFR Part 160, Subpart 164.018. |
(4) Each ring life buoy shall be placed at a distance |
not to exceed 200 feet from the shoreline of the lake and |
be available for emergency rescue operations. |
(5) Each pier shall have a ring life buoy installed |
with appropriate signage.
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Section 20. Tracking, reporting, and analyzing drownings. |
Each unit of local government owning a pier or drop-off on Lake |
Michigan shall track and, at a minimum of twice per year, |
publish on the unit's website a report on lakefront drownings |
of which the unit is aware that have occurred within 100 feet |
of the unit's piers and drop-offs. The report shall include, |
at a minimum, a description of access to and use of public |
rescue equipment, location, temperature, time of day, |
conditions, demographics, and type of entry into the water. If |
there have been drownings during the reporting period, each |
unit of local government must also publish a water safety plan |
on the unit's website.
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Section 25. High-incident drowning area plans. Within one |
year after an owner's property becoming a high-incident |
drowning area, the owner shall update and disseminate a water |
safety plan as well as upgrade installed safety equipment as |
needed, which may include, but is not limited to, installing |