(a) All boat dock or marina operators shall comply with the following requirements to aid in preventing electrical shock, electrocution, or injury to the users of their facilities and the surrounding areas:

Attorney's Note

Under the Tennessee Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
class E felony1 to 6 yearsup to $3,000
class A misdemeanorup to 11 monthsup to $2,500
For details, see Tenn. Code § 40-35-111
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 68-102-602

  • Boat dock: means a man-made structure that protrudes into a body of water for the purpose of mooring a boat or for other water-related recreation, including boat liveries, and that is connected to an electrical power source in any manner. See Tennessee Code 68-102-601
  • Boat dock or marina operator: means any person, whether owner or not, supervising or responsible for operating, maintaining, or repairing a boat dock or marina that is subject to this part. See Tennessee Code 68-102-601
  • Marina: means a dock, including a boat dock or basin providing moorings for watercraft and boat houses and offering supply, repair, or other services, including electric power supply, for remuneration. See Tennessee Code 68-102-601
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) Any main overcurrent protective device, installed or replaced on or after April 1, 2015, that feeds a marina shall have ground-fault protection not exceeding one hundred milliamperes (100 mA). Ground-fault protection not exceeding one hundred milliamperes (100 mA) of each individual branch or feeder circuit shall be permitted as a suitable alternative. Each marina operator may determine the devices that it will utilize to achieve the one-hundred-milliamperes limit that is required by this subdivision (a)(1), including, but not limited to, the use of equipment leakage circuit interrupters or ground fault circuit interrupters;
(2) Cause a safety inspection to be made between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2017, and every five (5) years thereafter, by the state fire marshal. The inspection shall include a review of all sources of electrical supply, including ship-to-shore power pedestals, submergible pumps, and sewage pump-out facilities, that could result in unsafe electrical current in the water for the purpose of ensuring compliance with the standards for maintenance of electrical wiring and equipment that are applicable to the marina. In the event that a deficiency is found during a safety inspection, any subsequent inspection that is required for the inspection of repairs that are made to address such deficiency shall be conducted by a deputy electrical inspector who is commissioned under § 68-102-143; and
(3) Install permanent safety signage with print legible at eighty feet (80′) of distance and placed to give adequate notice, to persons using the boat dock or marina or swimming area near the boat dock or marina, of the electric shock hazard risks of the waters around the boat dock or marina. The signage shall state:

“ELECTRIC SHOCK HAZARD RISK: NO SWIMMING WITHIN 100 YARDS OF THE BOAT DOCK”.

(b)

(1) It is an offense for any boat dock or marina operator to intentionally or knowingly violate the requirements of this section.
(2) A violation of subdivision (a)(1) that does not result in serious bodily injury or death of an individual is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by a fine only of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500).
(3) A violation of subdivision (a)(1) that results in serious bodily injury to an individual, as defined in § 39-11-106, is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by a fine only of five thousand dollars ($5,000).
(4) A violation of subdivision (a)(1) that results in the death of an individual is a Class E felony, punishable by a fine only of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000).
(5) A violation of subdivision (a)(2) or (a)(3) is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by a fine only not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500).
(c) If any boat dock or marina operator who is convicted of, or pleads guilty to, an offense under this section fails to comply with the requirements of this section within ninety (90) days of the date that the judgment was entered, the state fire marshal shall declare the boat dock or marina where the violation occurred to be a threat to the public safety and order the closure of such boat dock or marina until the boat dock or marina complies with the requirements of this section.
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