Vessel Safety Checks
Get a Vessel Safety Check every year! Your current Vessel Safety Check decal expires at the end of the calendar year.
The Reno Coast Guard Auxiliary offers free Vessel Safety Checks for your boat. The Vessel Examiner will check items essential for the safe operation of your boat. The Vessel Safety Check results are not reported to any law enforcement agency. Our goal is Safe Boating for you and your family! If your boat has all of the items required, you will receive the Vessel Safety Check decal. Many insurance companies offer a discount for your boat insurance if your boat passes the Vessel Safety Check.
(Images of Vessel Safety Checks courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard)
- Vessel Examiners regularly are questioned about what to do with old
flares. Here is some information previously provided about
disposal of old flares:
OUT-OF-DATE-FLARES: (Contributed by Neil Nevesny from 11/2007)
Used Flare Disposal Report
"Working on finding disposal sites has been one of the most amusing and frustrating assignments I have been given, and it has been a merry-go-round between state, county, police, fire department, bomb squads, environmental departments, and county administrators.
Some new policies have been written in response to my inquiry and some old ones have been dusted off and put back into use.
The only things that I can say with certainty are as follows:
1. California has a law that the only people who can pick up and transport or store flares are those licensed for that purpose. If any unlicensed person accepts flares for disposal they are breaking the law. However, any individual can hold, transport or store their own flares.
2. Flares are considered explosives. However, you may see information on County websites stating that explosives are not accepted. This statement is now obsolete with regard to flare disposal.
3. All counties must provide a disposal site for flares.
4. Hazardous waste sites do not have to accept flares. They may have other alternative sites for disposing of them.
5. Personnel at hazardous waste sites do not always have instructions regarding county policy for accepting flares at their site. (Are you getting the picture?!)
6. Individuals may only dispose of flares in their county of residence ~ not the location of their boat."
I hope the information above will help shed some light on the many inquiries I’ve received on suggestions of what to tell boaters about disposal of their old flares. Bottom line: have the boater check with their local county solid waste disposal for more information.