After several high-profile fatal incidents where boaters lives likely would have been saved with a low-cost emergency position-indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) or personal locator beacon (PLB), Florida in May passed HB711 into law with unanimous approval from the Florida House and Senate. The goal of the bill is to encourage boaters to have a device on board which can help the Coast Guard and other search-and-rescue authorities locate boaters in distress. The “Beacon Bill” offers Florida boat owners a discount between 15 and 30 percent on their vessel registration if they have a registered EPIRB or PLB. The beacon must be a Cospas-Sarsat-approved 406-MHz type of beacon. (Use the search terms “406 EPIRB” and “406 PLB”.) The law is permanent and will not need to be renewed.
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