(a) Issuance.--Upon receipt of a signed application and upon the payment of the annual registration fee, the commission shall issue to the applicant owner a certificate of registration for his boat. The certificate of registration shall be pocket size.

(b) Carrying on boat.--The certificate of registration shall be available at all times for inspection on the boat for which issued whenever the boat is in operation, and shall be carried in such manner that it can be handed to any Federal, State or local law enforcement officer authorized to inspect it. The commission may, by regulation, exempt certain classes of boats from this requirement or prescribe alternate compliance requirements.

(c) Retention on shore.--The certificate of registration for boats less than 26 feet long, leased or rented for noncommercial use of less than seven days, may be retained on shore by the owner of the boat or his representative at the place from which the boat departs or returns to the possession of the owner or his representative. A boat that does not have the certificate of registration on board shall be identifiable while in use and shall comply with all other requirements.

(d) Duplicates.--The commission may issue a duplicate certificate of registration to the owner of a properly registered boat upon application by the owner on a form prescribed by the commission together with payment of the applicable fee.

(e) Penalty.--Any person violating any provision of this section commits a summary offense of the fourth degree.