New law sets safety standards for underwater weed-clearing operations

Scuba training, safety equipment and a stand-by diver are now required for companies using divers to clear lakes and ponds of unwanted aquatic plants under the Brady Aune and Joseph Anderson Safety Act.

Named after two young men who died in separate workplace drownings, the law sets training and equipment standards for commercial operations that employ scuba divers to make improvements to the land. Often this means pulling underwater weeds, which had largely been an unregulated industry.

Sponsored by Rep. Dave Baker (R-Willmar) and Sen. Liz Boldon (DFL-Rochester), the law mostly took effect May 2, 2025.

Workers must have, at minimum, a valid open-water scuba diver certificate and be trained in first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Companies must provide buoyancy-control devices, quick-release weight systems and illuminated dive beacons for their divers. On request of the diver, companies must provide a depth-monitoring device, an alternative air source, and a dive computer or recreational dive planner.

Companies that willfully violate safety standards may not be issued a license to operate for two years and could not get a license simply by reorganizing.

Before receiving a permit to operate, companies must declare if they will be using scuba equipment. If so, their work must be reviewed by a third-party qualified safety professional, which includes a Labor Department workplace safety consultant, a worker’s compensation loss-control representative or a private safety consultant. This section is effective Oct. 1, 2025.

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