do fuel lines have to be hard lines to be coast guard approved? As I have just changed intakes and my stock lines will not fit!

They do have fire rated rubber fuel line. You should find it between you gas tank and the water sep. filter. Should be printed right on it U.S.C.G. approved.
To the best of my knowledge , the braided stainless is not C.G.approved. Nobody I know of has ever been bothered by the Coasties for it , but heaven forbid you have a fire and the insurance companies get involved

This may not be 100% correct, but the way I understand it is that stainless Aeroquip Automotive type line is not USCG approved on the pressure side of the pump. You can only use it on the suction side. The pressure side has to be hard steel lines..

I'll try to find the coastie reg, but when I read it several months ago, I found no requirement of hard lines only. Hard lines are acceptable as well as Class A1 (or something like that) rubber reinforced line. We need to see the reg to be sure.

33 CFR 153.558 says that the fuel line on a pleasure boat from the pump to the carb must be "USCG Type A1" fuel line.

You can find rubber fuel line at the Marine store that is stamped "Type A1"

Is "A1" grade only rubber, or are there alternatives? I am doing over all my fuel lines currently, and this is good to know. I was planning just to use stainless braid for everything.

Just go with hard lines. You can buy lines at auto parts stores with the inverted flair ends on them already. Just bend them and you're ready to go. Or you can buy a flair tool and make your own from asratch.
Gary

One thing not to do ! Learn from me. I made up a line from the filter/water seperator to the pump. Just went to check on boat, and fuel was leaking into the bilge. Even with the check valve it was syphoning and running probably helped by a completely full tank. I used copper tubing and had flared it. It lasted two seasons +. I guess it's not tough enough to withstand the beating and vibration. I had at least 5 gallons of gas in the bilge. Sounds crazy, but true! I ended up disconnecting fuel line and the leak stopped!. Will fix when it stops raining BBB

why couldnt a person if they wnated the looks of braded do the over lay kits ontop of the type a1 usg rubber hose?

To be legal the the lines must have USCG stamped on them.