BILL NUMBER: SB 1353 CHAPTERED 09/21/02 CHAPTER 765 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 21, 2002 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 20, 2002 PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 19, 2002 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 15, 2002 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 12, 2002 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 17, 2002 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 25, 2002 INTRODUCED BY Senator Perata FEBRUARY 5, 2002 An act to amend Sections 1190 and 1191 of the Harbors and Navigation Code, relating to harbors, and making an appropriation therefor. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1353, Perata. Harbors: Monterey Bay and the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun: pilotage rates. (1) Existing law specifies the rates of pilotage for vessels entering or leaving the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun through the Golden Gate Bridge. The Board of Pilot Commissioners for those bays is required to adopt a schedule of pilotage rates for those operations that are not otherwise provided for under existing law. Existing law imposes a board operation surcharge of 7.5% of those pilotage fees, requires those funds to be deposited in the Board of Pilot Commissioners' Special Fund, and continuously appropriates those funds for the payment of the compensation and expenses of the board and its officers and employees and to fund pilot training programs. This bill would require the rates specified for those vessels and the rates in the schedule adopted by the board to be increased by certain percentages pursuant to a specified schedule. The bill thereby would make an appropriation by increasing the amount of money deposited in a continuously appropriated fund. (2) Existing law establishes the mill rate chargeable to the vessels specified above and authorizes that rate to be changed under certain circumstances, including when the number of licensed pilots is reduced to 60 pilots or falls below 60 pilots. This bill would suspend until January 1, 2007, the authority to increase the mill rate under those circumstances. Appropriation: yes. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 1190 of the Harbors and Navigation Code is amended to read: 1190. (a) Every vessel spoken inward or outward bound shall pay the following rate of bar pilotage through the Golden Gate and into or out of the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun: (1) Eight dollars and eleven cents ($8.11) per draft foot of the vessel's deepest draft and fractions of a foot pro rata, and an additional charge of 73.01 mills per high gross registered ton as changed pursuant to law in effect on December 31, 1999. The mill rates established by this paragraph may be changed as follows: (A) (i) On and after January 1, 2007, if the number of pilots licensed by the board is reduced to 60 pilots, for any subsequent decrease in the number of pilots, the mill rate then in effect shall be decreased by an incremental amount that is proportionate to one-half of the last audited annual average net income per pilot for each pilot licensed by the board below 60 pilots. (ii) On and after January 1, 2007, if the number of pilots licensed by the board falls below 60, for any subsequent increase in the number of pilots, the mill rate then in effect shall be increased by an incremental amount that is proportionate to one-half of the last audited annual average net income per pilot for each new pilot that results in an increase in the number of pilots then licensed by the board. (iii) The incremental mill rate adjustment authorized by this subparagraph shall be calculated using the data reported to the board for the number of gross registered tons handled by pilots licensed under this division during the same 12-month period as the audited annual average net income per pilot. The incremental mill rate adjustment shall become effective at the beginning of the quarter (January 1, April 1, July 1, or October 1) as directed by the board. (B) There shall be an incremental rate of additional mills per high gross registered ton as is necessary and authorized by the board to recover the pilots' costs of obtaining new pilot boats. The incremental mill rate charge authorized by this subparagraph shall be identified as a pilot boat surcharge on the pilots' invoices and separately accounted for in the accounting required by Section 1136. Net proceeds from the sale of existing pilot boats shall be used to reduce the debt on the new pilot boats. (C) In addition to the rate change specified in subparagraph (A) and the incremental rate specified in subparagraph (B), the mill rate established by this subdivision may be adjusted at the direction of the board if, after a hearing conducted pursuant to Article 9 (commencing with Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, the board determines that there has been a catastrophic cost increase to the pilots that would result in at least a 2-percent increase in the overall annual cost of providing pilot services. (2) A minimum charge for bar pilotage shall be six hundred sixty-two dollars ($662) for each vessel piloted. (3) The vessel's deepest draft shall be the maximum draft attained, on a stillwater basis, at any part of the vessel during the course of such transit inward or outward. (b) The rate specified in subdivision (a) shall apply only to a pilotage that passes through the Golden Gate to or from the high seas to or from a berth within an area bounded by the Union Pacific Railroad Bridge to the north and Hunter's Point to the south. The rate for pilotage to or from the high seas to or from a point past the Union Pacific Railroad Bridge or Hunter's Point shall include a movement fee in addition to the basic bar pilotage rate as specified by the board pursuant to Section 1191. (c) The rate established in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) shall be for a trip from the high seas to dock or from the dock to high seas. The rate specified in Section 1191 shall not be charged by pilots for docking and undocking vessels. This subdivision does not apply to the rates charged by inland pilots for their services. (d) The board shall determine the number of pilots to be licensed based on the 1986 manpower study adopted by the board. (e) Consistent with the board's May 2002 adoption of rate recommendations, the rates imposed pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) that are in effect on December 31, 2002, shall be increased by 4 percent on January 1, 2003; those in effect on December 31, 2003, shall be increased by 4 percent on January 1, 2004; those in effect on December 31, 2004, shall be increased by 3 percent on January 1, 2005; and those in effect on December 31, 2005, shall be increased by 3 percent on January 1, 2006. SEC. 2. Section 1191 of the Harbors and Navigation Code is amended to read: 1191. (a) The board, pursuant to Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 1200), shall recommend that the Legislature, by statute, adopt a schedule of pilotage rates providing fair and reasonable return to pilots and inland pilots engaged in ship movements or special operations where rates for those movements or operations are not specified in Section 1190. (b) Every vessel using pilots and inland pilots for ship movements or special operations that do not constitute bar pilotage shall pay the rate specified in the schedule of pilotage rates adopted by the Legislature. (c) Consistent with the board's adoption of rate recommendations in May 2002, the minimum rates imposed pursuant to this section that are in effect on December 31, 2002, shall be increased by 26 percent on January 1, 2003; those in effect on December 31, 2003, shall be increased by 26 percent on January 1, 2004; those in effect on December 31, 2004, shall be increased by 14 percent on January 1, 2005; and those in effect on December 31, 2005, shall be increased by 14 percent on January 1, 2006.