BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1480
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Date of Hearing: June 21, 2004
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Hannah-Beth Jackson, Chair
SB 1480 (Sher) - As Amended: June 14, 2004
SENATE VOTE : 22-12
SUBJECT : Harbors: Oil Spill Prevention and Response.
SUMMARY : This bill allows the administrator of the Office of
Oil Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) to adopt regulations
governing tugboat escorts for other vessels carrying hazardous
materials that operate within California harbors.
EXISTING LAW : Pursuant to the Lempert-Keene-Seastrand Oil Spill
Prevention and Response Act of 1990 (commencing with 8670.1 of
the Government Code):
1)Establishes a comprehensive program for oil spill response
activities in the marine waters of the state.
2)Establishes OSPR and requires the administrator to establish a
Harbor Safety Committee for each California harbor for
planning for the safe navigation and operation of tank ships,
tank barges and other vessels within each harbor.
3)Authorizes the administrator to adopt regulations governing
tugboat escorts for tank ships and tank barges entering,
leaving or navigating in the harbors of California.
THIS BILL :
1)Allows the OSPR administrator to adopt regulations governing
tugboat escorts for vessels that are entering, leaving or
navigating in the harbors of California and are carrying
enough hazardous material to pose a risk to public health and
safety or to the environment.
2)Allows the OSPR administrator to exempt both of the following
from the tugboat escort regulations:
a) A vessel with a double hull, that has fully redundant
steering and propulsion systems and an integrated
navigation system; and,
SB 1480
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b) A vessel already subject to tugboat escort requirements
pursuant to existing U.S. Coast Guard regulations.
3)Allows the OSPR administrator to charge owners or operators of
vessels that are subject to these tugboat escort regulations a
reasonable fee in an amount that does not exceed the
administrator's costs for implementing the regulations.
4)Defines "double hull" and "hazardous material."
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee analysis, potentially $125,000 annually (up to three
years) for regulations, offset by fee revenues; and, potentially
$25,000 annually for enforcement, offset by fee revenues.
COMMENTS :
1)Background
According to the author's office, this bill is designed to close
a loophole in the Lempert-Keene-Seastrand Oil Spill Prevention
and Response Act. Currently, tanker ships carrying hazardous
materials, such as poisonous gas, flammable liquids,
radioactive materials, explosives and other dangerous
chemicals, are not currently regulated by OSPR. Assembly
Member Lieber's AB 2777, which had addressed this issue, was
dropped by the author.
2)Examples of Dangers Posed by Chemical Vessels
In 1995, the Mundogas Europe, a 561-foot Liberian tanker ship
containing 36 million pounds of pressurized anhydrous
ammonia--a highly toxic chemical used to make fertilizer--lost
steering near the Golden Gate Bridge and nearly collided with
the bridge's south tower because there were no tugboats nearby
to stop it. Had a collision occurred, allowing the anhydrous
ammonia to escape and mix with seawater, a major public health
and environmental disaster would have occurred in San
Francisco.
In February 2003, a Panamanian ship ran aground carrying 27,000
tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, the same chemical used by
terrorists to blow up the federal building in Oklahoma City in
1995. The ship sat in the mud near Pittsburg, California for
three days.
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Since the 1995 Mundogas Europe incident, the number of chemical
ships entering San Francisco Bay has nearly tripled to 171 in
2003 (according to the San Francisco Marine Exchange). In the
past nine years, U.S. Coast Guard statistics indicate that
there have been at least 23 accidents involving chemical ships
in the San Francisco Bay.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations
Planning and Conservation League
Sierra Club California
The Ocean Conservancy
Opposition
California Department of Fish and Game
Analysis Prepared by : Manuel Valencia / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092