BILL ANALYSIS ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1582| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ THIRD READING Bill No: SB 1582 Author: Simitian (D) and Maldonado (R) Amended: 5/20/08 Vote: 21 SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 5-0, 4/8/08 AYES: Romero, Cogdill, Cedillo, Margett, Perata SENATE ENV. QUALITY COMMITTEE : 5-2, 4/14/08 AYES: Simitian, Florez, Kuehl, Lowenthal, Steinberg NOES: Runner, Aanestad SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 10-2, 5/22/08 AYES: Torlakson, Ashburn, Cedillo, Corbett, Dutton, Florez, Kuehl, Oropeza, Simitian, Yee NOES: Cox, Aanestad NO VOTE RECORDED: Ridley-Thomas, Runner, Wyland SUBJECT : Ocean resources: ocean rangers SOURCE : Author DIGEST : This bill, until January 1, 2015, requires large passenger vessels operating in California to have two ocean rangers on board to monitor their compliance with wastewater discharge laws, review procedures involving onboard wastewater treatment, review specified records, assist passengers and crew in reporting and investigating potential criminal activities taking place while in the marine waters of the state and serve as liaison with both CONTINUED SB 1582 Page 2 the state and the federal Department of Homeland Security. The Department of Justice is required to contract for the rangers' services and training and to negotiate a number of memoranda of understanding with authorities in other states and countries pertaining to the ocean rangers' boarding large passenger vessels at the last port of call before a vessel enters California waters. This bill requires the Department of Justice to publish on its Internet Web site a statistical analysis of crimes committed and investigated and resolved on board large passenger vessels making port in California. This bill requires the Department of Justice to assess an owner/operator $1.50 per passenger, as specified, and revise that fee annually. This bill establishes an Ocean Ranger Program Fund to receive deposits into the State Treasury. The provisions of the bill sunset on January 1, 2015. ANALYSIS : Existing law prohibits a large passenger vessel from releasing specified waste streams into the marine waters of the state and requires the owner or operator of the vessel to maintain specified records. Existing federal law vests the jurisdiction over the admission of foreign aliens with the federal government. This bill, until January 1, 2015, requires an owner or operator of a large passenger vessel, on and after January 1, 2009, or a later specified date, to have onboard an ocean ranger, as defined, while the vessel is operating in the marine waters of the state, to monitor the vessel's compliance with the above prohibition, to observe the maintenance and operational procedures for the onboard waste treatment systems, and to assist in criminal investigations, subject to the availability of funding to place an ocean ranger onboard. The owner or operator would be required to provide specified records for inspection by the ocean ranger, upon request. The ocean ranger would be authorized to observe maintenance and operational procedures for onboard waste treatment systems, and would be authorized to, among other things, assist the passengers and crew in reporting and investigating alleged crimes onboard while in the marine waters of the state, and act as a liaison with the state and the federal Department of Homeland Security. The ocean ranger would have the responsibility of reporting incidences of alleged criminal SB 1582 Page 3 activities to, and coordinating law enforcement activities with, the local or federal law enforcement agency with jurisdiction. The bill requires the Attorney General to negotiate, with specified jurisdictions, memoranda of understanding establishing terms and conditions of access to, and egress from, large passenger vessels for the ocean rangers from ports in those jurisdictions. On and after a specified date, a large passenger vessel would be prohibited from disembarking passengers in the state if the vessel's last port of call is outside the marine waters of the state and the vessel operator denies to the ocean ranger or specified equivalent enforcement personnel access to the vessel at the foreign port. The bill requires the Department of Justice, beginning March 1, 2009, and biennially thereafter, to publish on its Internet Web site a statistical analysis of crimes committed, investigated, and resolved onboard a large passenger vessel making port in California. The department would be required to assess on the owner or operator of a vessel a fee of $1.50 per passenger who embarks on a cruise, or who ends a cruise and disembarks, at a port of call in California. The Department of Justice would be required, beginning January 1, 2011, to revise annually the fee pursuant to a specified procedure to ensure that the fee generates sufficient revenues only to cover the costs of implementing this act, plus a prudent reserve. The bill requires the State Board of Equalization to collect and deposit the fee into the Ocean Ranger Program Fund, which the bill establishes in the State Treasury, and, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the collected fee would be used for specified purposes. The bill requires the department, in cooperation with the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, to develop an appropriate course of training for ocean rangers. The department would be required to develop specified training for, and to contract with a qualified entity to provide training for, an ocean ranger who would conduct environmental compliance activities. The department would be required to contract with an entity to provide personnel qualified as ocean rangers to conduct environmental compliance activities. SB 1582 Page 4 The bill provides that the department would implement this act in conformity with the requirements of international and federal law. This bill makes the following legislative findings: 1.More cruise ships are calling upon California ports of call every year. The cruise ship fleet is increasing in size and carrying capacity and producing increasing volumes of solid and liquid waste. 2.Improperly treated wastes released into the environment can significantly impact California's aquatic ecosystems and the people and industries that depend upon them. 3.The cruise ship industry has a poor record on self-policing environmental practices. 4.California's zero-discharge law for cruise ships does not provide independent oversight of the industry or verification of the zero-discharge requirement. 5.Millions of American citizens travel on cruise ships every year and numerous documented cases exist of serious crimes against passengers by other passengers and crew members. 6.The cruise ship industry has failed to adopt adequate measures to protect passengers from theft, rape, assaults, and suspected homicides, or to provide the necessary assistance to United States public safety officers investigating these crimes. 7.Every cruise ship provides thousands of foreign citizens, both passengers and crew, with transport and access to multiple ports of call in the state with insufficient oversight from state and federal authorities. 8.It is the intent of the Legislature to place a licensed marine engineer with peace officer status on all cruise ships traveling through the marine waters of the state. These employees of the state, to be known as ocean rangers, would help protect the state's coastal resources, investigate crimes against passengers, and SB 1582 Page 5 provide support to state and federal homeland security agencies. 9.The provisions of the bill sunset on January 1, 2015. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No According to the Senate Appropriations Committee: Fiscal Impact (in thousands) Major Provisions 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 Fund Ocean resources: ocean rangers ($150) $0$0 Special SUPPORT : (Verified 5/23/08) American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees American Maritime Officers Union California Coastal Protection California Coastkeeper Alliance California Labor Federation (AFL-CIO) California League of Conservation Voters California State Sheriffs Association Crime Victims United Earth Island Institute Earth Island Institute (source) Environment California Environmental Defense Center Environmental Defense Fund Friends of the Earth Green California Heal the Bay Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department Marine Engineers Beneficial Association National Center for Victims of Crime National Organization of Parents of Murdered Children, Inc. Natural Resources Defense Council Ocean Conservancy Oceana Planning and Conservation League SB 1582 Page 6 Sierra Club California Statewide Law Enforcement Association Surfrider Foundation OPPOSITION : (Verified 5/23/08) California Coalition of Travel Organizations Cruise Lines International Association Port of San Diego Port of San Francisco ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office, "There are numerous crimes that take place on cruise ships. The only security personnel on board work for the vessel operator. They are minimally trained and their responsibility is to their employer first. Numerous victims have complained that crimes they report are not properly investigated both because the cruise ships worry about public relations issues if the crimes are reported and because of potential civil liability issues. Furthermore, many of the crimes are alleged against members of the crew placing company security guards in a conflicted position. "As a result, evidence is not properly collected, maintained, or reported. Airplanes with several hundred passengers have air marshals on board, yet cruise ships carrying thousands of passengers have no public security presence. "In addition, California has passed numerous environmental laws regulating dumping of wastewater, bilge water, sewage, and garbage within California waters. In addition we have laws regulating trash incineration. We have no way of knowing whether the cruise ships are complying. The Ocean Rangers will work both on public safety and environmental compliance." ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) states, "The bill would require an on-board enforcement officer to enforce California and federal laws that the industry has been meeting - there is no evidence that the cruise lines have been violating any of these laws in California waters since current statutes SB 1582 Page 7 have been in place. The bill would require enforcement of federal and state criminal statutes when, according to the FBI, the chance of a passenger facing a major crime is less than .01 percent. It is in conflict with existing Federal Homeland Security requirements and jurisdiction, states are specifically prohibited from requiring differing Homeland Security requirements and an untrained California Ocean Ranger would not be authorized to evaluate and respond to risks related to Homeland Security. It would give a marine engineer peace officer status, and allow the engineer to carry guns, a very dangerous situation on a ship with thousands of passengers. "It appears to allow the Ocean Ranger to enforce federal criminal laws in conflict with the jurisdiction of the federal government under federal special territorial and maritime jurisdiction as defined in 18 U.S.C. 7. In addition, the U.S. Coast Guard and Department of Homeland Security have already promulgated crime reporting requirements that are set forth in Title 33 of the Code of Federal Regulations part 120, et seq., which the U.S. Department of Justice has interpreted to apply to crimes committed on all voyages to or from the U.S. Additional federal legislation has been introduced that would expand the types of incidents to be reported to the FBI and Coast Guard. That legislation is expected to pass Congress in the next few months. The federal reporting ensures consistent criminal reporting and processes no matter which state the ship is visiting. "The bill does not define 'waters of the state' but we assume it is the federal three-mile definition. However, we understand it is the intent of the bill to allow the Ocean Ranger to remain onboard the ship up and down the West Coast even if the ship remains outside of California waters, and to prohibit the ship from berthing at a California port if the ship does not agree to such an arrangement, the State clearly does not have the jurisdiction or authority to mandate such an enforcement mechanism. Most of the ships that visit California are in California waters (three miles from shore) for one hour, dock at 5 am, and leave 8-10 hours later, a total of 10 to 12 hours, 2-4 times per year. The ship is then off to Europe or Hawaii or Mexico or Canada. These ships would be SB 1582 Page 8 treated the same as a ship that is based in California, a definite disincentive for cruise ships to continue to include California ports on their transitioning itineraries. "The bill is based on an Alaska Initiative that requires the use of an Ocean Ranger to monitor environmental compliance. However, Alaska has been granted specific federal authority for this regulation which California has not been granted." RJG:nl 5/23/08 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END ****