BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                       



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                  SB 1582|
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                                 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





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          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  







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          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.








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          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  







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            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







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          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  







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          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  







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          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

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