BILL NUMBER: AB 1888 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 5, 2010
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 12, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 14, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 5, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 15, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Ma
FEBRUARY 16, 2010
An act to amend Sections 1127, 1137, and 1150 of, and to add
Section 1193 to, the Harbors and Navigation Code, relating to harbors
and ports.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1888, Ma. Harbors and ports: Monterey Bay and the Bays of San
Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun: pilotage.
Existing law provides for the regulation and licensing of pilots
for Monterey Bay and the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun
by the Board of Pilot Commissioners for the Bays of San Francisco,
San Pablo, and Suisun. The board consists of 7 members, appointed by
the Governor, with the consent of the Senate, with specified
staggered terms.
This bill would revise the terms for members of the board who are
licensed pilots and members who represent the industry.
Existing law specifies the rates of bar pilotage for vessels
inward or outward bound through the Golden Gate and into or out of
the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun and also imposes
certain movement fees and surcharges.
This bill would exempt from those pilotage fees and surcharges
noncommercial vessels that are maritime academy training vessels and
vessels owned and operated by nonprofit museums or foundations. These
vessels would be subject to the board operations surcharge.
Existing law exempts from pilotage fees a vessel sailing under a
coastwise license or appropriately endorsed registry and engaged in
the coasting trade, as described, unless a pilot or inland pilot is
actually used. A foreign vessel, a vessel bound to or from a foreign
port, or a vessel sailing under a register is required to use a pilot
or inland pilot. These provisions do not apply to a vessel that is
less than 300 gross tons and is manufactured and used for private
recreation.
This bill would instead state that those provisions do not apply
to a vessel that is less than 750 gross tons and is manufactured and
used for private recreation.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 1127 of the Harbors and Navigation Code is
amended to read:
1127. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that it is the
policy of the state to ensure the safety of persons, property, and
vessels using the waters of Monterey Bay and the Bays of San
Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun and to avoid damage to those waters
and surrounding ecosystems as a result of vessel collision or damage
by providing competent, efficient, and regulated pilotage for vessels
required by this division to secure pilotage services.
(b) This section does not supersede, modify, or otherwise alter
pilot practices that are not safety related, including, but not
limited to, the determination of rates charged for pilot services or
employer-employee relationships for individuals, agencies, or
organizations involved in providing pilotage services between any
port of Monterey Bay and the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and
Suisun and any other port of the United States that is in existence
on December 31, 1995, or otherwise abridge the authority of local
port or harbor districts relating to pilotage in effect on December
31, 1995.
(c) The board shall regulate pilotage on waters of the state as
provided in this division.
(d) A vessel sailing under a coastwise license or appropriately
endorsed registry and engaged in the coasting trade between a port of
Monterey Bay and the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun
and another port of the United States is exempt from all pilotage
charges unless a pilot or inland pilot is actually employed. A
foreign vessel and a vessel bound between a foreign port and a port
of Monterey Bay and the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun,
and a vessel sailing under a register between a port of Monterey Bay
and the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun and another
port of the United States, shall use a pilot or inland pilot holding
a license issued pursuant to this division, except as otherwise
provided by law.
(e) Subdivision (d) does not apply to a vessel that is less than
750 gross tons and is manufactured and used for private recreation.
SEC. 2. Section 1137 of the Harbors and Navigation Code is amended
to read:
1137. (a) The account required pursuant to Section 1136 shall
show all of the following:
(1) The name of each vessel piloted.
(2) The name of each vessel for which pilotage has been charged or
collected.
(3) The amount charged to or collected for each vessel.
(4) Any rebates made and allowed and for what amounts.
(5) The amount of the fees and surcharges not collected pursuant
to Section 1193.
(6) The depth of each vessel's draft and its highest gross
tonnage.
(7) Whether the vessel was inward or outward bound.
(b) The board shall record the accounts in full detail in a book
prepared for that purpose. The account book is a public record.
SEC. 3. Section 1150 of the Harbors and Navigation Code is amended
to read:
1150. (a) There is in the Business, Transportation and Housing
Agency a Board of Pilot Commissioners for the Bays of San Francisco,
San Pablo, and Suisun, consisting of seven members appointed by the
Governor, with the consent of the Senate, as follows:
(1) Two members shall be pilots licensed pursuant to this
division.
(2) Two members shall represent the industry and shall be persons
currently engaged as owners, officers, directors, employees, or
representatives of a firm or association of firms that is a
substantial user of pilotage service in the Bay of San Francisco, San
Pablo, Suisun, or Monterey, one of whom shall be engaged in the
field of tanker company operations, and one of whom shall be engaged
in dry cargo operations. The board of directors of a regional
maritime trade association controlled by West Coast vessel operators
that specifically represents the owners and operators of vessels or
barges engaged in transportation by water of cargo or passengers from
or to the Pacific area of the United States shall nominate, rank,
and submit to the Governor the names of three persons for each
category of industry member to be appointed.
(3) Three members shall be public members. Any person may serve as
a public member unless otherwise prohibited by law, except that
during his or her term of office or within the two years preceding
his or her appointment, no public member appointed may have (A) any
financial or proprietary interest in the ownership, operation, or
management of tugs, cargo, or passenger vessels, (B) sailed under the
authority of a federal or state pilot license in waters under the
jurisdiction of the board, (C) been employed by a company that is a
substantial user of pilot services, or (D) been a consultant or other
person providing professional services who had received more than 20
percent in the aggregate of his or her income from a company that is
a substantial user of pilot services or an association of companies
that are substantial users of pilot services. Ownership of less than
one-tenth of 1 percent of the stock of a publicly traded corporation
is not a financial or proprietary interest in the ownership of tugs,
cargo, or passenger vessels.
(4) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, this chapter does
not prohibit the Governor from notifying the nominating authority
identified in paragraph (2) that persons nominated are unacceptable
for appointment. Following that notification, the nominating
authority shall submit a new list of nominees to the Governor, naming
three persons, none of whom were previously nominated, from which
the Governor may make the appointment. This process shall be
continued until a person nominated by the nominating authority and
satisfactory to the Governor has been appointed.
(b) Members appointed pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be
appointed with staggered terms as follows:
(1) Each of the members appointed pursuant to paragraphs (1) and
(2) of subdivision (a) shall be appointed for a four-year term,
except that the first member appointed after December 31, 2012, to an
initial term pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) shall be
appointed to a term expiring on December 31, 2014, and the first
member appointed after December 31, 2012, to an initial term pursuant
to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) shall be appointed to a term
expiring on December 31, 2014.
(2) Members appointed pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (a)
shall be appointed with staggered four-year terms with the initial
four-year terms expiring on December 31 of the years 1988, 1990, and
1991, respectively.
(3) A person may not be appointed for more than two terms.
(4) Vacancies on the board for both expired and unexpired terms
shall be filled by the appointing power in the manner prescribed by
subdivision (a).
(c) A quorum of the board members consists of four members. All
actions of the board shall require the vote of four members, a quorum
being present.
(d) The Secretary of the Business, Transportation and Housing
Agency shall serve as an ex officio member of the board who, without
vote, may exercise all other privileges of a member of the board.
SEC. 4. Section 1193 is added to the Harbors and Navigation Code,
to read:
1193. (a) Notwithstanding Section 1120, only the following
noncommercial vessels that use pilotage services are exempt from the
pilotage fees and surcharges established pursuant to this division,
except for the board operations surcharge as established and
calculated pursuant to Section 1159.1:
(1) Maritime academy training vessels, whether foreign or
domestic.
(2) Vessels owned and operated by a nonprofit museum or
foundation.
(b) The vessels specified in subdivision (a) are subject to
Section 1198.