BILL NUMBER: AB 907 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 14, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 15, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Ma
FEBRUARY 17, 2011
An act to amend Sections 1156.6, 1190, 1191, 1196, 1196.1, and
1196.3 of the Harbors and Navigation Code, relating to harbors and
ports.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 907, as amended, 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. 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.
This bill would delete obsolete rate increases in those
provisions.
Existing law requires the board to adopt a schedule of pilotage
rates applicable to pilots and inland pilots for those operations
that are not otherwise provided for under existing law. Existing law
also requires the board to establish a surcharge for each movement of
a vessel using pilot services to be used for the pilot and inland
pilot continuing education program established by the board.
This bill would make those provisions inapplicable to inland
pilots. The bill would also make conforming changes.
Under existing law, whenever suspected safety standard violations
concerning pilot hoists, pilot ladders, or the proper rigging of
pilot hoists or pilot ladders are reported to the board, the
executive director is required to assign a commission investigator to
personally inspect the equipment for its compliance with specified
safety standards. This requirement applies to vessels in certain
defined pilotage grounds.
This bill would provide that, if a vessel is expected to pass
outside the pilotage grounds before the investigation, findings, and
recommendations are complete, the port agent would be authorized to
review the initial report of a suspected safety standard violation
and any information gathered as part of the preliminary
investigation. The bill would further provide that if the port agent,
in his or her discretion, concludes that the ladder or hoist
presents a potential danger, the agent would be authorized
required to report the suspected safety standard
violation to other pilot organizations.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 1156.6 of the Harbors and Navigation Code is
amended to read:
1156.6. (a) Whenever suspected safety standard violations
concerning pilot hoists, pilot ladders, or the proper rigging of
pilot hoists or pilot ladders are reported to the board, the
executive director shall assign a commission investigator to
personally inspect the equipment for its compliance with the relevant
safety standards promulgated by the United States Coast Guard and
the International Maritime Organization. The commission investigator
shall report preliminary conclusions, including an assessment of the
equipment's compliance with the relevant safety standards, to the
executive director as soon as possible. If, in the preliminary
report, the equipment is found to be in violation, or in likely
violation in the opinion of the commission investigator, of the
relevant safety standards, the executive director shall immediately
alert the cognizant United States Coast Guard office. The commission
investigator shall submit a written report to the incident review
committee, as established by subdivision (a) of Section 1180.3, and
the report shall remain confidential until reported to the board. The
incident review committee, in turn, shall report its findings and
recommendations, if any, to the board. The board shall receive the
incident review committee's findings, which may include other
reports, information, or statements from interested parties. The
board shall specify, by regulation, the information that shall be
contained in the report.
(b) (1) This section applies to the pilotage grounds, as defined
in Section 1114.5. Whenever a vessel passes outside of the pilotage
grounds, the commission investigator's report shall include that fact
along with a description of the incident.
(2) If a vessel is expected to pass outside of the pilotage
grounds before the investigation, findings, and recommendations are
complete, the port agent may review the initial report of a suspected
ladder or hoist safety standard violation, and any information
gathered as part of the preliminary investigation. If the port agent,
in his or her discretion, concludes that the ladder or hoist
presents a potential danger to future users, the port agent
may shall report the suspected safety standard
violation to organizations of pilots in expected next ports of call,
and may similarly report to any national or international
organization concerned with pilot ladder or pilot hoist safety.
(c) The record of the investigation and the board's findings and
recommendations, if any, shall be a public record maintained by the
board.
SEC. 2. 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, 2010, if the number of pilots
licensed by the board is 58 or 59 pilots, the mill rate in effect on
December 31, 2006, 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, 2010, if the number of pilots
licensed by the board is fewer than 58 pilots, the mill rate in
effect on December 31, 2006, shall be adjusted in accordance with the
method described in clause (i) as though there are 58 pilots
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 immediately
following quarter, commencing January 1, April 1, July 1, or October
1, as directed by the board.
(iv) On and after January 1, 2010, if, during any quarter
described in this paragraph, the number of pilots licensed by the
board is equal to or greater than 60, clauses (i) to (iii),
inclusive, shall become inoperative on the first day of the
immediately following quarter.
(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 and of
funding design and engineering modifications for the purposes of
extending the service life of existing pilot boats, excluding costs
for repair or maintenance. 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 and any debt associated with the modification of pilot
boats under this subparagraph. The board may adjust a pilot boat
surcharge to reflect any associated operational savings resulting
from the modification of pilot boats under this subparagraph,
including, but not limited to, reduced repair and maintenance
expenses.
(C) In addition to 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.
(d) The board shall determine the number of pilots to be licensed
based on the 1986 manpower study adopted by the board.
SEC. 3. 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 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 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.
SEC. 4. Section 1196 of the Harbors and Navigation Code is amended
to read:
1196. (a) In addition to other fees for pilotage, there shall be
a surcharge in an amount established by the board for each movement
of a vessel using pilot services for the pilot continuing education
program established by the board.
(b) The moneys charged and collected each month from the pilot
continuing education program surcharge shall be paid to the board.
The moneys shall be used only to fund the pilot continuing education
program in the manner established by the board.
(c) By action of the board, the board may adjust the amount
established pursuant to subdivision (a) as necessary to efficiently
administer the pilot continuing education program.
SEC. 5. Section 1196.1 of the Harbors and Navigation Code is
amended to read:
1196.1. (a) The moneys charged and collected each month from the
pilot continuing education surcharge pursuant to Section 1196 shall
be paid to the Board of Pilot Commissioners' Special Fund pursuant to
Section 1159. The moneys shall be used only to fund the pilot
continuing education program referred to in subdivision (h) of
Section 1171.5 and Section 1196.3.
(b) Information regarding moneys remitted to the Board of Pilot
Commissioners' Special Fund pursuant to Section 1159 collected from
the surcharge authorized pursuant to Section 1196, or otherwise
collected by the board for that purpose, and information regarding
moneys spent as pilot continuing education expenses authorized by
Section 1196.3 shall be made available to the public upon request and
to the board or its finance committee.
SEC. 6. Section 1196.3 of the Harbors and Navigation Code is
amended to read:
1196.3. Pilot continuing education expenses shall include all
costs incurred by the board in the operation and administration of
the pilot continuing education program and all costs resulting from
any contracts entered into for the purchase or lease of goods and
services required by the board, including, but not limited to, the
reimbursement of costs of services provided to the board by other
governmental entities, and for the costs for any other goods and
services necessary for effectuating the purposes of continuing
education as determined by the board.