BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 907
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 18, 2011

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                      AB 907 (Ma) - As Amended:  April 14, 2011 

          Policy Committee:                              
          TransportationVote:11-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill authorizes a port agent to review the initial report 
          of a suspected ladder or hoist safety standard violation.  The 
          bill requires the port agent, if he or she concludes that the 
          ladder or hoist presents a potential danger to future users, to 
          report the suspected safety standard violation to organizations 
          of pilots in expected next ports of call and authorizes the port 
          agent to similarly report to any national or international 
          organization concerned with pilot ladder or pilot hoist safety.  
          The bill also deletes obsolete reference to inland pilots and 
          pilotage rate increases.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Negligible state costs, if any.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Rationale  .  The author notes that the United States Coast 
            Guard (USCG) has no legal obligation to inform the next port 
            of a reported safety issue and intends this bill to protect 
            pilots that will receive vessels following a ladder or hoist 
            accident.  

           2)Background.   Bar pilots and inland pilots are responsible for 
            steering an arriving vessel through the Golden Gate Bridge of 
            San Francisco Bay, the bay waters, and adjoining navigable 
            waters, which include San Pablo Bay, Monterey Bay, Suisun Bay, 
            the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, and its tributaries.  
            When a vessel approaches the "SF" buoy 12 miles west of the 
            Golden Gate Bridge, a bar pilot boards the ship and takes 
            navigational control, guiding the ship to berth.  Bar pilots 
            often climb from their transport boat onto the vessel during 
            choppy currents using a pilot ladder and hoist.  Sometimes, 





                                                                  AB 907
                                                                  Page  2

            the equipment is not in good repair.  Current law requires the 
            executive director of the Board of Pilot Commissioners or a 
            commission investigator to inspect pilot ladders and hoists 
            for compliance with the relevant safety standards of the USCG 
            and the International Maritime Organization.  If, in the 
            preliminary report, the equipment is found to be in violation, 
            or likely violation, of safety standards, the executive 
            director must immediately alert the USCG.  A written report 
            must be submitted to the incident review committee of the 
            Board, which must remain confidential until it is reported to 
            the Board.  The committee must then report its findings and 
            recommendations to the Board.

           3)Support.   This bill is supported by the San Francisco Bar 
            Pilots Association.  

          4)There is no registered opposition to this bill.
           
           Analysis Prepared by  :    Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081