BILL NUMBER: SB 595 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 30, 2011
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 22, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 29, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 3, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 14, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 4, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Senator Wolk
FEBRUARY 17, 2011
An act to amend Section 523 of the Harbors and Navigation Code,
and to amend Section 6302.1 of, and to add Sections 6302.3 and 6302.4
to, the Public Resources Code, relating to tidelands and submerged
lands.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 595, Wolk. Tidelands and submerged lands: removal of vessels.
Existing law authorizes any peace officer, as described, any
employee or officer of the State Lands Commission designated by the
commission, or any lifeguard or marine safety officer employed by a
county, city, or district, while engaged in the performance of
official duties, to remove, and, if necessary, store a vessel, as
defined, removed from a public waterway under specified
circumstances.
This bill would eliminate the authority of any employee or officer
of the State Lands Commission designated by the commission, while
engaged in the performance of official duties, to remove and, if
necessary, store a vessel removed from a public waterway.
Existing law authorizes the commission to remove from areas under
its jurisdiction any vessel, boat, raft, or other similar watercraft
that is left unattended and is moored, docked, or beached as to
obstruct traffic or to create a hazard to other vessels or property,
that poses critical and immediate danger to navigation or the public
health, safety, or welfare, or that hinders navigation or creates a
public nuisance.
This bill would revise those provisions to authorize the
commission to remove a vessel, as defined, in those and similar
conditions immediately and without notice. The bill would authorize
the commission to remove and dispose of, from areas under its
jurisdiction, a vessel that has been placed on state lands without
its permission if, prior to removal, the commission gives a 30-day
notice to remove the vessel, as prescribed, and uses reasonable means
to identify and locate the owner and any lienholder.
Existing law authorizes the commission, through appropriate action
in the courts, to remove or destroy a vessel, boat, watercraft, or
other similar obstruction that hinders navigation or otherwise
creates a public nuisance in areas under the commission's
jurisdiction.
This bill would, instead, provide that a vessel that remains
unclaimed, as defined, for a period longer than 30 days after notice
of removal is abandoned property. The bill would establish procedures
for the commission to sell, destroy, or otherwise dispose of this
property. The bill would require that any proceeds from the sale of
this property, less the commission's costs, be deposited into the
General Fund. The bill would further authorize the commission, at its
discretion, to remove an abandoned or derelict vessel on a navigable
waterway that is not under its jurisdiction, if requested to do so
by another public entity that has regulatory authority over the area
where the vessel is located.
This bill would exempt the above-described actions of the
commission related to the removal, disposal, and destruction of a
vessel or other similar obstructions that hinder navigation or
otherwise create a public nuisance from the State Contract Act.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 523 of the Harbors and Navigation Code is
amended to read:
523. (a) Any peace officer, as described in Section 663, or any
lifeguard or marine safety officer employed by a county, city, or
district while engaged in the performance of official duties, may
remove, and, if necessary, store a vessel removed from a public
waterway under any of the following circumstances:
(1) When the vessel is left unattended and is moored, docked,
beached, or made fast to land in a position that obstructs the normal
movement of traffic or in a condition that creates a hazard to other
vessels using the waterway, to public safety, or to the property of
another.
(2) When the vessel is found upon a waterway and a report has
previously been made that the vessel has been stolen or a complaint
has been filed and a warrant thereon issued charging that the vessel
has been embezzled.
(3) When the person or persons in charge of the vessel are by
reason of physical injuries or illness incapacitated to an extent as
to be unable to provide for its custody or removal.
(4) When an officer arrests any person operating or in control of
the vessel for an alleged offense, and the officer is, by any
provision of this code or other statute, required or permitted to
take, and does take, the person arrested before a magistrate without
unnecessary delay.
(5) When the vessel interferes with, or otherwise poses a danger
to, navigation or to the public health, safety, or welfare.
(6) When the vessel poses a threat to adjacent wetlands, levies,
sensitive habitat, any protected wildlife species, or water quality.
(7) When a vessel is found or operated upon a waterway with a
registration expiration date in excess of one year before the date on
which it is found or operated on the waterway.
(b) Costs incurred by a public entity pursuant to removal of
vessels under subdivision (a) may be recovered through appropriate
action in the courts of this state.
SEC. 2. Section 6302.1 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
6302.1. (a) (1) The commission may take immediate action, without
notice, to remove from areas under its jurisdiction a vessel that is
left unattended and is moored, docked, beached, or made fast to land
in a position as to obstruct the normal movement of traffic or in a
condition as to create a hazard to navigation, other vessels using a
waterway, or the property of another.
(2) The commission may take immediate action, without notice, to
remove from areas under its jurisdiction a vessel that poses a
significant threat to the public health, safety, or welfare or to
sensitive habitat, wildlife, or water quality, or that constitutes a
public nuisance.
(3) A vessel removed under this section that remains unclaimed for
30 days after notice of removal is abandoned property.
(4) After removal of the vessel pursuant to paragraph (1) or (2),
the commission shall mail a notice to the owner, if known, and any
known lienholder, that informs the owner and lienholder that if the
vessel remains unclaimed for 30 days, it will be deemed abandoned
property, and the commission may dispose of it pursuant to Section
6302.3.
(b) (1) The commission may remove from areas under its
jurisdiction a vessel that has been placed on state lands without its
permission. Prior to removal of the vessel, the commission shall do
both of the following:
(A) Give a 30-day notice to remove the vessel by attaching it to
the vessel in a clearly visible place.
(B) Use reasonable means to identify and locate the owner and any
lienholder. If the owner is located, the commission shall mail notice
to the owner to remove the property by a date certain at least 15
days from the date of the notice.
(2) If a vessel remains unclaimed after the expiration of the 30
days' notice period and the 15 days' owner notice, if applicable, in
accordance with paragraph (1), it is abandoned property and the
commission may direct the disposition of the property pursuant to
Section 6302.3. The commission may also either remove the vessel or
allow it to remain in place until the commission takes action to
dispose of the property.
(c) Upon request of the owner and after payment of the costs of
removal and storage, the commission shall return to the owner a
vessel removed under this section.
(d) The commission, at its discretion, may remove and dispose of
an abandoned or derelict vessel on a navigable waterway in the state
that is not under the jurisdiction of the commission pursuant to this
section, if requested to do so by another public entity that has
regulatory authority over the area where the vessel is located.
(e) The commission may recover all costs incurred in removal
actions undertaken pursuant to this section, including administrative
costs and the costs of compliance with the requirements of the
California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with
Section 21000)), through an appropriate action in the courts of this
state or by use of any available administrative remedy.
(f) For purposes of this section the following definitions apply:
(1) "Appropriate action" means any cause of action available at
law or in equity.
(2) "Commission" includes the staff or agents of the commission or
other federal, state, or local agencies operating in concert with or
under the direction of the commission.
(3) "Unclaimed" means that an owner or a lienholder of the vessel
has not contacted the commission in response to a notice made
pursuant to this section, if notice is required, and has not made
adequate arrangements to take or remove the vessel to an authorized
location.
(4) "Vessel" includes any of the following:
(A) A vessel, boat, raft, or similar watercraft.
(B) A buoy, anchor, mooring, or other ground tackle used to secure
a vessel, boat, raft, or similar watercraft.
(C) A hulk, derelict, wreck, or parts of a ship, vessel, or other
watercraft.
SEC. 3. Section 6302.3 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
6302.3. (a) The commission, at a properly noticed commission
hearing, may take title to an abandoned vessel subject to disposal
pursuant to Section 6302.1 for the sole purpose of abatement, without
satisfying any lien on the property, and may cause the property to
be sold, destroyed, or otherwise disposed of in any manner it
determines is expedient or convenient. Those abandoned vessels shall
not be considered surplus state property for the purposes of removal,
disposal, or destruction. Title to property transferred by the
commission by sale or otherwise to third parties shall be clear of
any lien or encumbrance.
(b) Notice of that meeting shall be given to a known owner and
known lienholder, and the known owner, lienholder, or other
interested party shall be given the right to appear and be heard
prior to disposition of the property.
(c) A hearing on the disposition of property held pursuant to this
section shall be an informal hearing pursuant to Section 11445.20 of
the Government Code, unless designated as a formal hearing by the
commission.
(d) Any action with regard to the disposition of the property as
directed by the commission, with the exception of returning the
property to the owner, shall be delayed for 30 days after the date of
the commission's determination, to allow the owner to pursue any
other cause of action in law or equity.
(e) The commission's cost of disposing of abandoned property,
including staff time and legal and attorney's fees, may be recovered
by appropriate action in any court in which an action may be properly
brought or by use of any available administrative remedy. If the
property is sold, the commission may recover its costs from any
proceeds of the sale and any additional funds received shall be
deposited into the General Fund.
SEC. 4. Section 6302.4 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
6302.4. (a) At the request of the commission, an employee or
agent of the commission or a peace officer of the federal or state
government or a city, county, or other political subdivision of the
state shall have the authority to board a vessel for the purposes of
carrying out Section 6302.1 or 6302.3.
(b) An action of the commission with regard to any property
acquired or disposed of pursuant to Section 6302.1 or 6302.3 is
exempt from the State Contract Act (Chapter 1 (commencing with
Section 10100) of Part 2 of Division 2 of the Public Contract Code).