BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 595
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 595 (Wolk)
As Amended June 29, 2011
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :39-0
NATURAL RESOURCES 8-0 JUDICIARY 9-0
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|Ayes:|Chesbro, Knight, |Ayes:|Feuer, Wagner, Atkins, |
| |Brownley, Dickinson, | |Dickinson, Beth Gaines, |
| |Halderman, Hill, Monning, | |Huber, Jones, Monning, |
| |Skinner | |Wieckowski |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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APPROPRIATIONS 15-0
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|Ayes:|Fuentes, Harkey, | | |
| |Blumenfield, Bradford, | | |
| |Charles Calderon, Campos, | | |
| |Davis, Donnelly, | | |
| |Dickinson, Hill, Lara, | | |
| |Nielsen, Norby, Solorio, | | |
| |Wagner | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Provides the State Lands Commission (Commission) with
administrative authority to dispose of abandoned vessels located
on state waterways. Specifically, this bill:
1)Clarifies that the Commission may take immediate action,
without notice, when it removes a vessel from an area in its
jurisdiction that is a hazard to navigation or poses a
significant threat to the public health, safety, or welfare,
or to the environment. Classifies a vessel as "abandoned" if,
after removal and the expiration of a 30 day notice mailed to
all known owners and lienholders, the vessel remains
unclaimed.
2)Authorizes the Commission to remove a vessel, regardless of
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its effect on navigation, the public, or environment, if it
has been placed on state lands without the Commission's
permission. Requires the Commission to attach a 30 day
"notice to remove" on the vessel and mail a 15 day notice to
any owner and lienholder that can be located before removal
may occur. Classifies a vessel as "abandoned" if, after
notice has expired, the vessel remains unclaimed.
3)Authorizes the Commission at a properly noticed hearing to
take title to an abandoned vessel for the sole purpose of
abatement and may cause the property to be sold, destroyed, or
otherwise disposed of in any manner it determines expedient or
convenient. Requires the Commission to give notice of the
hearing to the owner and any lienholders, who will be given
the right to appear and be heard prior to disposition of the
property. Prohibits the Commission from implementing a final
decision to dispose of a vessel for 30 days in order to allow
the owner to pursue any other available legal remedy.
4)Authorizes the Commission, at its discretion, to take action
to remove and dispose of an abandoned or derelict vessel on a
navigable waterway in the state that is not under the
Commission's jurisdiction if requested to do so by another
public entity that has regulatory authority over the area
where the vessel is located.
EXISTING LAW :
1) Protects, pursuant to the common law Public Trust
Doctrine, the public's right to use California's waterways
for commerce, navigation, fishing, boating, natural habitat
protection, and other water oriented activities. The
Public Trust Doctrine provides that filled and unfilled
tide and submerged lands and the beds of lakes, streams,
and other navigable waterways (i.e., public trust lands)
are to be held in trust by the state for the benefit of the
people of California.
2) Establishes that the Commission is the steward and
manager of the state's public trust lands. The Commission
has direct administrative control over the state's public
trust lands and oversight authority over public trust lands
granted by the Legislature to local governments.
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3)Authorizes the Commission to remove from areas under its
jurisdiction any vessel, boat, raft, or watercraft that
either:
a) Is left unattended and is moored, docked, beached, or
made fast to land and in a position as to obstruct the
normal movement of traffic, or to create a hazard to other
vessels, to public safety, or to the property of another;
or,
b) Seriously interferes with, or otherwise poses a critical
and immediate danger to navigation or to the public health,
safety, or welfare.
4)Authorizes the Commission, through court action, to remove or
destroy any vessel, boat, watercraft, raft, or other similar
obstruction which hinders navigation or otherwise creates a
public nuisance. The Commission may recover its costs to
remove a vessel or obstruction through appropriate court
action.
5)Creates the Abandoned Watercraft Abatement Fund, administered
by the Department of Boating and Waterways, to provide grants
to local agencies to remove, store, and dispose of abandoned,
wrecked, or dismantled recreational vessels which pose a
substantial hazard to navigation.
6)Creates a pilot project that allows local agencies to use
Abandoned Watercraft Abatement Fund monies to accept a
surrendered recreational vessel if the vessel is in danger of
being abandoned and has a likelihood of causing environmental
degradation or becoming a hazard to navigation.
FISCAL EFFECT : According the Assembly Appropriations Committee:
1)The costs of this bill depend upon the number of vessels the
Commission removes and disposes of each year, as well as
logistical, legal and other factors associated with each
vessel. The Commission estimates that, generally, it could
remove and dispose of about two vessels a year using existing
resources and at a cost of less than $100,000. (General Fund)
2)Annual revenue recovered from owners of abandoned vessels
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subject to removal or disposal would likely be less than
$100,000 a year. (The Commission anticipates difficulty
recovering its costs for abandoned vessel removal and
disposal. This is because the owners of such vessels
generally have little financial wherewithal, a condition that
often leads to the vessel's abandonment.)
COMMENTS : The Commission has been entrusted with the
responsibility of managing lands underlying the state's
navigable and tidal waterways, known as "sovereign lands,"
including those underlying state waters in the Pacific Ocean.
These lands, acquired at statehood in 1850, cover nearly four
million acres and include more than 120 navigable river and
streams and about 40 lakes. The Commission holds these
sovereign lands in public trust and can only be used for
purposes consistent with the trust (e.g., water related
commerce, navigation, fisheries, recreation, preservation).
According to the Commission, "boat owners in increasing numbers
are abandoning both recreational and commercial vessels in areas
within the Commission's jurisdiction. Our state waterways are
becoming clogged with hulks that break up, leak, sink and add
pollutants to our waterways and marine habitat." Recent press
has documented how this problem has been exacerbated by the
deteriorating economy as boat owners chose to abandon their
boats instead of maintaining them.
Currently, the Commission has authority to sue a vessel owner to
remove his/her abandoned boat. To litigate a case like this can
cost the state well over $100,000, not to mention hundreds if
not thousands of hours of staff time. The Department of Boating
and Waterways has a program that grants about $500,000 annually
to local governments to remove abandoned vessels. This program,
however, is limited to recreational boats and requires a
proactive local government that is willing to apply for grants
and provide 10% matching funds. If a local government does not
apply for funding or does not have the ability to provide
matching funds, it does not receive state aid to remove
abandoned vessels.
Through this bill, the Commission has proposed an administrative
adjudication process that will provide a more cost effective and
streamlined process to remove abandoned vessels from state
waters. The Commission may take title and sell or dispose of a
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vessel only after exhausting due process and notice requirements
specified in the bill. The Commission has and continues to deal
with salvors and scrap metal dealers for the purpose of vessel
disposal; however, such dealers require clear title to scrap
vessels. This bill will allow the Commission to provide clear
title to these dealers.
Analysis Prepared by : Mario DeBernardo / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092
FN: 0001819