BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  SB 1408
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   August 8, 2012

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                  SB 1408 (Blakeslee) - As Amended:  June 20, 2012 

          Policy Committee:                             
          TransportationVote:12-0

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

           SUMMARY  

          This bill addresses the Board of Pilot Commissioners' authority 
          as it concerns pilot fatigue and other safety issues.  Most 
          significantly, this bill:

          1)Requires the board to contract for a study of the effects of 
            work and rest periods on psychological ability and safety of 
            pilots and, based on the study results, to enact regulations 
            requiring adequate rest periods.

          2)Requires the board to participate in a pull-notice program for 
            licensed pilots and trainees that automatically notifies the 
            board of each pilot's and trainee's record with the Department 
            of Motor Vehicles (DMV).

          3)Requires a trainee applicant or licensee, at the time of 
            required physical examination, to report to the 
            board-appointed physician excessive alcohol or drug use, 
            lapses of consciousness or other recent conditions that could 
            affect safe operation of a vessel or motor vehicle.

          4)Authorizes the board to refuse to admit a trainee applicant to 
            the trainee program and to issue or renew a pilot license if 
            the board-appointed physician determines the individual 
            excessively or habitually uses, or is addicted to, alcohol, 
            narcotics or drugs and prohibits the board from taking one of 
            the aforementioned actions if the individual fails to submit 
            the required information related to drug use, lapses of 
            consciousness or other recent conditions that could affect 
            safe operation of a vessel or motor vehicle. 









                                                                  SB 1408
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          5)Requires any continuing education program adopted by the board 
            to inform pilots of the hazards of fatigue and effective 
            strategies to prevent fatigue while on duty.

          6)Requires a pilot to refuse a pilotage assignment if he or she 
            is physically or mentally fatigued and has a reasonable belief 
            that the assignment cannot be carried out safely.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          1)One-time costs of approximately $150,000 to $200,000 to the 
            Board of Pilot Commissioners to contract for the fatigue study 
            required by this bill (special fund).

          2)One-time costs, likely in the tens of thousands of dollars, to 
            the board to adopt regulations to require adequate rest 
            periods in keeping with the findings of the study (special 
            fund).

          3) Minor, absorbable one-time cost to the board to revise 
            continuing education requirements (special fund).

          4)Minor absorbable costs to DMV and the board to administer and 
            participate in, respectively, the pull-notice program for 
            licensed pilots and trainees (special funds).

           COMMENTS  

           1)Rationale.   The author intends this bill to strengthen the 
            state's promotion of safe navigation in the San Francisco Bay 
            and River system and Monterey Bay.  Additionally, this bill is 
            intended to further enhance safety and accountability in the 
            state's existing oversight regime for its licensed pilots and 
            trainees.  

           2)Background  .   The Board of Pilot Commissioners for the Bays of 
            San Francisco, San Pablo and Suisun licenses and regulates 
            maritime pilots who guide vessels entering or leaving those 
            bays and navigate on their tributaries to Sacramento and 
            Stockton.  All operational expenses of the board are funded by 
            a surcharge on pilotage fees set by the board based on 
            pilotage fees set by the Legislature.  A pilot continuing 
            education training program and a pilot trainee training 
            program are funded by two separate surcharges on vessel 
            movements set by the board.








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           3)Support  .  This bill is supported by the Pacific Merchant 
            Shipping Association (sponsor), who intends the bill, among 
            other safety-related goals, to adopt the National 
            Transportation Safety Board recommendations that each state 
            that licenses pilots create publicly enforceable minimum rest 
            periods and fatigue mitigation standards, and implements 
            thorough pilot fatigue continuing education and training.

           4)At the time this analysis was prepared, there was no 
            opposition formally registered to this bill.  

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081