BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  SB 122
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   August 14, 2013

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mike Gatto, Chair

                  SB 122 (Lieu) - As Introduced:  January 18, 2013 

          Policy Committee:                              
          TransportationVote:15-0 (Consent)

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill repeals the January 1, 2014 sunset on provisions  
          allowing a boat owner to voluntarily surrender a vessel to a  
          public agency at no cost, if the vessel is in danger of being  
          abandoned.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          To recovered surrendered vessels, local agencies may seek  
          grants-funded by the Abandoned Watercraft Abatement Fund  
          (AWAF)-from the Division (formerly Department) of Boating and  
          Waterways (DBW), within the Department of Parks and Recreation.

          According to DBW, though grants to local agencies to recovered  
          surrender vehicles have averaged about $133,000 over the last  
          three years, the program is oversubscribed. Funding requests  
          exceeded $260,000 for 2012-13. SB 122 thus extends these cost  
          pressures indefinitely. The result will be a net savings to  
          local agencies, however, as the cost of removing a surrendered  
          vessel is less than for an abandoned vessel. (See Comment #2  
          below.)

           COMMENTS  

           1)Background  . In 1997, in response to the high cost to local  
            governments of removing abandoned vessels and abating any  
            associated hazards, such as oil leaks, SB 172 (Rainey) in part  
            established the AWAF to provide grants to help cover these  
            costs. (The grants require a 10% local match.) AB 166  
            (Lieu)/Chapter 416 of 2009 established the pilot program  
            authorizing the sale of surrendered vessels prior to their  








                                                                  SB 122
                                                                 Page  2

            potential or eventual abandonment, and authorizing local  
            agencies to accept title of vessels from willing owners for  
            the purposes of disposal.

           2)Pilot Program Results  . A DBW report regarding the  
            implementation of the pilot program, due July 1, was not  
            available at the time of this analysis. However, according to  
            DBW, since the inception of the program in 2010, $400,000 from  
            the AWAF has been appropriated for vessel removal, which has  
            allowed public agencies to accept 165 surrendered vessels at  
            an average cost of approximately $1,600 per vessel. This  
            compares favorably to a cost of over $4,000 per abandoned  
            vessel for removal and disposal.

           3)Purpose  . Given the cost effectiveness of the pilot program, SB  
            122 eliminates the sunset date.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081