Amended in Senate April 30, 2013

Amended in Senate April 15, 2013

Senate Bill No. 457

Introduced by Senator Monning

February 21, 2013

An act to amend Section 656 of the Harbors and Navigation Code, relating to vessels.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 457, as amended, Monning. Vessels: collisions and accidents.

Existing law regulates the operation and equipment of vessels subject to the jurisdiction of this state. Existing law specifies that it is the duty of the operator of a vessel involved in a collision, accident, or other casualty, so far as the operator can do so without serious danger to his or her own vessel, crew, and passengers, to render assistance to other persons affected by the collision, accident, or other casualty as may be practicable and necessary to save those persons from, or minimize any, danger caused by the collision, accident, or other casualty. Existing law further requires the owner, operator, or other person on board a vessel involved in a casualty or accident to report the casualty or accident in accordance with regulations adopted by the Department of Boating and Waterways.

The bill would require that any public agency that is under contract with the department to receive law enforcement grant funds from the department, pursuant to regulations adopted by the department, complete and submit to the department a report for any boating accident to which it responds or for which it receives a begin delete report, and may end delete begin insert report. It would end insert make any public agency that fails to comply with that reporting requirement ineligible to receive any future law enforcement grant funds from the department for up to 5 fiscal years following the date of the failure to submit an accident report begin insert , except upon a showing of good cause by that public agency end insert . The bill would require the department to use reasonable means to obtain from the public agency a complete report for any boating accident to which it responds or for which it receives a report. The bill would further require the department to use reasonable means to notify the public agency of the failure to submit a report prior to the department’s determination that the public agency is ineligible to receive future grant funds.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 656 of the Harbors and Navigation Code
is amended to read:

656.  

(a) It is the duty of the operator of a vessel involved in a
collision, accident, or other casualty, so far as the operator can do
so without serious danger to his or her own vessel, crew, and
passengers, to render to other persons affected by the collision,
accident, or other casualty that assistance that is practicable and
necessary in order to save them from, or minimize any, danger
caused by the collision, accident, or other casualty.

(b) Any person who complies with subdivision (a) or Section
656.1, 656.2, or 656.3 or who gratuitously and in good faith renders
assistance at the scene of a vessel collision, accident, or other
casualty without objection by any person assisted, shall not be held
liable for any civil damages sought as a result of the rendering of
assistance or for any act or omission in providing or arranging
salvage, towage, medical treatment, or other assistance, if the
assisting person has acted as an ordinary, reasonably prudent person
would have acted under the same or similar circumstances.

(c) (1) An individual employee of a public entity engaged in
rescue pursuant to this code shall not be a proper party defendant
and shall be dismissed on motion, unless the employee has violated
a statute other than a statute creating a general obligation to rescue
or is guilty of oppression, fraud, malice, or the conscious disregard
of the safety of others.

(2) The public entity employing such an individual shall be
liable in civil damages if the individual employee has failed to act
as a reasonably prudent person would have acted under the same
or similar circumstances.

(3) If a public entity has given a reasonable printed, electronic,
or verbal warning of the danger causing the distress that created
the necessity for the rescue, and there has been a reasonable
opportunity for the party in distress to receive the warning, the
public entity is liable only for acts or omissions of its employee
that were taken in a grossly negligent manner.

(d) The owner, operator, or other person who is on board a
vessel involved in a casualty or accident shall report the casualty
or accident in accordance with regulations adopted by the
department. The department shall adopt regulations to maintain a
uniform casualty and accident reporting system for vessels subject
to this code in conformity with federal casualty and accident
reporting regulations promulgated by the United States Coast
Guard or any successor to those regulations. Consistent with Public
Law 92-75 and the federal regulations contained in Part 173 of
Title 33 of the Code of Federal Regulations, a peace officer or
harbor police officer upon receiving an initial report of a casualty
involving the death or disappearance of a person as a result of a
boating accident, shall immediately forward the report, by quickest
means available, to the department.

(1) A public agency that is under contract with the department
to receive law enforcement grant funds from the department shall,
pursuant to regulations adopted by the department, complete and
submit to the department a report for any boating accident to which
it responds or for which it receives a report.

(2) A public agency that has received any law enforcement grant
funds from the department that does not submit an accident report
as required under paragraph (1) begin delete may end delete begin insert shall end insert be determined by the
department to be ineligible to receive future grant funds for up to
five fiscal years following the date of the failure to submit a report begin insert ,
except upon a showing of good cause by that public agency end insert .

(3) The department shall use reasonable means to do both of
the following:

(A) Obtain from a public agency any complete report required
to be submitted pursuant to paragraph (1).

(B) Notify a public agency of the failure to submit a report
required under paragraph (1) before taking action pursuant to
paragraph (2).

(e) Neither the report required by this section nor any action
taken by the department with regard to the report shall be referred
to in any way, or be any evidence of negligence or due care of any
party, at the trial of any action at law to recover damages.

(f) All required accident reports, and supplemental reports, shall
be without prejudice to the individual so reporting and shall be for
the confidential use of the department and any peace officer
actually engaged in the enforcement of this chapter, except that
the department shall disclose the names and addresses of persons
involved in, or witnesses to, an accident, the registration numbers
and descriptions of vessels involved, and the date, time, and
location of an accident to any person who may have a proper
interest in that information, including the operator involved or the
legal guardian of that operator, the parent of a minor operator, the
authorized representative of an operator, or any person injured,
and the owners of vessels or property damaged, in the accident.

(g) This section applies to foreign vessels, military or public
recreational-type vessels, vessels owned by a state or subdivision
of a state, and ship’s lifeboats otherwise exempted from this chapter
pursuant to Section 650.1.