BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 814
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 12, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Wesley Chesbro, Chair
SB 814 (Committee on Natural Resources and Water) - As Amended:
August 5, 2013
SENATE VOTE : 34-0
SUBJECT : Public resources: administration
SUMMARY : Authorizes a cucumber fishing permit holder's estate
to transfer the decedent's permit to a qualified person. Delays
implementation of ballast water performance standards for
vessels that discharge ballast water in the state. Makes minor
clean-up amendments to various code sections related to public
resources management.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Prohibits sea cucumbers from being taken, possessed aboard a
boat, or landed by a person for commercial purposes except
under a valid sea cucumber permit issued to that person.
2)Requires the commission to adopt regulations that require a
vessel carrying, or capable of carrying, ballast water that
operates in the waters of the state to implement performance
standards, as specified, for the discharge of ballast water.
Requires all vessels with a ballast water capacity of 1,500 to
5,000 metric tons to comply with the performance standards by
January 1, 2014. Requires all vessels with a ballast water
capacity of less than 1,500 metric tons or a ballast water
capacity greater than 5,000 metric tons, to comply with the
performance standards by January 1, 2016. Requires interim
ballast water management practices, including mid-ocean
ballast water exchanges or retention of ballast water.
THIS BILL :
1)Authorizes a cucumber fishing permit holder's estate to
transfer the decedent's permit to a qualified person.
2)Requires all vessels with a ballast water capacity of 1,500 to
5,000 metric tons to comply with the state's ballast water
discharge performance standards by January 1, 2016. Requires
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all vessels with a ballast water capacity of less than 1,500
metric tons or a ballast water capacity greater than 5,000
metric tons, to comply with the performance standards by
January 1, 2018.
3)Makes minor clean up amendments to various code sections
related to public resources management.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS : This is an omnibus bill authored by the Senate
Natural Resources and Water Committee, and makes several
noncontroversial changes to update code sections related to
public resource management. The only substantive provisions
deal with sea cucumber permits and ballast water discharge
standards.
With regard to sea cucumber permits, while existing law allows a
person to transfer his or her permit, the law does not
explicitly state that a permit can be transferred by the permit
holder's estate after death. This bill expressly authorizes such
a transfer.
With regard to the state's ballast water discharge standards,
the State Lands Commission (Commission), which has statutory
authority over the issue, adopted a report on June 21, 2013
recommending a delay in the state's ballast water performance
standards.
According to the Commission's report:
On paper, vessels have several options available to
them to comply with California's performance
standards, including: 1) retention of all ballast
water on board; 2) use of potable water as a ballast
water source; 3) discharge to a shore-based ballast
water treatment facility; and 4) treatment of all
ballast prior to discharge by a shipboard ballast
water treatment system. However, in practice, this
report has demonstrated that vessels have very few
options available at this time to comply with
California's performance standards. While a large
proportion (over 80%) of voyages to California waters
retain all ballast water on board, a vessel may still
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need to discharge ballast on 20% of its voyages for
either operational or safety purposes, and thus will
need a method of ensuring that any discharged ballast
is in compliance with the standards. Potable water is
not an option for many vessels due to cost and the
volume of water needed for ballasting purposes. There
are currently no shore-based facilities to treat
[nonindigenous species] in ballast water in the United
States. Shipboard ballast water treatment systems are
under development and testing worldwide, however given
the limitations of existing data?and the lack of data
indicating consistent performance at meeting
California's standards in land-based and shipboard
testing for the other organism size classes , the
Commission concludes that no shipboard ballast water
treatment systems are currently available to meet all
of California's performance standards for the
discharge of ballast water.
The lack of options available to the shipping industry
with which to comply with California's performance
standards at this time is a significant obstacle to
implementation of the standards. The Commission
therefore recommends that the California Legislature
amend PRC section 71205.3 to delay implementation of
California's performance standards for the discharge
of ballast water for all vessel size classes until
such time that technologies are determined to be
available.
It should be noted that the Commission is working with a third
party manager to conduct a study to assess the feasibility of
shore-based treatment in California. According to the
Commission, this study, along with additional research on
shipboard ballast water treatment system performance and
availability, will help direct the implementation of
California's performance standards into the future.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
State Lands Commission Staff
SB 814
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Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Mario DeBernardo / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092