BILL NUMBER: AB 1323 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 6, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Frazier
FEBRUARY 27, 2015
An act to add Section 6302.5 to the Public Resources Code,
relating to marine debris.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1323, as amended, Frazier. Marine debris: removal and disposal.
Existing law authorizes a public agency that removes or causes the
removal of wrecked property that is an unseaworthy derelict or hulk,
specified abandoned property, or other specified property from a
navigable waterway to sell or otherwise dispose of the property if,
among other things, within 48 hours after the removal, the public
agency has sent notice of the removal to the registered and legal
owners and persons known to have an interest in the property and
has provided the opportunity for a poststorage hearing.
Existing law requires the public agency, if it is unable to locate
those persons, to publish, or cause to be published, the notice of
removal for at least 2 weeks in succession in one or more daily
newspapers circulated in the county. Within 15 days of the date of
notice of removal, the property may be claimed and recovered by its
registered and legal owners, or by any other person known to have an
interest in the property. Existing law makes abandoning a
vessel on a public waterway an infraction.
This bill would apply those and related provisions,
except for the newspaper notice requirement, to
authorize a public entity to remove and dispose of after 10 days
marine debris, defined as a vessel, as defined, or part of a
vessel that is unseaworthy and not reasonably fit or capable of being
made fit to be used as a means of transportation by water.
water, if that marine debris is floating, sunk,
partially sunk, or beached in or on a public waterway, public beach,
or on state tidelands or submerged lands, and if the marine debris
has no or little value, as provided, and the public entity provides
notice, as specified. The bill would exempt from this provision
marine debris that constitutes a public nuisance or a danger to
navigation, health, safety, or the environment, and would authorize
such marine debris to be removed immediately and
sold, destroyed, or otherwise disposed of
after immediately, unless the marine debris is whole
and the owner of the marine debris is identifiable, in which
case the bill would require it to be maintained or stored for
10 days. The bill would authorize a public entity to
recover costs incurred for removal and disposal of marine debris from
the owner or other specified persons. The bill would prohibit
a state or local agency from requiring a permit for removal
activities by any state or local government entity if the removal
activities conform to the best management practices and requirements
for salvage adopted by the State Lands Commission, as specified.
The bill would make depositing marine debris in a public
waterway, or on state tidelands or submerged lands an infraction,
thereby imposing a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes no .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 6302.5 is added to the Public Resources Code,
to read:
6302.5. (a) For purposes of this section, "vessel" includes every
description of watercraft or other artificial contrivance used, or
capable of being used, as a means of transportation by water. A
vessel or part of a vessel, including a derelict, wreck, hulk or part
of any ship or other watercraft or dilapidated vessel, that is
unseaworthy and not reasonably fit or capable of being made fit to be
used as a means of transportation by water is "marine debris."
(b) (1) Notwithstanding any other law,
marine debris that is floating, sunk, partially sunk
sunk, or beached upon in
or on a public waterway, public beach, or on state tidelands
or submerged lands may be removed and sold,
destroyed, or otherwise disposed of of,
by any state, county, city city, or
other public entity having jurisdiction over its location or having
authority to remove marine debris or solid waste, subject to the
following conditions:
(1) The marine debris has been appraised by disinterested persons
and has an estimated value of less than two thousand dollars
($2,000).
(2) There is no discernable registration, license, hull
identification number, or other identifying insignia on the marine
debris, or the Department of Motor Vehicles is unable to produce any
record of the registered or legal owners or lienholders.
(3) Not less than 72 hours before the marine debris was removed, a
peace officer or authorized public employee securely attached to the
marine debris a distinctive notice stating that the marine debris
would be removed by the public agency.
(4) Within 48 hours after the removal, excluding weekends and
holidays, the public agency that removed or caused the removal of the
marine debris sent notice of the removal to the registered and legal
owners, if known or discovered subsequent to the removal, at their
addresses of record with the Department of Motor Vehicles, and to any
other person known to have an interest in the marine debris. A
notice sent by the public agency shall be sent by certified or
first-class mail.
(A) The object meets the definition of marine debris in
subdivision (a) and has no value or a value that does not exceed the
cost of removal and disposal.
(B) If there is no discernible registration, hull identification
number, or other identification insignia, a peace officer or
authorized public employee securely attaches to the marine debris a
notice stating that the marine debris shall be removed by the public
agency if not claimed or removed within 10 days.
(C) If there is discernible registration, hull identification
number, or other identification insignia, a notice is attached to the
marine debris as described in subparagraph (b), and sent to the
owner of the marine debris, if known, at the owner's address of
record with the Department of Motor Vehicles, by certified or first
class mail.
(D) The marine debris remains in place for 10 days from the date
of attaching the notice to the marine debris or from the date the
notice letter was sent, whichever is later, before being removed.
(2) (A) The notice attached to the marine debris shall state the
name, address, and telephone number of the public entity providing
the notice.
(B) A notice sent to the owner shall contain the information
specified in subparagraph (A), and further state that the marine
debris will be removed and disposed of within 10 days if not claimed,
and that the marine debris may be claimed and recovered upon the
payment of the public entity's costs.
(c) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), marine debris that
constitutes a public nuisance or a danger to navigation, health,
safety, or the environment may be removed immediately and
sold, destroyed, or otherwise disposed of after 10 days.
and disposed of immediately, unless the marine debris is whole
or not demolished during removal, in which case it shall be
maintained or stored for 10 days to permit notification of the owner.
If the owner of the marine debris is not identifiable, the marine
debris may be immediately destroyed or otherwise disposed of.
(d) The notice of removal required by paragraphs (3) and (4) of
subdivision (b) shall state all of the following:
(1) The name, address, and telephone number of the public agency
providing the notice.
(2) A description of the marine debris removed.
(3) The location from which the marine debris is to be or was
removed.
(4) The location of the intended or actual place of storage.
(5) The authority and purpose for removal of the marine debris.
(6) A statement that the marine debris may be claimed and
recovered within 15 days of the date the notice of removal was issued
pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (b) after payment of any
costs incurred by the public agency related to salvage and storage of
the marine debris, and that following the expiration of the 15-day
period, the marine debris will be sold or otherwise disposed of by
the public agency.
(7) A statement that a registered or legal owner or any other
person known to have an interest in the marine debris has the
opportunity for a poststorage hearing before the public agency that
removed, or caused the removal of, the marine debris to determine the
validity of the removal and storage if a request for a hearing is
made in person or in writing to that public agency within 10 days
from the date of notice; that if a registered or legal owner or any
other person known to have an interest in the marine debris disagrees
with the decision of the public agency, the decision may be reviewed
pursuant to Section 11523 of the Government Code; and that during
the time of the initial hearing, or during the time the decision is
being reviewed pursuant to Section 11523 of the Government Code, the
marine debris in question shall not be sold or otherwise disposed of.
(e) (1) Any requested hearing shall be conducted within 48 hours
of the time the request for a hearing is received by the public
agency, excluding weekends and holidays. The public agency that
removed the marine debris may authorize its own officers or employees
to conduct the hearing, but the hearing officer shall not be the
same person who directed the removal and storage of the marine
debris.
(2) The failure of either a registered or legal owner or any other
person known to have an interest in the marine debris to request or
attend a scheduled hearing shall not affect the validity of the
hearing.
(f) The marine debris may be claimed and recovered by its
registered or legal owner or by any other person known to have an
interest in the marine debris within 15 days of the date the notice
of removal was issued pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (b)
after payment of any costs incurred by the public agency related to
salvage and storage of the marine debris.
(g) The marine debris may be sold or otherwise disposed of by the
public agency not less than 15 days from the date the notice of
removal was issued pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (b) or
the date of actual removal, whichever is later.
(h) (1)
(d) Costs incurred by a state or local
public entity for removal and disposal of marine
debris may be recovered from a registered or legal
an owner or any person or entity who placed
or caused the marine debris to be in or on
the public waterway waterway, public
beach, or on state tidelands or submerged
lands through any appropriate legal action in the courts of this
state or by administrative action.
(2) The proceeds from the sale of the marine debris, after
deducting expenses for salvage, storage, sales costs, and any
property tax liens, shall be deposited in the Abandoned Watercraft
Abatement Fund for grants to local agencies, as specified in
paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) of Section 525 of the Harbors and
Navigation Code.
(i)
(e) A state or local agency shall not require a permit
for removal activities conducted under this section by any state or
local government entity if the removal activities conform to the best
management practices and requirements for salvage adopted by the
commission at a public meeting after consultation with interested
state and local agencies. These best management practice standards
shall be published by the commission on its Internet Web site. The
commission may amend the best management practice standards from time
to time by the same process, as the commission deems necessary.
(j) Except for the urgent and immediate concern for the safety of
those aboard, a person who knowingly and willfully deposits or sinks
marine debris in a public waterway, or on state tidelands or
submerged lands, is guilty of an infraction.
SEC. 2. No reimbursement is required by this
act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local
agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a
new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or
changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of
Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a
crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the
California Constitution.