BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER
Senator Fran Pavley, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 1323 Hearing Date: June 23,
2015
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|Author: |Frazier | | |
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|Version: |June 10, 2015 Amended |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Angee Doerr |
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Subject: Marine debris: removal and disposal.
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
Existing law:
(1) Provides a definition for "vessel" that "includes ships
of all kinds, steamboats, steamships, canal boats, barges,
sailing vessels, and every structure adapted to be
navigated from place to place for the transportation of
merchandise or persons" (Harbors and Navigation Code (HNC)
Section 21).
(2) Defines abandoned property as "any hulk, derelict,
wreck, or parts of any ship, vessel, or other watercraft
sunk, beached, or allowed to remain in an unseaworthy or
dilapidated condition upon publicly owned submerged lands,
salt marsh, or tidelands within the corporate limits of any
municipal corporation or other public corporation or entity
having jurisdiction or control over those lands, without
its consent expressed by resolution of its legislative
body, for a period longer than 30 days without a watchman
or other person being maintained upon or near and in charge
of the property" (HNC Section 522).
(3) Provides authority for a peace office, lifeguard, or
marine safety officer, while engaged in the performance of
official duties, to remove and store, as necessary, a
vessel from a public waterway when the vessel (HNC Section
523):
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a. is left unattended and is moored, docked,
beached, or made fast to land in a position that
obstructs the normal movement of traffic or in a
condition that creates a hazard to other vessels using
the waterway, to public safety, or to the property of
another;
b. interferes with, or otherwise poses a danger
to, navigation or to the public health, safety, or
welfare;
c. poses a threat to adjacent wetlands, levies,
sensitive habitat, any protected wildlife species, or
water quality.
(4) Restricts the abandonment of a vessel upon a public
waterway or public or private property without the express
or implied consent of the owner or person in lawful
possession or control of the property (HNC Section 525).
(5) Specifies that such abandonment is prima facie evidence
that the last registered owner of record, not having
notified the appropriate registration or documenting agency
of any relinquishment of title or interest therein, is
responsible for the abandonment and is thereby liable for
the cost of the removal and disposition of the vessel (HNC
Section 525).
(6) Authorizes the State Lands Commission (SLC) to
immediately remove a vessel that (Public Resources Code
Section (PRC) 6302.1):
a. is left unattended and is moored, docked,
beached, or made fast to land in a position as to
obstruct the normal movement of traffic or in a
condition as to create a hazard to navigation, other
vessels using a waterway, or the property of another;
b. poses a significant threat to the public
health, safety, or welfare or to sensitive habitat,
wildlife, or water quality, or that constitutes a
public nuisance; and
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c. is abandoned or derelict, if requested to do
so by another public entity that has regulatory
authority over the navigable waterway where the vessel
is located.
(7) Authorizes the SLC to recover all costs incurred during
removal of vessels, hulks, derelict or wrecked vessels, or
parts of vessels, through appropriate action in state
courts or through an administrative remedy (PRC 6302.1).
PROPOSED LAW
This bill:
Adds Article 3, commencing with Section 550, to Chapter 3 of
Division 3 of HNC.
Specifically, this bill:
(1) Provides definitions for "vessel" and "marine debris."
a. Vessel is defined as any watercraft or other
artificial contrivance used, or capable of being used,
as a means of transportation by water, and
b. Marine debris is defined as 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.
(2) Provides authority for any state, county, city, or other
public agency having jurisdiction over a given location, or
having authority to remove marine debris or solid waste, to
remove and destroy marine debris that is floating, sunk,
partially sunk, or beached in or on a public waterway,
public beach, or on state tidelands or submerged lands,
subject to the following:
a. The marine debris meets the definition
provided in HNC Section 550, and the value of the
debris does not exceed the cost of removal and
disposal;
b. If the debris cannot be positively identified
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as belonging to an individual, 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. This notice should include
the name, address, and telephone number of the public
agency providing the notice;
c. If the debris can be positively identified as
belonging to an individual, a notice is attached to
the marine debris as described previously, 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. The mailed
notice should include a warning that the debris will
be removed in ten days; and
d. The marine debris is not removed prior to the
ten day notification period.
(3) Provides authority to immediately remove and dispose of
any marine debris that constitutes a public nuisance or a
danger to navigation, health, safety, or the environment,
unless the debris is whole or not demolished during
removal, in which case it will be maintained or stored for
ten days to allow for notification of the owner.
(4) Charges the SLC to adopt, at a public meeting and after
consultation with interested state and local agencies, best
management practices for salvage of marine debris. This
should be accomplished prior to January 1, 2017, and
published on the SLC website.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT
Writing on behalf of several boating organization, the Apex
Group states that AB1323 "creates an efficient and
cost-effective manner to remove these hazards to the navigation
and the environment. California has the second largest boating
population in the United States. There are over 800,000
registered vessels, not including federally documented vessels?A
byproduct of this economic and boating activity is a continual
problem with the abandonment of vessels that are beyond their
useful life. This bill will allow for a streamlined process to
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remove these vessels, thereby not only removing the hazards to
navigation and the threat to the environment, but will improve
our waterways, which can only enhance this significant aspect of
our economy and the State's cultural heritage."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION
None Received
COMMENTS
Necessity of an expedited removal process: Currently there are
processes in place to allow SLC and local authorities to remove
vessels from state and public waterways, under certain
conditions. However, such removals are expensive, and the
process is lengthy, which often results in it only being used
for intact vessels with clear ownership markings. Increasingly,
boats are being scrubbed before they are abandoned, making it
very difficult to track the owners. In addition, it is often not
cost effective to remove wrecked or partial vessels, allowing
such marine debris to build up in California waterways.
Abandoned vessels: Over the last several years, the state has
experienced an increase in the amount of watercraft being
abandoned in state waterways. Boats are some of the most
expensive luxury items to maintain and store, and unlike other
luxury goods cannot be disposed of easily or cheaply. An August
2010 Petaluma Argus-Courier article reported that some boat
owners were selling vessels for as little as one-dollar to avoid
the cost of removing their boats from California waterways and
properly disposing of the vessel. Even more distressing, the
Argus-Courier noted that an underground "scuttle" economy has
developed whereby a boat owner pays individuals to strip a boat
of all usable (financially valuable) material and identifiable
markings (including boat name and vehicle identification number)
then dump the boat overnight in a public waterway. Once
abandoned, boats pose hazards to commercial and recreation boat
traffic as well as the ecosystem of the waterway. This problem
is especially troublesome in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
where personal pleasure boats are abandoned alongside aging
steamboats and river barges. Statewide hundreds of boats are
abandoned annually.
Abandoned boats, especially those that capsize and sink, can
interfere with boating traffic and damage operational vessels
attempting to navigate a waterway. More troublesome, abandoned
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boats that begin to deteriorate can leach toxic chemicals or
fuel into state waterways. Removing these vessels is difficult,
potentially dangerous and expensive. To ensure that a boat does
not further deteriorate and expose salvage crews or the local
environment to toxic chemicals, salvage efforts take significant
time and require great care and effort. The sooner an abandoned
boat is removed from the waterway, the less likely it is to
deteriorate and pose significant harm to the environment and
salvage crews.
Double-Referral. The Rules Committee referred this bill to both
the Committee on Natural Resources and Water and to the
Committee on Judiciary. Therefore, if this bill passes this
committee, it will be referred to the Committee on Judiciary,
which will consider the issues within their jurisdiction.
Related Legislation:
AB166 (Lieu, 2009, chaptered) raised the minimum fine for an
abandoned vessel from $500 to $1000. It also established a
program allowing individuals to surrender a recreational vessel
to a public agency, if the public agency believed there was a
danger of the vessel being otherwise abandoned.
SUPPORT
Alameda Marina
California Association of Harbor Masters and Port Captains
California Boating Safety Officers Association
California Yacht Brokers Association
Marina Recreation Association
National Marine Manufacturers Association
Recreational Boaters of California
Worldwide Boaters Safety Group
OPPOSITION
None Received
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