BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 166|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 166
Author: Lieu (D), et al
Amended: 9/2/09 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE : 11-0, 6/23/09
AYES: Pavley, Cogdill, Benoit, Hollingsworth, Huff, Kehoe,
Leno, Padilla, Simitian, Wiggins, Wolk
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 5-0, 7/7/09
AYES: Corbett, Harman, Florez, Leno, Walters
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 13-0, 8/27/09
AYES: Kehoe, Cox, Corbett, Denham, Hancock, Leno, Oropeza,
Price, Runner, Walters, Wolk, Wyland, Yee
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 79-0, 6/1/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Vessels: abandonment: abatement
SOURCE : California Association of Harbor Masters and
Port Captains
California Marine Parks and Harbors Association
California State Sheriffs Association
California Yacht Brokers Association
Marina Recreation Association
Northern California Marine Association
San Francisco Baykeeper
Western Boaters Safety Group
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DIGEST : This bill establishes a pilot program that
authorizes the sale of surrendered vessels prior to their
potential or eventual abandonment, and authorizes local
agencies to accept title of vessels from willing owners for
the purposes of disposal.
Senate Floor Amendments of 9/2/09 require any public agency
who receives a grant from the Abandoned Watercraft
Abatement Fund for the abatement, removal, and storage of
abandoned, surrendered, or wrecked watercraft, to report
information to the Department of Boating and Waterways
regarding the use of the funds.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Holds the registered owner of an abandoned vehicle
responsible for the costs of abating and disposing of
the vehicle, and any other past due fees and penalties.
2. Authorizes the sale of a hulk, derelict, wreck, or parts
of a 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 corporate limits of a
municipal corporation or other public corporation or
entity having jurisdiction or control over those lands,
without its consent, for a period longer than 30 days
without a watchman or other person in charge of the
property.
3. Makes it an infraction with a minimum $500 fine and
maximum $3,000 fine for a person to abandon 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,
except for the urgent and immediate concern for the
safety of those aboard the vessel. Provides that 80
percent of the money collected as fines shall be
deposited in the Abandoned Watercraft Abatement Fund
(AWAF). Upon appropriation by the Legislature, money in
AWAF may be used for grants to be awarded by the
Department of Boating and Waterways (DBW) to local
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agencies for the abatement and removal of abandoned,
wrecked, and dismantled vessels or parts of those
vessels. Grant funds are prohibited for use on
commercial vessels.
4. Authorizes wrecked property that is an unseaworthy
derelict or hulk, or abandoned property removed from a
navigable waterway, to be sold or otherwise disposed of
by the public agency that removed or caused the removal
of the property, subject to certain conditions,
including that the property has been appraised by
disinterested persons, and has an estimated value of
less than $2,000.
5. States the Legislature's intent that a maximum $1
million be appropriated from the Harbors and Watercraft
Revolving Fund to AWAF in each fiscal year and that
grantees provide a 10 percent match for use of AWAF
grant funds.
6. Requires DBW to establish an Abandoned Vessel Advisory
Committee to study ways to prevent the abandonment of
boats.
This bill:
1. Establishes a new class of vessels called "surrendered
vessels" and authorizes the sale of them to local law
enforcement or harbor departments prior to them being
abandoned. As defined, "surrendered vessels" means a
recreational vessel that the verified title holder has
willingly surrendered to a willing public agency under
both following conditions:
A. The public agency has determined, in its sole
discretion, that the vessel is in danger of being
abandoned, and therefore has a likelihood of causing
environmental degradation or becoming a hazard to
navigation.
B. The decision to accept a vessel is based solely on
the potential of the vessel to likely be abandoned
and cause environmental degradation or become a
hazard to navigation.
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2. Increases the current fine amount for vessel
abandonments from $500 to $1,000.
3. Allows the use by local entities of grant funds from the
existing AWAF to dispose of the surrendered vessels. As
a condition of receiving grant funding, a local agency
shall report to the department data relative to
abandoned and surrendered vessels.
4. Authorizes surrendered vessels to be disposed of
immediately upon acceptance by a public agency and
exempts them from the provisions of transfer that must
be followed by abandoned vessels.
5. Requires DBW to track the number of surrendered vessels
accepted by a public agency for disposal under AWAF
grant funding over a two-year period from January 1,
2010, to January 1, 2013. Requires DBW to report the
information, along with any recommendations to revise or
continue the pilot program, to the Assembly
Transportation Committee and the Senate Natural
Resources and Water Committee by July 1, 2013.
6. Sunsets on January 1, 2014.
Background
DBW administers the Abandoned Watercraft Removal Program to
provide grants to local agencies to help pay the costs of
abatement, removal, storage, and disposal of abandoned,
wrecked, and dismantled vessels or parts of those vessels
that pose navigational hazards on the public waterways.
This program is funded by AWAF.
Section 525 of the Harbors and Navigation Code prohibits a
vessel from being abandoned, except in emergencies, on
public waterways, public land, or private land. Abandoned
vessels are an infraction and subject to a fine between
$500 and $3,000 plus the cost of removing and disposing of
the vessel. Eighty percent of these fines are deposited in
AWAF.
Section 526 authorizes wrecked property that is an
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unseaworthy derelict or hulk, or abandoned property removed
from a navigable waterway, to be sold or otherwise disposed
of by the public agency that removed or caused the removal
of the property, subject to certain conditions including
conditions on notification and property value.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11
2011-12 Fund
DBW administration
$84Special*
and reporting
Cost pressure for up to $500 per
yearSpecial*
grant funds
* Abandoned Watercraft Abatement Fund, from the
Harbors and Watercraft Revolving Fund
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/2/09)
California Association of Harbor Masters and Port Captains
(co-source)
California Marine Parks and Harbors Association (co-source)
California State Sheriffs' Association (co-source)
California Yacht Brokers Association (co-source)
Marina Recreation Association (co-source)
Northern California Marine Association (co-source)
San Francisco Baykeeper (co-source)
Western Boaters Safety Group (co-source)
California Peace Officers' Association
California Police Chiefs Association
Cities of Newport Beach and Santa Barbara
Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors
Contractors Authority
Harbor Association of Industry and Commerce
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Marin County Board of Supervisors
Recreational Boaters of California
Richardson's Bay Regional Agency (Marin County, Cities of
Belvedere, Mill Valley, Sausalito and Tiburon)
Sacramento County Sheriff's Department
San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission
Santa Clara Valley Water District
Southern California Marine Association
State Lands Commission
State Water Project
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author states, "There is an
overwhelming problem with abandoned vessels in California
and this bill will have a significant impact on that
problem by allowing more vessels to be disposed of with
fewer dollars by truncating the process and allowing
vessels to be destroyed before they are abandoned.
Abandoned vessels are usually doing harm to the environment
due to the leakage of oil and fuel into the water and can
become a hazard to navigation, making them a safety hazard.
Furthermore, once a vessel is abandoned, it is very
[expensive] to remove because they can be sunk or in some
other difficult circumstance."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher,
Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani,
Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi,
Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight,
Krekorian, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza,
Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, John A.
Perez, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas,
Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra
Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran,
Villines, Yamada, Bass
NO VOTE RECORDED: Block
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CTW/RJG:mw 9/3/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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