BILL ANALYSIS
AB 248
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 1, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON
Kevin de Le?n, Chair
AB 248 (Lowenthal) - As Introduced: February 10, 2009
Policy Committee: Environmental
Safety Vote: 6-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
Requires the master, owner, operator, agent, or person in charge
of a vessel carrying or capable of carrying ballast water to
carry specified records on board the vessel. Specifically, this
bill:
1)Requires the master, owner, operator, agent, or person in
charge of a vessel carrying or capable of carrying ballast
water to maintain on board the vessel, in written or
electronic form, records that include the manufacturer and
product name of the ballast water treatment system on the
vessel, the name of the organization that has approved the
system and the approval or certification number of the system,
and the number of tanks and the volume of each tank that is
managed using the system.
2)Requires the master, owner, operator, agent, or person in
charge of the vessel to provide that information to the State
Lands Commission (Commission) in electronic or written form
using a form developed by the Commission upon the vessel's
departure from a California port or place of call.
FISCAL EFFECT
Negligible special fund costs (Marine Invasive Species Control
Fund).
COMMENTS
1) Rationale. According to the State Lands Commission, the
sponsor of AB 169, the bill is needed to allow collection
AB 248
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of information from vessels to support the regulation and
enforcement of ballast water discharge standards. While
current law requires reporting of certain ballast water
management information, this bill will expand the type of
information that must reported to the Commission to include
data related to treatment system use, deviations from
suggested system operation, and certifications for
operation. Such information will better allow Commission
staff to develop and evaluate various ballast water
treatment systems and to refine performance standards,
thereby enhancing protection of the state's water from
invasive species.
2) Current law requires, under the Marine Invasive Species
Act, the master, owner, operator, agent, or person in
charge of a vessel to meet reporting requirements relating
to ballast water and hull fouling. The records must be
maintained on the vessel and reported to the Commission in
electronic or written form. The purpose of the Marine
Invasive Species Act is "elimination of the discharge of
non-indigenous species into the waters of the state into
waters that may impact the waters of the state, based on
the best available technology economically achievable."
The Act applies to vessels, with certain exceptions,
carrying, or capable of carrying, ballast water into state
coastal waters after operating outside of state coastal
waters, and applies to all ballast water and associated
sediments taken on a vessel, and to all hull fouling.
3) Prior Legislation. This bill is nearly identical to AB
169 (Levine, 2008), which passed the Assembly 76-0, and was
vetoed with a generic veto message applied to a number of
bills.
Analysis Prepared by : / Jay M. Dickenson / APPR. / (916)
319-2081