BILL ANALYSIS
SB 300
Page 1
Date of Hearing: July 15, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
SB 300 (Yee) - As Amended: July 13, 2009
Policy Committee:
TransportationVote:9-3
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill establishes a surcharge for payment of navigational
aids for bar pilots and revises the pilotage rate.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Imposes a navigation technology surcharge on vessels piloted
through the Golden Gate, effective January 1, 2010, to January
1, 2011, to recover the bar pilots' acquisition, lease, or
maintenance costs for navigation hardware, software and
related equipment purchased after November 5, 2008.
2)Revises the pilotage rate adjuster, which requires an
adjustment to pilotage rates when the number of pilots falls
below 60 or rises above 60. Establishes that the rate be
calculated reflect 58 bar pilots.
3)Makes other minor, technical changes.
FISCAL EFFECT
One-time surcharge revenue of an unknown amount sufficient to
cover bar pilots' costs for navigation hardware and software,
and related equipment purchased after November 5, 2008. (Board
of Pilot Commissioners' Special Fund.)
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . In November 2007, pilot error caused the Cosco
Busan to collide with the Bay Bridge and discharge oil into
the San Francisco Bay. The author argues that this accident
makes evident the need of bar pilots navigating the Golden
SB 300
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Gate and the waters within it to have navigation software and
hardware, such as laptop computers with independent global
positioning devices (GPS) devices. Many pilots have purchased
such devices and have received or are receiving training in
their use. The author contends it is just to require the
beneficiaries of the use of these devices-the vessels that
rely on the services of bar pilots to pass through the Golden
Gate-to pay for the costs of those devices.
2)Background. Bar pilots are responsible for steering an
arriving vessel through the Golden Gate Bridge of San
Francisco Bay, the bay waters, and adjoining navigable waters,
which include San Pablo Bay, Suisun Bay, the Sacramento and
San Joaquin Rivers, and its tributaries. Pilotage services
are also provided for Monterey Bay. When a vessel comes with
12 miles of the Golden Gate Bridge, a bar pilot boards the
vessel and takes navigational control until the vessel docks
at berth. The bar pilots provide service to all types of
vessels, from 100-foot tugs to 1000-foot supertankers. Inland
pilots operate in the inland bays and river channels but are
not licensed to operate outside of the Golden Gate.
Existing law establishes the Board of Pilot Commissioners,
with jurisdiction over Monterey Bay and the bays of San
Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun. The board regulates
pilotage and provides for the licensing, regulation, and
management of pilots operating within its jurisdiction. The
board consists of seven members appointed by the governor.
Bar pilots collect pilotage fees, which are set in statute,
from the vessels they navigate. A vessel operator passing
through the Golden Gate pays a bar pilot $8.11 per draft foot
of the vessel's deepest draft, plus 80.55 mills per gross ton.
The mill rate is subject to adjustment based on whether the
total number of bar pilots operating in the San Francisco area
is above or below 60. Bar pilots licensed by the board pay the
board a percentage of the pilotage fees they collect. These
moneys pay the board's licensing and regulatory expenses.
3)Supporters include several maritime labor organizations.
There is no registered opposition to the current version of
this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081