BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 300|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 300
Author: Yee (D), et al
Amended: 8/20/09
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNMENTAL ORG. COMMITTEE : 11-1, 4/28/09
AYES: Wright, Harman, Calderon, Denham, Florez, Negrete
McLeod, Oropeza, Padilla, Wiggins, Wyland, Yee
NOES: Benoit
NO VOTE RECORDED: Vacancy
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 9-4, 5/18/09
AYES: Kehoe, Corbett, Denham, DeSaulnier, Hancock, Leno,
Oropeza, Wolk, Yee
NOES: Cox, Runner, Walters, Wyland
SENATE FLOOR : 21-12, 5/28/09
AYES: Alquist, Cedillo, Corbett, DeSaulnier, Denham,
Florez, Hancock, Kehoe, Leno, Liu, Lowenthal, Maldonado,
Negrete McLeod, Padilla, Pavley, Romero, Simitian,
Steinberg, Wiggins, Wyland, Yee
NOES: Aanestad, Ashburn, Benoit, Cogdill, Correa, Cox,
Dutton, Hollingsworth, Huff, Runner, Strickland, Walters
NO VOTE RECORDED: Calderon, Ducheny, Harman, Oropeza,
Wolk, Wright, Vacancy
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 61-14, 9/1/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Monterey Bay and the Bays of San Francisco, San
Pablo and
Suisun: pilotage rates
CONTINUED
SB 300
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SOURCE : San Francisco Bar Pilots
DIGEST : This bill imposes a new navigation technology
surcharge on vessels piloted through the Golden Gate until
January 1, 2011 to recover the pilots' costs for navigation
hardware, software, and ancillary equipment purchased after
November 5, 2008.
Assembly Amendments (1) add provisions that require the
Board of Pilot Commissioners to establish regulations for
continuing education standards and a continuing education
program for pilots and inland pilots, and (2) make various
clarifying and technical changes.
ANALYSIS : Existing law establishes in state government
the Board of Pilot Commissioners (Board), with jurisdiction
over Monterey Bay and the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo,
and Suisun. Existing law directs the Board to regulate
pilotage and provides for the licensing, regulation, and
management of pilots in these bays. The Board consists of
seven members, appointed by the Governor, with the consent
of the Senate, as follows: two members must be licensed
pilots; two members must represent the industry and be
substantial users of Monterey Bay and any of the waters of
the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, or Suisun; and three
must be "public" members.
Existing law requires the Board to appoint and license the
number of pilots needed to carry out provisions of the
Harbors and Navigation Code and requires the Board to
consider various factors in making this determination.
Existing law specifies that the Board has the sole
authority to determine the qualifications and requirements
for obtaining a pilot license and it also authorizes the
Board to suspend or revoke licenses for misconduct and it
specifies procedures for such action. Existing law
establishes various rights and duties of these pilots.
Existing law prescribes pilotage rates for vessels and
requires vessels spoken inward or outward bound to pay a
specified rate of bar pilotage through the Golden Gate and
into or out of the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo and
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Suisun and vessels navigating the waters of Monterey Bay
are also required to pay a specified rate.
Existing law provides that the Board shall, from time to
time, review pilotage expenses and establish guidelines for
the evaluation and application of these expenses regarding
its recommendations for adjustments in rates. Currently,
those rates may be adjusted at the direction of the Board
in the event of specified changes in the number of pilots
or catastrophic cost increases. Specifically, current law
requires an adjustment to rates when the number of pilots
falls below 60 or rises above 60.
Existing law also imposes a Board operation surcharge of
pilotage fees, as specified, to be deposited in the Board
of Pilot Commissioners' Special Fund and used to support
the Board, and imposes an additional charge for pension
benefits payable to a fiduciary agent, as specified. The
Fund is continuously appropriated for the payment of the
compensation and expenses of the Board, its offices and
employees. Additionally, existing law provides for a pilot
trainee surcharge and a pilot and inland pilot training
program surcharge that pays for these respective training
programs.
This bill:
1. Imposes a new, one-year navigation technology surcharge
on vessels piloted through the Golden Gate Bridge until
January 1, 2011, to recover the bar pilots' acquisition,
lease, or maintenance costs for navigation hardware and
software, and ancillary equipment purchased after
November 5, 2008.
2. Revises the rate adjuster, which requires an adjustment
to pilotage rates when the number of pilots falls below
or rises above 60. Whenever the number of bar pilots
number fewer than 58, establishes that the rate be
calculated that reflects the number of bar pilots at 58.
3. Makes inoperative the rate adjuster when the number of
bar pilots reach or exceed 60.
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4. Requires the Board to establish regulations for
continuing education standards and a continuing
education program for pilots and inland pilots.
5. Revises the information required of bar pilots and
inland pilots in their submittals of monthly account
reports by deleting the name of the vessel's master and
the location of where the vessel is located.
6. Makes other minor, conforming, and technical changes.
Comments
Bar pilots are responsible for steering and arriving vessel
through the Golden Gate of San Francisco Bay, the Bay
waters and adjoining navigable waters, which include San
Pablo Bay, Suisun Bay, the Sacramento River and its
tributaries. When a vessel approaches the "SF" buoy 12
miles west of the Golden Gate Bridge, a bar pilot boards
the ship and takes navigational control. It becomes the
pilot's responsibility to guide the ship to its berth. The
bar pilots provide service to all types of vessels, from
100-foot tugs to 1,000-foot supertankers.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee,
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.
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/2/09)
San Francisco Bar Pilots (source)
AMNAV Maritime Services
California Coastkeepers Alliance
California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO
Internationla Organization of Masters Mates, and Pilots
Sailors Union of the Pacific
San Francisco Baykeepers
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Writing in support of this bill,
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the Bar Pilots indicate that the "average individual pilot
passed through the Golden Gate more times in 2008 than in
2006; moved more tonnage in 2008 than in 2006; but made
less money even though he/she worked longer hours and
provided greater benefit to PMSA members at less cost to
those PMSA members. The fact is that PMSA's gross tonnage
was just 4/10ths of one percent lower in 2008 than in 2006,
but the amounts PMSA paid to the San Francisco Bar Pilots
was down by 5% and the pilot's net income was slashed by
more than eight percent. As the number of pilots continues
to diminish, we anticipate the disparity between the users
and the pilots will grow even wider. The enactment of this
bill will fix this unfortunate economic condition by
returning the pilotage rate to its 2006 level." (It should
be noted that this bill returns the pilotage rate to its
2007/2008 level.)
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Arambula, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Tom
Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield, Brownley,
Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Coto,
Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, Duvall, Emmerson, Eng,
Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani,
Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Hayashi,
Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jones, Krekorian, Lieu,
Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Monning, Nava, Nielsen,
John A. Perez, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin,
Salas, Saldana, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson,
Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Yamada, Bass
NOES: Adams, Anderson, DeVore, Fuller, Gaines, Harkey,
Knight, Logue, Miller, Nestande, Niello, Silva, Audra
Strickland, Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Buchanan, Conway, Cook, Jeffries,
Vacancy
TSM:do 9/2/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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