BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1025
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Date of Hearing: April 11, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
AB 1025 (Skinner) - As Amended: April 13, 2011
SUBJECT : San Francisco Bar Pilots
SUMMARY : Revises procedures for the investigation and reporting
of equipment safety violations basically changing specified
responsibilities from the assigned commission investigator to
the executive director. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the executive director to be responsible for the
safety investigations and authorizes it or a commission
investigator assigned by it to personally inspect the
equipment. Requires, in the preliminary investigation that
the equipment is found to be in violation or likely to be in
violation in the opinion of the executive director, that it
immediately alert the cognizant United States Coast Guard
office. Requires the executive director to report its
findings and recommendations to the Board of Pilot
Commissioners (Board) regarding suspected equipment safety
standard violations.
2)Deletes references to inland pilots from applicable bar pilot
provisions.
3)Requires an examination fee to be charged in an amount
established by the Board to each applicant to the pilot
trainee training program who participates in any written or
simulator Board examination for the purposes of determining
admission to the pilot trainee training program. Requires
that the fee be charged only to those who actually participate
in an examination and that the fee not exceed the Board's
administrative costs. Requires that the moneys collected be
deposited into the Board's Special Fund for the pilot trainee
training program.
4)Requires that the Board's assistant director, as a career
executive, be appointed by the Secretary of Business,
Transportation and Housing and serve at the pleasure of the
secretary.
EXISTING LAW :
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1)Establishes the Board for the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo
and Suisun, and Monterey, to license and regulate maritime
pilots who guide vessels entering or leaving those bays. The
seven members of the Board are appointed by the Governor with
the consent of the Senate. Prescribes pilotage rates for
vessels and requires vessels to pay a specified rate and
surcharges of bar pilotage through the Golden Gate Bridge and
into or out of the bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, Suisun,
and Monterey, as well as the inland ports of West Sacramento
and Stockton. In the past, inland waters, such as the
Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, were piloted by inland
pilots.
2)Requires the Board to adopt a continuing education program for
pilots and inland pilots funded from fees from the surcharge
for each movement of a vessel using pilot services. Requires
the Board to adopt training standards and a training program
for pilot trainees.
3)Requires the executive director of the Board to assign a
commission investigator, if suspected equipment safety
standard violations are reported to the board, to personally
inspect the equipment for its compliance with the relevant
safety standards. Requires the commission investigator to
report preliminary conclusions to the executive director.
Requires the commission investigator to submit a report,
required to remain confidential, to an incident review
committee and the committee is required to report its
findings, if any, to the Board.
4)Requires the Governor to appoint one assistant director to
serve at the pleasure of the Governor. Requires the assistant
director to have the duties as assigned by the executive
director who is appointed by the Board.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : 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 approaches the "SF" buoy 12 miles
west of the Golden Gate Bridge, a bar pilot boards the ship and
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takes navigational control. It becomes the bar 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
1000-foot supertankers. Inland pilots (the last one has
retired) are not licensed to operate outside of the Golden Gate
Bridge in the open ocean area but pilot in the inland bays and
river channels.
Maritime pilots licensed by the Board are required to pay the
Board a percentage of pilotage fees collected by them. These
moneys are used to pay expenses of the Board and its officers in
licensing and regulating the bar and inland pilots. The fund is
also used to pay per diem of the Pilotage Rate Committee for San
Francisco, San Pablo and Suisun Bays. In addition to the
pilotage fee paid by commercial vessels and distributed to the
pilots, there are a number of other additional surcharges for
various purposes, including trainee and continuing education
programs.
According to the author's office, their intent is to make the
functions of the Board more efficient and consistent with its
mission. Further, their explanations for the bill changes are
as follows:
1)Remove references to "inland pilot." The last inland pilot
has retired and there is no longer a distinction between
"inland pilot" and "pilot." Accordingly, the term is now
obsolete and unnecessary.
2)Change the appointing authority from the Governor to the
Secretary of the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency
(BT&H) for the assistant director, as a career executive, of
the Board. On January 1, 2009, the Board was moved from an
independent entity existing in state government to be a part
of BT&H. The Secretary of BT&H was added as a non-voting
Member of the Board. Because the Board is now under the aegis
of BT&H, the Secretary is much closer to the administration of
the Board, and thus, for consistency purposes, it makes sense
to have the Secretary make the appointment rather than the
appointment coming from the Governor's Office.
3)Establish an examination fee to be charged in an amount
determined by the Board to each applicant to the Board's pilot
trainee training program. The fee would only cover the cost
of the examination. There were instances of individuals
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taking the bar pilot test and not applying to be a San
Francisco bar pilot. The test results for these individuals
do not matter but the written examination and the simulator
examination are almost impossible to duplicate or be
accessible for people in the industry without charge. As the
Board's examination has a good reputation and is free, it
draws applicants wanting to do free "exam prep" or to get free
simulator time. The Board's pilot evaluation committee has
expressed frustration with individuals who take the test and
have no plans to become a San Francisco bar pilot. Allowing
the Board to charge a fee, only to cover the cost of the exam,
hopefully would be a disincentive for those that take the exam
and have no plans to become a San Francisco bar pilot.
4)Modify the investigation and reporting procedure for safety
equipment to put the executive director in the lead position,
rather than the commission investigator.
The Pacific Marine Shipping Association and the Bar Pilots
indicate that their jointly sponsored bill represents a
collaborate effort to make the statutes governing the Board
efficient and effective.
Related bills : AB 907 (Ma) of 2011, a similar bill pertaining
to safety equipment procedures. AB 907 passed out of the
Assembly Transportation Committee with a vote of 11-0.
Eventually, AB 907 and this bill may need to be reconciled.
AB 656 (Huber) of 2011, would sunset the Board on January 1,
2013. If AB 656 is enacted, would potentially subject the Board
to the review by the Joint Sunset Review Committee before the
actual sunset. AB 656 is scheduled to be heard in this
committee at a later date.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Pacific Merchant Shipping Association (co-sponsors)
San Francisco Bar Pilots (co-sponsors)
Opposition
None on file
AB 1025
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Analysis Prepared by : Ed Imai / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093