BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1025
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1025 (Skinner)
As Amended August 22, 2011
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |70-0 |(May 12, 2011) |SENATE: |38-0 |(August 30, |
| | | | | |2011) |
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Original Committee Reference: TRANS.
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.
The Senate amendments provide non-substantive clean-up in
reference to the position of career executive assignment and the
deletion of the obsolete term "inland pilots" as there are no
inland pilots operating in California.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the Board of Pilot Commissioners (Board) for the
Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, 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
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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.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill was substantially similar
to the version passed by the Senate.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, there will be minor annual revenue, in the thousands
of dollars, from examination fees collected by the Board.
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
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
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programs.
According to the author, her intent is to make the functions of
the Board more efficient and consistent with its mission.
Further, her 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
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.
AB 1025
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The Pacific Marine Shipping Association and the Bar Pilots
indicate that this jointly sponsored bill represents a
collaborate effort to make the statutes governing the Board
efficient and effective.
Analysis Prepared by : Ed Imai / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093
FN: 0002067