BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1408
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 8, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 1408 (Blakeslee) - As Amended: June 20, 2012
Policy Committee:
TransportationVote:12-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill addresses the Board of Pilot Commissioners' authority
as it concerns pilot fatigue and other safety issues. Most
significantly, this bill:
1)Requires the board to contract for a study of the effects of
work and rest periods on psychological ability and safety of
pilots and, based on the study results, to enact regulations
requiring adequate rest periods.
2)Requires the board to participate in a pull-notice program for
licensed pilots and trainees that automatically notifies the
board of each pilot's and trainee's record with the Department
of Motor Vehicles (DMV).
3)Requires a trainee applicant or licensee, at the time of
required physical examination, to report to the
board-appointed physician excessive alcohol or drug use,
lapses of consciousness or other recent conditions that could
affect safe operation of a vessel or motor vehicle.
4)Authorizes the board to refuse to admit a trainee applicant to
the trainee program and to issue or renew a pilot license if
the board-appointed physician determines the individual
excessively or habitually uses, or is addicted to, alcohol,
narcotics or drugs and prohibits the board from taking one of
the aforementioned actions if the individual fails to submit
the required information related to drug use, lapses of
consciousness or other recent conditions that could affect
safe operation of a vessel or motor vehicle.
SB 1408
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5)Requires any continuing education program adopted by the board
to inform pilots of the hazards of fatigue and effective
strategies to prevent fatigue while on duty.
6)Requires a pilot to refuse a pilotage assignment if he or she
is physically or mentally fatigued and has a reasonable belief
that the assignment cannot be carried out safely.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)One-time costs of approximately $150,000 to $200,000 to the
Board of Pilot Commissioners to contract for the fatigue study
required by this bill (special fund).
2)One-time costs, likely in the tens of thousands of dollars, to
the board to adopt regulations to require adequate rest
periods in keeping with the findings of the study (special
fund).
3) Minor, absorbable one-time cost to the board to revise
continuing education requirements (special fund).
4)Minor absorbable costs to DMV and the board to administer and
participate in, respectively, the pull-notice program for
licensed pilots and trainees (special funds).
COMMENTS
1)Rationale. The author intends this bill to strengthen the
state's promotion of safe navigation in the San Francisco Bay
and River system and Monterey Bay. Additionally, this bill is
intended to further enhance safety and accountability in the
state's existing oversight regime for its licensed pilots and
trainees.
2)Background . The Board of Pilot Commissioners for the Bays of
San Francisco, San Pablo and Suisun licenses and regulates
maritime pilots who guide vessels entering or leaving those
bays and navigate on their tributaries to Sacramento and
Stockton. All operational expenses of the board are funded by
a surcharge on pilotage fees set by the board based on
pilotage fees set by the Legislature. A pilot continuing
education training program and a pilot trainee training
program are funded by two separate surcharges on vessel
movements set by the board.
SB 1408
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3)Support . This bill is supported by the Pacific Merchant
Shipping Association (sponsor), who intends the bill, among
other safety-related goals, to adopt the National
Transportation Safety Board recommendations that each state
that licenses pilots create publicly enforceable minimum rest
periods and fatigue mitigation standards, and implements
thorough pilot fatigue continuing education and training.
4)At the time this analysis was prepared, there was no
opposition formally registered to this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081