Bill Text: CA AB1888 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Harbors and ports: Monterey Bay and the Bays of San

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2010-09-29 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 455, Statutes of 2010. [AB1888 Detail]

Download: California-2009-AB1888-Introduced.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 1888	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Ma

                        FEBRUARY 16, 2010

   An act to amend Sections 1120, 1127, and 1190 of the Harbors and
Navigation Code, relating to harbors and ports, and making an
appropriation therefor.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1888, as introduced, Ma. Harbors and ports: Monterey Bay and
the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun: pilotage.
   Existing law provides for the regulation and licensing of pilots
for Monterey Bay and the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and
Suisun. Existing law specifies the rates of pilotage for vessels
entering or leaving Monterey Bay and the Bays of San Francisco, San
Pablo, and Suisun. Vessels that use pilotage services and their
tackle, apparel, furniture, and other appurtenances, and their
owners, operators, and agents are jointly and severally liable for
pilotage fees and surcharges.
   This bill would exempt from pilotage fees and surcharges
noncommercial vessels that are maritime academy training vessels and
vessels owned and exhibited by nonprofit museums or foundations.
   Existing law exempts from pilotage fees a vessel sailing under a
coastwise license or appropriately endorsed registry and engaged in
the coasting trade, as described, unless a pilot or inland pilot is
actually used. A foreign vessel, a vessel bound to or from a foreign
port, or a vessel sailing under a register is required to use a pilot
or inland pilot. These provisions do not apply to a vessel that is
less than 300 gross tons and is manufactured and used for private
recreation.
   This bill would instead state that those provisions do not apply
to a vessel that is less than 750 gross tons and is manufactured and
used for private recreation.
   Existing law specifies a minimum charge for bar pilotage of $662
for each vessel piloted.
   This bill would increase that minimum charge for bar pilotage to
$1,500 for each vessel piloted.
   Existing law requires that all moneys received by the Board of
Pilot Commissioners pursuant to any provision of law shall be paid
into the State Treasury to the credit of the Board of Pilot
Commissioners' Special Fund and are continuously appropriated to the
board for the payment of the compensation and expenses of the board
and its officers and employees.
   By increasing the amount of revenue deposited into a continuously
appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 1120 of the Harbors and Navigation Code is
amended to read:
   1120.   Vessels which   (a)   
 Except as provided in subdivision (b), vessels that  use
pilotage services, and their tackle, apparel, furniture, and other
appurtenances, and their owners, operators, and agents are jointly
and severally liable for pilotage fees and for the surcharges
established pursuant to this division. 
   (b) The following noncommercial vessels are exempt from pilotage
fees and surcharges established pursuant to this division; however,
these vessels are subject to Section 1198.  
   (1) Maritime academy training vessels, whether domestic or
foreign.  
   (2) Vessels owned and exhibited by a nonprofit museum or
foundation. 
  SEC. 2.  Section 1127 of the Harbors and Navigation Code is amended
to read:
   1127.  (a) The Legislature finds and declares that it is the
policy of the state to ensure the safety of persons, property, and
vessels using the waters of Monterey Bay and the Bays of San
Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun and to avoid damage to those waters
and surrounding ecosystems as a result of vessel collision or damage
by providing competent, efficient, and regulated pilotage for vessels
required by this division to secure pilotage services.
   (b)  Nothing in this   This  section
 shall   does not  supersede, modify, or
otherwise alter pilot practices that are not safety related,
including, but not limited to, the determination of rates charged for
pilot services or employer-employee relationships for individuals,
agencies, or organizations involved in providing pilotage services
between any port of Monterey Bay and the Bays of San Francisco, San
Pablo, and Suisun and any other port of the United States that is in
existence on December 31, 1995, or otherwise abridge the authority of
local port or harbor districts relating to pilotage in effect on
December 31, 1995.
   (c) The board shall regulate pilotage on waters of the state as
provided in this division.
   (d)  Every   A  vessel sailing under a
coastwise license or appropriately endorsed registry and engaged in
the coasting trade between  any   a  port
of Monterey Bay and the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun
and  any other   another  port of the
United States is exempt from all pilotage charges unless a pilot or
inland pilot is actually employed.  Every   A
 foreign vessel and  every   a  vessel
bound between a foreign port and  any   a 
port of Monterey Bay and the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and
Suisun, and  every   a  vessel sailing
under a register between  any   a  port of
Monterey Bay and the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun and
 any other   another  port of the United
States, shall use a pilot or inland pilot holding a license issued
pursuant to this division, except as otherwise provided by law.
   (e) Subdivision (d) does not apply to a vessel that is less than
 300   750  gross tons and is manufactured
and used for private recreation.
  SEC. 3.  Section 1190 of the Harbors and Navigation Code is amended
to read:
   1190.  (a)  Every   A  vessel spoken
inward or outward bound shall pay the following rate of bar pilotage
through the Golden Gate and into or out of the Bays of San Francisco,
San Pablo, and Suisun:
   (1) Eight dollars and eleven cents ($8.11) per draft foot of the
vessel's deepest draft and fractions of a foot pro rata, and an
additional charge of 73.01 mills per high gross registered ton as
changed pursuant to law in effect on December 31, 1999. The mill
rates established by this paragraph may be changed as follows:
   (A) (i) On and after January 1, 2010, if the number of pilots
licensed by the board is 58 or 59 pilots, the mill rate in effect on
December 31, 2006, shall be decreased by an incremental amount that
is proportionate to one-half of the last audited annual average net
income per pilot for each pilot licensed by the board below 60
pilots.
   (ii) On and after January 1, 2010, if the number of pilots
licensed by the board is fewer than 58 pilots, the mill rate in
effect on December 31, 2006, shall be adjusted in accordance with the
method described in clause (i) as though there are 58 pilots
licensed by the board.
   (iii) The incremental mill rate adjustment authorized by this
subparagraph shall be calculated using the data reported to the board
for the number of gross registered tons handled by pilots licensed
under this division during the same 12-month period as the audited
annual average net income per pilot. The incremental mill rate
adjustment shall become effective at the beginning of the immediately
following quarter, commencing January 1, April 1, July 1, or October
1, as directed by the board.
   (iv) On and after January 1, 2010, if, during any quarter
described in this paragraph, the number of pilots licensed by the
board is equal to or greater than 60, clauses (i) to (iii),
inclusive, shall become inoperative on the first day of the
immediately following quarter.
   (B) There shall be an incremental rate of additional mills per
high gross registered ton as is necessary and authorized by the board
to recover the pilots' costs of obtaining new pilot boats and of
funding design and engineering modifications for the purposes of
extending the service life of existing pilot boats, excluding costs
for repair or maintenance. The incremental mill rate charge
authorized by this subparagraph shall be identified as a pilot boat
surcharge on the pilots' invoices and separately accounted for in the
accounting required by Section 1136. Net proceeds from the sale of
existing pilot boats shall be used to reduce the debt on the new
pilot boats and any debt associated with the modification of pilot
boats under this subparagraph. The board may adjust a pilot boat
surcharge to reflect any associated operational savings resulting
from the modification of pilot boats under this subparagraph,
including, but not limited to, reduced repair and maintenance
expenses.
   (C) In addition to the incremental rate specified in subparagraph
(B), the mill rate established by this subdivision may be adjusted at
the direction of the board if, after a hearing conducted pursuant to
Article 9 (commencing with Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of
Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, the board determines
that there has been a catastrophic cost increase to the pilots that
would result in at least a 2-percent increase in the overall annual
cost of providing pilot services.
   (2) A minimum charge for bar pilotage shall be  six
hundred sixty-two dollars ($662)   fifteen hundred
dollars ($1,500)  for each vessel piloted.
   (3) The vessel's deepest draft shall be the maximum draft
attained, on a stillwater basis, at any part of the vessel during the
course of such transit inward or outward.
   (b) The rate specified in subdivision (a) shall apply only to a
pilotage that passes through the Golden Gate to or from the high seas
to or from a berth within an area bounded by the Union Pacific
Railroad Bridge to the north and Hunter's Point to the south. The
rate for pilotage to or from the high seas to or from a point past
the Union Pacific Railroad Bridge or Hunter's Point shall include a
movement fee in addition to the basic bar pilotage rate as specified
by the board pursuant to Section 1191.
   (c) The rate established in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) shall
be for a trip from the high seas to dock or from the dock to high
seas. The rate specified in Section 1191 shall not be charged by
pilots for docking and undocking vessels. This subdivision does not
apply to the rates charged by inland pilots for their services.
   (d) The board shall determine the number of pilots to be licensed
based on the 1986 manpower study adopted by the board.
   (e) Consistent with the board's May 2002 adoption of rate
recommendations, the rates imposed pursuant to paragraph (1) of
subdivision (a) that are in effect on December 31, 2002, shall be
increased by 4 percent on January 1, 2003; those in effect on
December 31, 2003, shall be increased by 4 percent on January 1,
2004; those in effect on December 31, 2004, shall be increased by 3
percent on January 1, 2005; and those in effect on December 31, 2005,
shall be increased by 3 percent on January 1, 2006.
   (f) (1) There shall be a movement fee as is necessary and
authorized by the board to recover a pilot's costs for the purchase,
lease, or maintenance of navigation software, hardware, and ancillary
equipment purchased after November 5, 2008, and before January 1,
2011.
   (2) The software, equipment, and technology covered by this
subdivision shall be used strictly and exclusively to aid in piloting
on the pilotage grounds. The movement fee authorized by this
subdivision shall be identified as a navigation technology surcharge
on a pilot's invoices and separately accounted for in the accounting
required by Section 1136. The board shall review and adjust as
necessary the navigation technology surcharge at least quarterly.
This subdivision shall become inoperative on January 1, 2011.