California Assembly Bill AB1888 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: AB 1888AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 5, 2010 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 15, 2010 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Ma FEBRUARY 16, 2010 An act to amend Sections 1127, 1137, 1190, and 1190.1 of the Harbors and Navigation Code, relating to harbors and ports  , and making an appropriation therefor  . LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1888, as amended, 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 bar pilotage for vessels inward or outward bound through the Golden Gate and into or out of the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun and also imposes certain movement fees and training surcharges. This bill would exempt from those 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   no  . Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. 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) This section 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) A vessel sailing under a coastwise license or appropriately endorsed registry and engaged in the coasting trade between a port of Monterey Bay and the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun and another port of the United States is exempt from all pilotage charges unless a pilot or inland pilot is actually employed. A foreign vessel and a vessel bound between a foreign port and a port of Monterey Bay and the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun, and a vessel sailing under a register between a port of Monterey Bay and the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun and 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 750 gross tons and is manufactured and used for private recreation. SEC. 2. Section 1137 of the Harbors and Navigation Code is amended to read: 1137. (a) The account required pursuant to Section 1136 shall show all of the following: (1) The name of each vessel piloted. (2) The name of each vessel for which pilotage has been charged or collected. (3) The amount charged to or collected for each vessel. (4) Any rebates made and allowed and for what amounts. (5) The amount of the fees and surcharges not collected pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 1190. (6) The depth of each vessel's draft and its highest gross tonnage. (7) Whether the vessel was inward or outward bound. (b) The board shall record the accounts in full detail in a book prepared for that purpose. The account book is a public record. SEC. 3. Section 1190 of the Harbors and Navigation Code is amended to read: 1190. (a) 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  fifteen hundred dollars ($1,500)   six hundred sixty-two dollars ($662)  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) (1) Notwithstanding Section 1120,  but except as provided in paragraph (2),  only the following noncommercial vessels that use pilotage services are exempt from the pilotage fees and surcharges established pursuant to this division: (A) Maritime academy training vessels, whether foreign or domestic. (B) Vessels owned and operated by a nonprofit museum or foundation. (2) The vessels specified in paragraph (1) are subject to Section 1198. (d) 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. (e) The board shall determine the number of pilots to be licensed based on the 1986 manpower study adopted by the board. (f) 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. (g) (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. SEC. 4. Section 1190.1 of the Harbors and Navigation Code is amended to read: 1190.1. Every vessel that uses a pilot under this division while navigating the waters of Monterey Bay shall pay the rate provided by subdivisions (a) and (f) of Section 1190.