California Senate Bill SB614 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: SB 614AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 13, 2009 INTRODUCED BY Senator Simitian FEBRUARY 27, 2009 An act to amend  Section   Sections 72410 and  72441 of the Public Resources Code, relating to vessels. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 614, as amended, Simitian. Vessels. Existing law prohibits an owner or operator of a large passenger vessel or oceangoing ship from releasing or permitting anyone to release specified substances from the vessel or ship into the marine waters of the state or a marine sanctuary. Existing law excludes from those requirements a large passenger vessel or oceangoing ship that operates in the marine waters of the state, as that term is defined, solely in innocent passage, and discharges made for the purpose of securing the safety of the vessel or ship or saving life at sea if specified precautions are taken. The act provides that for purposes of that exclusion, a vessel is engaged in innocent passage if its operation in state waters would constitute innocent passage under specified conventions. This bill instead would provide that for purposes of that exclusion, a vessel is engaged in innocent passage if its operation in the marine waters of the state would constitute innocent passage under those specified conventions.  The bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to the definition of "marine waters of the state" by correcting an obsolete cross-reference.  Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:  SECTION 1.   Section 72410 of the   Public Resources Code   is amended to read:  72410. (a) Unless the context otherwise requires, the definitions set forth in this section govern this division. (b) "Board" means the State Water Resources Control Board. (c) "Commission" means the State Lands Commission. (d) "Graywater" means drainage from dishwasher, shower, laundry, bath, and washbasin drains, but does not include drainage from toilets, urinals, hospitals, or cargo spaces. (e) "Hazardous waste" has the meaning set forth in Section 25117 of the Health and Safety Code, but does not include sewage. (f) "Large passenger vessel" or "vessel" means a vessel of 300 gross registered tons or greater that is engaged in the carrying of passengers for hire, excluding all of the following vessels: (1) Vessels without berths or overnight accommodations for passengers. (2) Noncommercial vessels, warships, vessels operated by nonprofit entities as determined by the Internal Revenue Service, and vessels operated by the state, the United States, or a foreign government. (3) Oceangoing ships, as defined in subdivision (j).  (g) "Marine waters of the state" means "coastal waters" as defined in Section 13181 of the Water Code.   (h)   (g)  "Marine sanctuary" means marine waters of the state in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary, Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, or Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.  (h) "Marine waters of the state" means waters within the area bounded by the mean high tide line to the three-mile state waters limit, from the Oregon border to the Mexican border.  (i) "Medical waste" means medical waste subject to regulation pursuant to Part 14 (commencing with Section 117600) of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code. (j) "Oceangoing ship" means a private, commercial, government, or military vessel of 300 gross registered tons or more calling on California ports or places. (k) "Oil" has the meaning set forth in Section 8750. (l) "Oily bilgewater" includes bilgewater that contains used lubrication oils, oil sludge and slops, fuel and oil sludge, used oil, used fuel and fuel filters, and oily waste. (m) "Operator" has the meaning set forth in Section 651 of the Harbors and Navigation Code. (n) "Other waste" means photography laboratory chemicals, dry cleaning chemicals, or medical waste. (o) "Owner" has the meaning set forth in Section 651 of the Harbors and Navigation Code. (p) "Release" means discharging or disposing of wastes into the environment. (q) "Sewage" has the meaning set forth in Section 775.5 of the Harbors and Navigation Code, including material that has been collected or treated through a marine sanitation device as that term is used in Section 312 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. Sec. 1322) or material that is a byproduct of sewage treatment. (r) "Sewage sludge" has the meaning set forth in Section 122.2 of Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations. (s) "Sufficient holding tank capacity" means a holding tank of sufficient capacity to contain sewage and graywater while the oceangoing ship is within the marine waters of the state. (t) "Waste" means hazardous waste and other waste.  SECTION 1.   SEC. 2.  Section 72441 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read: 72441. (a) This division does not apply to either of the following: (1) A large passenger vessel or oceangoing ship that operates in the marine waters of the state solely in innocent passage. (2) Discharges made for the purpose of securing the safety of the large passenger vessel or oceangoing ship or saving life at sea, if reasonable precautions are taken for the purpose of preventing or minimizing the discharge. (b) For the purposes of this section, a vessel is engaged in innocent passage if its operation in the marine waters of the state would constitute innocent passage under either the Convention on the Territorial Sea and Contiguous Zone, dated April 29, 1958, or the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, dated December 10, 1982.