New Law to Help Protect San Francisco Bay
California Political Desk
October 17, 2009
SACRAMENTO – Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco/San Mateo) has successfully passed a second law in response to the 2007 Cosco Busan container ship that hit the Bay Bridge and spilled 53,000 gallons of oil into the San Francisco Bay. Earlier this week, the Governor signed Yee´s Senate Bill 300 to help provide better navigation equipment for San Francisco Bay Bar Pilots – the maritime pilots who assist vessels traveling in Bay Area waters.
In 2008, Yee successfully passed SB 1217, which provides greater public oversight of the board that regulates the San Francisco Bar Pilots. The law also requires the bar pilots board to appoint a physician to evaluate the effects of prescription medications that a pilot may be taking and requires the physician to determine if the individual is fit to perform his or her duties as a pilot.
This year´s bill, SB 300, will impose a $20 to $25 per vessel surcharge on shippers for the purchase of navigation software, hardware, and ancillary equipment. Investigations and hearings by the National Transportation Safety Board, the Coast Guard, and the Board of Pilot Commissioners revealed that a factor contributing to the Cosco Busan incident was the failure to install the standard navigation equipment mandated by the International Maritime Organization.
"Senate Bill 300 will help protect our San Francisco Bay from future environmental disasters," said Yee. "The Cosco Busan oil spill was devastating for our region and reiterated the need to improve the response to future disasters and to develop the technology to avoid them in the first place. The protection of California´s coastline is vital to our wildlife as well as our economy, especially commercial fishing and tourism, which annually contributes over $50 billion to the State´s economy."
Federal law requires that all foreign vessels in excess of 300 gross tons entering or leaving a US port use the services of maritime pilots. California has governed pilots entering San Francisco since 1850 when the Board of Pilot Commissioners for the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun was first created by the Legislature.
SB 300 officially goes into effect on January 1, 2010.
In 2008, Yee successfully passed SB 1217, which provides greater public oversight of the board that regulates the San Francisco Bar Pilots. The law also requires the bar pilots board to appoint a physician to evaluate the effects of prescription medications that a pilot may be taking and requires the physician to determine if the individual is fit to perform his or her duties as a pilot.
This year´s bill, SB 300, will impose a $20 to $25 per vessel surcharge on shippers for the purchase of navigation software, hardware, and ancillary equipment. Investigations and hearings by the National Transportation Safety Board, the Coast Guard, and the Board of Pilot Commissioners revealed that a factor contributing to the Cosco Busan incident was the failure to install the standard navigation equipment mandated by the International Maritime Organization.
"Senate Bill 300 will help protect our San Francisco Bay from future environmental disasters," said Yee. "The Cosco Busan oil spill was devastating for our region and reiterated the need to improve the response to future disasters and to develop the technology to avoid them in the first place. The protection of California´s coastline is vital to our wildlife as well as our economy, especially commercial fishing and tourism, which annually contributes over $50 billion to the State´s economy."
Federal law requires that all foreign vessels in excess of 300 gross tons entering or leaving a US port use the services of maritime pilots. California has governed pilots entering San Francisco since 1850 when the Board of Pilot Commissioners for the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun was first created by the Legislature.
SB 300 officially goes into effect on January 1, 2010.