AB 748: California Abandoned and Derelict Commercial Vessel Program.

Existing law establishes within the Natural Resources Agency, the State Lands Commission consisting of the Controller, the Lieutenant Governor, and the Director of Finance. Existing law vests in the commission exclusive jurisdiction over all ungranted tidelands and submerged lands owned by the state, and of the beds of navigable rivers, streams, lakes, bays, estuaries, inlets, and straits, including tidelands and submerged lands. Existing law authorizes the commission to take immediate action to remove from areas under its jurisdiction a vessel that is left unattended and is moored, docked, beached, or made fast to land in a position as to obstruct the normal movement of traffic or in a condition as to create a hazard to navigation, other vessels using a waterway, or the property of another. Existing law requires the commission, by July 1, 2019, and in consultation with other relevant state and local agencies directly involved in the removal of abandoned vessels, to develop a plan for the removal of abandoned commercial vessels.

This bill would establish the California Abandoned and Derelict Commercial Vessel Program within the Natural Resources Agency, to be administered by the commission, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to bring federal, state, and local agencies together to identify, prioritize, and fund the removal and proper disposal of abandoned and derelict commercial vessels and other debris from commercially navigable waters, as defined. The bill would require the commission, upon appropriation by the Legislature, on or before July 1, 2025, to create, and regularly update and maintain thereafter, an inventory of abandoned and derelict commercial vessels on or in commercially navigable waters, as provided, and, on or before July 1, 2026, to develop a plan to prevent or reduce abandoned and derelict commercial vessels on or in commercially navigable waters, as provided.

This bill would establish the California Abandoned and Derelict Commercial Vessel Program Task Force as an advisory body within the Natural Resources Agency, consisting of specified members. The bill would require the task force to, among other things, provide policy guidance for the program and advise on the prevention, removal, destruction, and disposal of abandoned and derelict commercial vessels, as provided. The bill would require the task force, in consultation with impacted local governments, to develop a system for prioritizing the removal of the abandoned and derelict commercial vessels identified by the commission, as provided.

This bill would require the commission, on or before December 1, 2024, to enter into a memorandum of agreement with specified state agencies, and other relevant federal, state, or local agencies, as provided, for the purposes of abandoned and derelict commercial vessel and other debris cleanup and removal from commercially navigable waters. The bill would require, upon execution of the memorandum of agreement and the availability of funds, the commission to immediately authorize and execute the removal of abandoned and derelict commercial vessels and other debris, as specified.

This bill would establish the California Abandoned and Derelict Commercial Vessel Program Trust Fund in the State Treasury and would require that, upon appropriation by the Legislature, moneys in the fund be used by the commission to fund the removal of abandoned and derelict commercial vessels and other debris pursuant to the program, as provided.

This bill would prohibit, except as specified, a commercial vessel, as defined, that is at risk of becoming derelict from occupying, or anchoring, mooring, or otherwise being secured in or on, the waters of the state. The bill would provide that a commercial vessel is at risk of becoming derelict if certain conditions exist, including that the commercial vessel is taking on or has taken on water without an effective means to dewater. The bill would authorize a peace officer, as defined, to find that a commercial vessel is at risk of becoming derelict if these conditions exist. The bill would subject a person who violates this prohibition to a civil penalty of not less than $1,000 and not more than $5,000 per day of violation, and would prescribe other requirements related to a civil action, including the assessment of a civil penalty and the recovery of other specified costs, brought for a violation of this prohibition. The bill would also authorize a peace officer to seize or order the removal of a commercial vessel that is at risk of becoming derelict, as provided. The bill would require 75% of civil penalties and other costs collected be deposited into the California Abandoned and Derelict Commercial Vessel Program Trust Fund and, upon appropriation by the Legislature, 25% distributed to the Attorney General, district attorney, or city attorney prosecuting the action, as specified.