BP BHEAD INT S

AN ACT Relating to pilotage services; amending RCW 88.16.070; reenacting and amending RCW 88.16.150; and prescribing penalties.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. RCW 88.16.070 and 1987 c 194 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

All ((~~vessels under enrollment and all~~)) United States and Canadian vessels engaged exclusively in the coasting trade on the west coast of the continental United States (including Alaska) and/or British Columbia shall be exempt from the provisions of this chapter unless a pilot licensed under this chapter be actually employed, in which case the pilotage rates provided for in this chapter shall apply. However, the board shall, upon the written petition of any interested party, and upon notice and opportunity for hearing, grant an exemption from the provisions of this chapter to any vessel that the board finds is a small passenger vessel or yacht which is not more than five hundred gross tons (international), does not exceed two hundred feet in length, and is operated exclusively in the waters of the Puget Sound pilotage district and lower British Columbia. Such an exemption shall not be detrimental to the public interest in regard to safe operation preventing loss of human lives, loss of property, and protecting the marine environment of the state of Washington. Such petition shall set out the general description of the vessel, the contemplated use of same, the proposed area of operation, and the name and address of the vessel's owner. The board shall annually, or at any other time when in the public interest, review any exemptions granted to this specified class of small vessels to insure that each exempted vessel remains in compliance with the original exemption. The board shall have the authority to revoke such exemption where there is not continued compliance with the requirements for exemption. The board shall maintain a file which shall include all petitions for exemption, a roster of vessels granted exemption, and the board's written decisions which shall set forth the findings for grants of exemption. Each applicant for exemption or annual renewal shall pay a fee, payable to the pilotage account. Fees for initial applications and for renewals shall be established by rule, and shall not exceed one thousand five hundred dollars. The board shall report annually to the legislature on such exemptions. Every vessel not so exempt, shall while navigating the Puget Sound and Grays Harbor and Willapa Bay pilotage districts, employ a pilot licensed under the provisions of this chapter and shall be liable for and pay pilotage rates in accordance with the pilotage rates herein established or which may hereafter be established under the provisions of this chapter: PROVIDED, That any vessel inbound to or outbound from Canadian ports is exempt from the provisions of this section, if said vessel actually employs a pilot licensed by the Pacific pilotage authority (the pilot licensing authority for the western district of Canada), and if it is communicating with the vessel traffic system and has appropriate navigational charts, and if said vessel uses only those waters east of the international boundary line which are west of a line which begins at the southwestern edge of Point Roberts then to Alden Point (Patos Island), then to Skipjack Island light, then to Turn Point (Stuart Island), then to Kellet Bluff (Henry Island), then to Lime Kiln (San Juan Island) then to the intersection of one hundred twenty-three degrees seven minutes west longitude and forty-eight degrees twenty-five minutes north latitude then to the international boundary. The board shall correspond with the Pacific pilotage authority from time to time to ensure the provisions of this section are enforced. If any exempted vessel does not comply with these provisions it shall be deemed to be in violation of this section and subject to the penalties provided in RCW 88.16.150 as now or hereafter amended and liable to pilotage fees as determined by the board. The board shall investigate any accident on the waters covered by this chapter involving a Canadian pilot and shall include the results in its annual report.

Sec. 2. RCW 88.16.150 and 1987 c 485 s 5 and 1987 c 202 s 247 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:

(1) In all cases where no other penalty is prescribed in this chapter, any violation of this chapter or of any rule or regulation of the board shall be punished as a gross misdemeanor, and all violations may be prosecuted in any court of competent jurisdiction in any county where the offense or any part thereof was committed. In any case where the offense was committed upon a ship, boat or vessel, and there is doubt as to the proper county, the same may be prosecuted in any county through any part of which the ship, boat or vessel passed, during the trip upon which the offense was committed. All fines collected for any violation of this chapter or any rule or regulation of the board shall within thirty days be paid by the official collecting the same to the state treasurer and shall be credited to the pilotage account: PROVIDED, That all fees, fines, forfeitures and penalties collected or assessed by a district court because of the violation of a state law shall be remitted as provided in chapter 3.62 RCW as now exists or is later amended.

(2) Notwithstanding any other penalty imposed by this section, any person who shall violate the provisions of this chapter, shall be liable to a maximum civil penalty of ((~~five~~)) ten thousand dollars for each violation. The board may request the attorney general or the prosecuting attorney of the county in which any violation of this chapter occurs to bring an action for imposing the civil penalties provided for in this subsection.

Moneys collected from civil penalties shall be deposited in the pilotage account.

(3) Any master of a vessel who shall knowingly fail to inform the pilot dispatched to said vessel or any agent, owner, or operator, who shall knowingly fail to inform the pilot dispatcher, or any dispatcher who shall knowingly fail to inform the pilot actually dispatched to said vessel of any special directions mandated by the coast guard captain of the port under authority of the Ports and Waterways Safety Act of 1972, as amended, for the handling of such vessel shall be guilty of a gross misdemeanor.