HOUSE BILL REPORT

ESSB 5650

As Amended by the House

BYSenate Committee on Transportation (originally sponsored by Senators Conner, Peterson, Garrett and Barr)

Revising qualifications of pilots.

House Committe on Transportation

Majority Report:  Do pass with amendment.  (19)

      Signed by Representatives Walk, Chair; Baugher, Vice Chair; Cantwell, Cooper, Day, Dellwo, Doty, Fisch, Fisher, Haugen, Kremen, Meyers, Spanel, Sutherland, Todd, J. Williams, K. Wilson, S. Wilson and Zellinsky.

House Staff:Gene Baxstrom (786-7303)

AS PASSED HOUSE APRIL 16, 1987

BACKGROUND:

The Board of Pilotage Commissioners is charged with the responsibility for insuring that only qualified and well-trained individuals be licensed as Washington State pilots.  State law provides that the board may establish additional training requirements for individuals holding state licenses to maintain a competent pilotage service.  The board conducts a pilotage exam when it determines that additional pilots are needed to serve projected vessel traffic and when no candidates that have previously passed the examination are available.

All pilots and applicants are subject to an annual physical examination to ensure health standards sufficient to enable them to perform their pilotage duties.

State law provides that the board may prescribe, during the first two years of licensing, the size and type of vessels upon which newly licensed pilots may serve.

The board is required to include in its annual report a listing of all accidents, incidents, mishaps, as well as pilotage related complaints that were filed with the board.  The board has no specific statutory authority to appoint advisory committees or to employ marine experts as necessary to carry out its duties.

A joint subcommittee of the House and Senate Transportation committees reviewed the State Pilotage Act during 1986. Recommendations of that subcommittee related to revising the qualifications of pilots are set forth in the bill summary.

SUMMARY:

The State Pilotage Board is directed to develop, in conjunction with pilots associations, a continuing education program for pilots.  The board is authorized to prescribe vessel simulator training for a pilot applicant or a pilot during the period of limited licensing, to enhance the ability to perform pilotage duties.

The period for a limited license for a new state licensed pilot is extended from two to three years.  The board is granted specific authority to govern the size and type of vessels which a newly licensed pilot may be assigned to and whether the assignment involves docking or undocking a vessel. Familiarization trips are required before a newly licensed pilot may pilot a larger or different type of vessel.

The board is directed to determine within 90 days of a pilot's required physical examination, whether the pilot or applicant is fully able to carry out the duties of a pilot.

The board is directed to conduct pilotage examinations on a regular date, at least once every two years.

The requirement that incidents, complaints and mishaps be set forth in the board's annual report is deleted.  Where pilot error has contributed to an occurrence, it must still be reported.  Copies of the board's annual report are to be submitted to the Transportation committee chairs, rather than the Secretary of the Senate and the Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives.

The board is specifically authorized to appoint advisory committees and to employ marine experts as necessary to fulfill its duties.

Language is clarified and obsolete language is deleted.

Fiscal Note:      Not Requested.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:    Senator Paul Conner; Randy Ray, Puget Sound Steamship Operators Association; Captain Robert Kromann, Port Angeles Pilots Association.

House Committee - Testified Against:      None Presented.

House Committee - Testimony For:    Improving pilot qualifications and training would enhance ship safety in marine waters of this state.

House Committee - Testimony Against:      None Presented.