SENATE BILL REPORT
ESSB 5650
BYSenate Committee on Transportation (originally sponsored by Senators Conner, Peterson, Garrett and Barr)
Revising qualifications of pilots.
Senate Committee on Transportation
Senate Hearing Date(s):February 11, 1987; March 2, 1987
Majority Report: That Substitute Senate Bill No. 5650 be substituted therefor, and the substitute bill do pass.
Signed by Senators Peterson, Chairman; Hansen, Vice Chairman; Tanner, Vice Chairman; Bailey, Bender, Conner, DeJarnatt, Garrett, Halsan, Johnson, Patterson, Sellar, Smitherman, West.
Senate Staff:Gene Baxstrom (786-7303)
April 17, 1987
AS PASSED SENATE, MARCH 18, 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.
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, certain size and type of vessel trips on 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. Neither does the Board have the authority to preclude a pilot from serving on a certain company's vessels.
A joint subcommittee of the House and 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 Board is directed to develop, in conjunction with the State 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 two years 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 required to hold a pilotage examination on a regular date, at least twice per year.
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.
Obsolete language is deleted.
Fiscal Note: none requested
Senate Committee - Testified: Ralph White, Chairman, Board of Pilotage Commissioners; Robert Kromann, President, Port Angeles Pilots Association; John Woodring, Port Angeles Pilots Association; Randy Ray, Puget Sound Steamship Operators Association; Hal Schuyler, Sea-Land, Inc.; Vern Lindskog, major oil companies
HOUSE AMENDMENT:
The requirement that the Board hold a pilot examination at least twice per year is changed to require that the examination be at least once every two years.