SB 29-EXTEND BOARD OF MARINE PILOTS  1:58:35 PM CHAIR REINBOLD announced that the next order of business would be SENATE BILL NO. 29, "An Act extending the termination date of the Board of Marine Pilots; and providing for an effective date." 1:58:44 PM DAVID SCOTT, Staff, Senator Bert Stedman, Alaska State Legislature, introduced himself. CHAIR REINBOLD solicited a motion and Senator Costello made a clarifying motion to bring the original version before the committee. Senator Bishop objected for discussion purposes. 1:59:21 PM MR. SCOTT paraphrased the sponsor statement for SB 29, which read as follows: The Board of Marine Pilots (Board) protects the safety of the public and the environment by licensing and regulating marine pilots for almost all foreign vessels and vessels over a certain size in Alaskan waters. Board activities provide a good level of assurance that marine pilot licensees are competent and able to safely pilot passenger and cargo ships. As required under Title 24 and Title 44 of the Alaska statutes, the Legislative Budget and Audit Division reviewed the actions of the Board of Marine Pilots. The audit found a continued need for the Board and that the Board is following the law, processing investigations timely, and actively changing regulations to "improve the industry and better protect the public." The audit recommended the Legislature extend the Board's termination date to June 30, 2027. SB 29 extends the termination date of the Board of Marine Pilots to June 30, 2027. He said that the board consists of seven members consisting of two pilots, two agents of vessels, two public members, and the commissioner of the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development. He defined an agent of vessels as someone who works for the company that owns the vessel or directly for the vessel who hires the marine pilot. The board adopts regulations to ensure pilots are competent and qualified, makes final licensing decisions, and takes disciplinary action against marine pilots who violate laws, he said. He stated the sunset audit and the board's response to the audit is in members' packets and Ms. Curtis will address the two recommendations. 2:01:20 PM KRIS CURTIS, Legislative Auditor, Legislative Audit Division, Legislative Agencies and Offices, related the division conducted a sunset audit on the Board of Marine Pilots dated April 2018 [Audit Control Number 08-20112-18]. She said the audit found the board is serving the public's interest by effectively licensing marine pilots, deputy marine pilots, and by appropriately approving trainees and apprentices. She related that board meetings were conducted in compliance with law, investigations were processed timely, and the board actively changed regulations to improve the industry and better protect the public. The audit recommends an eight-year extension. She referred to licensing activity on page 12. She related the board oversees 103 licensees as of January 2018. She referred to the board's schedule of revenues and expenditures on page 14. She noted that board fees are located on page 13, that this board had a surplus of approximately $229,000 as of March 31, 2018. She referred to the two recommendations for improvements listed on page 15-16: Recommendation 1: The audit recommends the Board of Marine Pilots ensure all applicable documents are aboard foreign pleasure crafts in accordance with regulatory requirements. She said that regulations require that the operator of a pleasure craft applying for a pilotage exemption must ensure that the pleasure craft have aboard certain documents, such as nautical charts, tide tables, and other guides. The auditors found that five of the seven applications that were tested stated that the vessel did not have those documents aboard. It has been standard procedure for the board to approve exemptions with the understanding that the applicant will follow through at a later date and obtain the required documents. The board did not consider the need for or importance of ensuring that those documents were actually obtained. In addition, the exemption itself did not include a stipulation that the applicant obtain the required documents prior to entering the applicable area. She said that issuing foreign pleasure craft exemptions without verifying required documents are aboard the vessel increases the risk to public safety. 2:03:30 PM MS. CURTIS referred to page [16] to Recommendation 2: The board should ensure the Southeast Alaska Pilots' Association (APA) improves procedures for tracking drug test notification. She reported that in a sample of nine drug test donors from the association, the auditor found three donors notified by mail were not tracked in terms of date and recipient. The APA relied on a contractor and was not aware the contractor was not tracking that information, she said. Inadequate procedures for tracking drug test notifications limit the ability to verify timeliness and therefore increase the risk to public safety. She offered her belief that this should be an easy administrative fix. She referred to the responses to the audit on page 25. The response from the department and the board are essentially the same response because the commissioner is also the board chair. She said that the department and the board agree with both recommendations. 2:04:28 PM SENATOR COSTELLO asked whether it was common practice for a commissioner to also serve as the board chair. MS. CURTIS answered that it happens on occasion. SENATOR COSTELLO asked for further clarification on the commissioner and the board chair being the same person. MS. CURTIS responded that it is not uncommon for an entity within a department to have very similar responses to an audit. She remarked it makes one wonder if the responses were "penned" by the same person. However, it does not raise any concerns from the Division of Legislative Audit's perspective, she said. 2:05:22 PM CHAIR REINBOLD asked whether these vessels carry fuels. MS. CURTIS replied that she had no idea what cargo the vessels being piloted carry. CHAIR REINBOLD related she raises concern on drug testing due to the Exxon Valdez oil spill incident. She said that auditors were not able to confirm the drug tests is a huge issue for her and the issue should be addressed. 2:06:48 PM BARRY OLIVER, Captain; Member, Southeast Alaska Pilots' Association, stated that he previously served as a pilot for the Alaska Marine Highway System and currently serves as a Southeast Alaska marine pilot. Most of the vessels he pilots are cruise ships, he said. He responded to the concern about drug testing, by saying, "We are all drug tested." He assured her that drug testing occurred throughout the period in question. Apparently, the facility had a computer crash and lost the records so auditors could not locate the records to confirm the marine pilots' drug testing. However, he personally confirmed that he was drug tested. CHAIR REINBOLD said she was glad to know the marine pilots were drug tested. She related her understanding that the board will work with the contractor to remedy the record issue. CAPTAIN OLIVER replied that is correct. 2:08:26 PM SENATOR BIRCH referred to the documents that needed to be on board the vessels, such as charts to bring these vessels in safely. He asked whether the marine pilots use electronic devices such as using an iPad instead of a binder that contains charts and other items. CAPTAIN OLIVER answered that marine pilots carry "a personal pilot unit," which is plugged into GPS, so they monitor their own tracking. He said that marine pilots are trained to use all of the vessel's instruments, but the personal pilot unit acts as verification that everything is working satisfactorily. He explained that the act of piloting is visual, so pilots look out the window. The background electronics on vessels allow pilots to verify what they see. The captain is there to protect personal property, marine life, and the marine environment on behalf of the state, he said. 2:10:31 PM CHAIR REINBOLD asked him to identify the three regions in Alaska that marine pilots serve. CAPTAIN OLIVER related the three regions for marine pilots in Alaska: Region 1 covers Southeast Alaska from Ketchikan to Yakutat Bay, Region 2 covers Southwest and Southcentral Alaska from Icy Bay to Kodiak, including the Kenai Peninsula, and Alaska Marine Pilots Region 3 covers the Aleutians. He has worked on the Alaska Marine Highway System and has pilotage all the way to Kodiak at the federal level. However, licensing in the state only allows a pilot to operate in one region at a time. He lives in Juneau and serves Southeast Alaska. [CHAIR REINBOLD closed public testimony on SB 29.] 2:12:17 PM SENATOR BISHOP removed his objection. 2:12:18 PM SENATOR COSTELLO moved to report SB 29, Version 31-LS0167/A, from committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal note. There being no objection, SB 29 was reported from the Senate Labor and Commerce Standing Committee.