The Legislature further finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The maritime industry is necessary for the continued economic well-being and cultural development of all California citizens.
(b) The Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun provide a vital transportation route for the maritime industry.
(c) The increase in vessel size and traffic, and the increase in cargoes carried in bulk, particularly oil and gas and hazardous chemicals, create substantial hazards to the life, property, and values associated with the environment of those waters.
(d) The federal government has long adopted the policy of providing minimum standards that ensure port and waterway safety while encouraging state control over pilot qualifications and licensing.
(e) A program of pilot regulation and licensing is necessary in order to ascertain and guarantee the qualifications, fitness, and reliability of qualified personnel who can provide safe pilotage of vessels entering and using Monterey Bay and the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun.
(f) The need to ensure safe and pollution-free waterborne commerce requires that pilotage services be employed in the confined, crowded, and environmentally sensitive waters of those bays.
(g) Bar pilotage in the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun has continuously been regulated by a single-purpose state board since 1850, and that regulation and licensing should be continued.
(h) The individual physical safety and well-being of pilots is of vital importance in providing required pilot services.
(Amended by Stats. 2001, Ch. 177, Sec. 3. Effective January 1, 2002.)