PRINTER'S NO. 673
No. 635 Session of 2001
INTRODUCED BY BELL, FUMO, TOMLINSON AND STACK, MARCH 13, 2001
REFERRED TO CONSUMER PROTECTION AND PROFESSIONAL LICENSURE,
MARCH 13, 2001
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of March 29, 1803 (P.L.542, No.156), entitled
2 "An act to establish a Board of Wardens for the port of
3 Philadelphia, and for the regulation of pilots and pilotages,
4 and for other purposes therein mentioned," further providing
5 for pilots.
6 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
7 hereby enacts as follows:
8 Section 1. Sections 17(a) and 18(b) of the act of March 29,
9 1803 (P.L.542, No.156), entitled "An act to establish a Board of
10 Wardens for the port of Philadelphia, and for the regulation of
11 pilots and pilotages, and for other purposes therein mentioned,"
12 amended June 23, 1993 (P.L.114, No.27), are amended to read:
13 Section 17. (a) Every person not now a licensed pilot, and
14 who desires to exercise the profession of pilot in the Delaware
15 Bay and River, shall apply to the Navigation Commission for the
16 Delaware River and its navigable tributaries for a license to
17 entitle the person to follow that occupation; and it shall be
18 the duty of the Navigation Commission to call to their
19 assistance as many pilots of the first class as they may see
1 fit, not less than three in number, to examine every person so
2 applying, as to the person's fitness in all respects to perform
3 the duties of a pilot, and to grant licenses to all such as they
4 deem qualified, according to their respective abilities: Those
5 of the first class, to persons capable of piloting vessels of
6 any practicable draught of water; those of the second class, to
7 persons capable of piloting vessels drawing forty-five feet of
8 water, or under; those of the third class, to persons capable of
9 piloting vessels drawing forty feet of water, or under; those of
10 the fourth class, to persons capable of piloting vessels drawing
11 thirty-five feet of water, or under; those of the fifth class,
12 to persons capable of piloting vessels drawing [thirty] thirty-
13 two feet of water or under; and those of the sixth class, to
14 persons capable of piloting vessels drawing [twenty-five]
15 twenty-seven feet of water or under; which licenses shall be in
16 force for one year from the date thereof, and until the pilots,
17 respectively, shall next after the expiration of the year,
18 arrive with any vessel at the Port of Philadelphia, and no
19 longer; but every pilot delivering up the person's license shall
20 be entitled to receive a new one in lieu thereof, giving like
21 security as hereinafter directed, unless it shall appear to the
22 Navigation Commission that the person applying is disqualified
23 from exercising the duties of a pilot; and if any person shall
24 in any manner exercise or attempt to exercise the profession of
25 a pilot, except in vessels under one hundred tons burden, in the
26 Delaware Bay or River without license duly granted, or at any
27 time after the person's license shall have expired, the person
28 shall be liable for a civil penalty in an amount up to twice the
29 amount of pilotage, as calculated under existing law, and shall
30 also be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof,
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1 shall be imprisoned for not less than one month nor more than
2 one year, and be fined a sum not exceeding two hundred dollars,
3 at the discretion of the court.
4 * * *
5 Section 18. * * *
6 (b) According to the needs and dictates of commerce, the
7 public interest and public safety, the Navigation Commission
8 shall from time to time solicit applications for and make
9 appointments of apprentice pilots. No person shall be appointed
10 to be an apprentice who does not hold a baccalaureate degree
11 from a recognized and duly certified college or university or a
12 maritime academy operated by the United States or another state,
13 or a United States Coast Guard-issued license to serve as third
14 mate on all oceans aboard vessels of one thousand six hundred
15 tons, or a higher class of license. The period of apprenticeship
16 shall be four years, except for apprentices who, at the time of
17 their appointment, hold a license issued by the United States
18 Coast Guard to serve as third mate on all oceans aboard vessels
19 of at least one thousand six hundred tons, whose apprenticeship
20 need be no longer than three years. During the apprenticeship,
21 all apprentices must make a total of at least five hundred trips
22 over the route in vessels with [first or second class pilots]
23 pilots licensed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or the State
24 of Delaware who have experience in accordance with regulations
25 promulgated by the Navigation Commission, and it shall be the
26 duty of every pilot who shall so bring up or take down an
27 apprentice to [make a report] maintain a record of the trip as
28 directed by the Navigation Commission.
29 * * *
30 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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