Oil spill prevention: nontank vessel: certification of financial responsibility.

Existing law requires the administrator for oil spill response to charge a nontank vessel owner or operator a reasonable fee, to be collected with each application to obtain a certificate of financial responsibility, in an amount based on the administrator's costs related to regulating nontank vessels. Existing law authorizes the use of revenue derived from the fee for specified purposes relating to oil spill prevention. This bill would, until January 1, 2018, limit the fee to an amount not to exceed $3,500 per nontank vessel, but would allow the administrator to annually adjust the maximum fee based on the percentage increase in the California Consumer Price Index. The bill would authorize the administrator, on and after January 1, 2018, to charge the fee in amount based on the administrator's costs related to regulating nontank vessels. The bill would allow the revenue derived from the fees to be spent for those specified purposes related to oil spill prevention.