Tidelands and submerged lands: removal of vessels.

Existing law authorizes the State Lands Commission to remove from areas under its jurisdiction any vessel, boat, raft, or other similar watercraft that is left unattended and is moored, docked, or beached as to obstruct traffic or to create a hazard to other vessels or property, that poses critical and immediate danger to navigation or the public health, safety, or welfare, or that hinders navigation or creates a public nuisance. This bill would revise those provisions to authorize the commission to remove those watercraft in those and similar conditions immediately and without notice. The bill would authorize the commission to remove and dispose of those watercraft and to remove and dispose from areas under its jurisdiction watercraft that have been placed on state lands without its permission if prior to removal the commission gives a 30-day notice by posting notice on the watercraft and notifying the owner and any lienholder, if known. Existing law authorizes the commission, through appropriate action in the courts, to remove or destroy a vessel, boat, watercraft, or other similar obstruction that hinders navigation or otherwise creates a public nuisance in areas under the commission's jurisdiction. This bill would, instead, provide that a hulk, derelict, wreck, or parts of a ship, vessel, or other watercraft sunk, beached, grounded, or floating and allowed to remain in an unseaworthy or dilapidated condition in areas under the commission's jurisdiction for a period longer than 30 days without its consent is abandoned property. The bill would establish procedures for the commission to sell, destroy, or otherwise dispose of this property. The bill would require that any proceeds from the sale of this property, less the commission's costs, be deposited into the General Fund.