SUBPART B. RIVER PORT PILOTS

§991. Board of River Port Pilot Commissioners; duties, appointment, qualification, and removal of members

A. There is hereby created the Board of River Port Pilot Commissioners for the Port of New Orleans. The board shall consist of three citizens appointed by the governor, with the consent of the Senate, who presently hold a commission as a river port pilot and such commission has been active for a period of not less than four years. The governor, in appointing the said commissioners, shall designate the president of the board. The commissioners shall serve at the pleasure of the governor. The said commissioners shall take an oath to faithfully perform their duties.

B. The Board of River Port Pilot Commissioners for the Port of Orleans shall:

(1) Formulate rules and regulations pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act establishing qualifications of river port pilots and providing for the examination and approval of apprenticeship programs for the river port pilots, and to administer the evaluation and examination of river port pilots.

(2) Meet at least quarterly and at all such times as the president of the commission deems necessary.

(3) Formulate rules and regulations pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act establishing minimum standards of conduct for river port pilots to include neglect of duty, drunkenness, carelessness, habitual intemperance, substance abuse, and incompetency, and make other rules and regulations for the proper and safe pilotage upon the waters covered by this Subpart and for the efficient administration of this Subpart.

(4) Conduct hearings pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act, including the right to subpoena documents and witnesses pursuant to R.S. 49:956, and investigate the violation of any provisions of this Subpart or rules or regulations adopted by the commissioners, and to report all findings and conclusions to the governor, should the board request action by the governor.

(5) Have the authority to impose a fine of not more than five hundred dollars upon any river port pilot, to reprimand or remove from a vessel any river port pilot, or to recommend to the governor that the commission of any river port pilot be suspended or revoked if after a hearing conducted in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act, a river port pilot is found in violation of any rule or regulation adopted by the Board of River Port Pilot Commissioners. In any event, the Board of River Port Pilot Commissioners shall have the authority also to suspend a river port pilot's commission in accordance with R.S. 49:961(C).

(6) Provide to all river port pilots and river port pilot candidates rules and regulations.

C. For purposes of this Subpart and the Administrative Procedure Act only, the term commission shall be used interchangeably with the term license and shall have the same meaning.

Acts 1952, No. 177, §1. Amended by Acts 1960, No. 137, §1; Acts 1986, No. 960, §1.