California Code of Regulations
Title 7 - Harbors and Navigation
Division 2 - State Board of Pilot Commissioners for the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo and Suisun
Article 5 - Licensing
Section 216 - Issuance of Licenses

(a) An application for a pilot license or for the renewal of a pilot license shall be signed by the applicant and presented to the Administrative Assistant/Secretary.

(b) A license issued to a pilot by the Board, and each renewal thereof, shall be valid for a period of one year.

(c) No original pilot license shall be issued, and no pilot license originally issued after December 31, 1987 shall be renewed, until the applicant provides proof satisfactory to the Board that he or she possesses a valid federal license with endorsements thereon allowing the applicant to pilot vessels on the high seas and on all waters of the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun, including the San Joaquin River and the Sacramento deep water ship channel.

(d) All pilots shall hold and maintain proper federal endorsements allowing them to pilot, at a minimum, on the high seas and on all waters of the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun excluding the San Joaquin River and the Sacramento deep water ship channel. No pilot license originally issued before December 31, 1987 shall be renewed until the applicant for the license provides proof satisfactory to the Board that he or she possesses a valid federal license with endorsements thereon allowing the applicant to pilot vessels on the high seas and on all waters of the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun, excluding the San Joaquin River and the Sacramento deep water ship channel.

(e) No original pilot license shall be issued unless the applicant has satisfactorily completed the pilot trainee training program.

(f) A pilot license shall be renewed only upon successful completion of the medical assessment required by this article.

(g) A pilot license shall not be renewed if the applicant did not actively pilot vessels under the authority of that license for any consecutive period of one year unless he or she has submitted evidence satisfactory to the Board that he or she is qualified and, during that period, was absent from duty for medical reasons, was serving as Port Agent, or had been granted a leave of absence by the Board.