II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1089

To authorize appropriations for fiscal years 2000 and 2001 for the United

States Coast Guard, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 20, 1999

Ms. SNOWE (for herself, Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. HOLLINGS, Mr. KERRY, Mr.

BREAUX, and Mr. INOUYE) introduced the following bill; which was read

twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To authorize appropriations for fiscal years 2000 and 2001

for the United States Coast Guard, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Coast Guard Author5 ization Act of 1999’’.
2

•S 1089 IS

1 TITLE I—AUTHORIZATION

2 SEC. 101. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

3 (a) AUTHORIZATION FOR FISCAL YEAR 2000.—

4 Funds are authorized to be appropriated for necessary ex5 penses of the Coast Guard for fiscal year 2000, as follows:

6 (1) For the operation and maintenance of the

7 Coast Guard, $2,941,039,000, of which

8 $334,000,000 shall be available for defense-related

9 activities and of which $25,000,000 shall be derived

10 from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund.

11 (2) For the acquisition, construction, rebuild12 ing, and improvement of aids to navigation, shore

13 and offshore facilities, vessels, and aircraft, includ14 ing equipment related thereto, $350,326,000, to re15 main available until expended, of which $20,000,000

16 shall be derived from the Oil Spill Liability Trust

17 Fund to carry out the purposes of section

18 1012(a)(5) of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990.

19 (3) For research, development, test, and evalua20 tion of technologies, materials, and human factors

21 directly relating to improving the performance of the

22 Coast Guard’s mission in support of search and res23 cue, aids to navigation, marine safety, marine envi24 ronmental protection, enforcement of laws and trea25 ties, ice operations, oceanographic research, and de-
3

•S 1089 IS

1 fense readiness, $21,709,000, to remain available

2 until expended, of which $3,500,000 shall be derived

3 from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund.

4 (4) For retired pay (including the payment of

5 obligations otherwise chargeable to lapsed appropria6 tions for this purpose), payments under the Retired

7 Serviceman’s Family Protection and Survivor Ben8 efit Plans, and payments for medical care of retired

9 personnel and their dependents under chapter 55 of

10 title 10, United States Code, such sums as may be

11 necessary, to remain available until expended.

12 (5) For environmental compliance and restora13 tion at Coast Guard facilities (other than parts and

14 equipment associated with operations and mainte15 nance), $19,500,000, to remain available until ex16 pended.

17 (6) For alteration or removal of bridges over

18 navigable waters of the United States constituting

19 obstructions to navigation, and for personnel and

20 administrative costs associated with the Bridge Al21 teration Program, $26,000,000, to remain available

22 until expended.

23 (b) AUTHORIZATION FOR FISCAL YEAR 2001.—

24 Funds are authorized to be appropriated for necessary ex25 penses of the Coast Guard for fiscal year 2001, as follows:
4

•S 1089 IS

1 (1) For the operation and maintenance of the

2 Coast Guard, $2,941,039,000, of which $25,000,000

3 shall be derived from the Oil Spill Liability Trust

4 Fund.

5 (2) For the acquisition, construction, rebuild6 ing, and improvement of aids to navigation, shore

7 and offshore facilities, vessels, and aircraft, includ8 ing equipment related thereto, $350,326,000, to re9 main available until expended, of which $20,000,000

10 shall be derived from the Oil Spill Liability Trust

11 Fund to carry out the purposes of section

12 1012(a)(5) of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990.

13 (3) For research, development, test, and evalua14 tion of technologies, materials, and human factors

15 directly relating to improving the performance of the

16 Coast Guard’s mission in support of search and res17 cue, aids to navigation, marine safety, marine envi18 ronmental protection, enforcement of laws and trea19 ties, ice operations, oceanographic research, and de20 fense readiness, $21,709,000, to remain available

21 until expended, of which $3,500,000 shall be derived

22 from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund.

23 (4) For retired pay (including the payment of

24 obligations otherwise chargeable to lapsed appropria25 tions for this purpose), payments under the Retired
5

•S 1089 IS

1 Serviceman’s Family Protection and Survivor Ben2 efit Plans, and payments for medical care of retired

3 personnel and their dependents under chapter 55 of

4 title 10, United States Code, such sums as may be

5 necessary, to remain available until expended.

6 (5) For environmental compliance and restora7 tion at Coast Guard facilities (other than parts and

8 equipment associated with operations and mainte9 nance), $19,500,000, to remain available until ex10 pended.

11 (6) For alteration or removal of bridges over

12 navigable waters of the United States constituting

13 obstructions to navigation, and for personnel and

14 administrative costs associated with the Bridge Al15 teration Program, $26,000,000, to remain available

16 until expended.

17 SEC. 102. AUTHORIZED LEVELS OF MILITARY STRENGTH

18 AND TRAINING.

19 (a) END-OF-YEAR STRENGTH FOR FISCAL YEAR

20 2000.—The Coast Guard is authorized an end-of-year

21 strength for active duty personnel of 36,350 as of Sep22 tember 30, 2000.

23 (b) TRAINING STUDENT LOADS FOR FISCAL YEAR

24 2000.—For fiscal year 2000, the Coast Guard is author25 ized average military training student loads as follows:
6

•S 1089 IS

1 (1) For recruit and special training, 1,500 stu2 dent years.

3 (2) For flight training, 100 student years.

4 (3) For professional training in military and ci5 vilian institutions, 300 student years.

6 (4) For officer acquisition, 1,000 student years.

7 (c) END-OF-YEAR STRENGTH FOR FISCAL YEAR

8 2001.—The Coast Guard is authorized an end-of-year

9 strength for active duty personnel of 36,350 as of Sep10 tember 30, 2001.

11 (d) TRAINING STUDENT LOADS FOR FISCAL YEAR

12 2001.—For fiscal year 2001, the Coast Guard is author13 ized average military training student loads as follows:

14 (1) For recruit and special training, 1,500 stu15 dent years.

16 (2) For flight training, 100 student years.

17 (3) For professional training in military and ci18 vilian institutions, 300 student years.

19 (4) For officer acquisition, 1,000 student years.

20 TITLE II—PERSONNEL

21 MANAGEMENT

22 SEC. 201. COAST GUARD BAND DIRECTOR RANK.

23 Section 336(d) of title 14, United States Code, is

24 amended by striking ‘‘commander’’ and inserting ‘‘cap25 tain’’.
7

•S 1089 IS

1 SEC. 202. COAST GUARD RESERVE SPECIAL PAY.

2 Section 308d(a) of title 37, United States Code, is

3 amended by inserting ‘‘or the Secretary of the Department

4 in which the Coast Guard is operating’’ after ‘‘Secretary

5 of Defense’’.

6 SEC. 203. COAST GUARD MEMBERSHIP ON THE USO BOARD

7 OF GOVERNORS.

8 Section 1305(b) of title 36, United States Code, is

9 amended by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (4)

10 and inserting after paragraph (2) the following:

11 ‘‘(3) The Secretary of Transportation, or the

12 Secretary’s designee, when the Coast Guard is not

13 operating under the Department of the Navy.’’.

14 SEC. 204. COMPENSATORY ABSENCE FOR ISOLATED DUTY.

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 511 of title 14, United

16 States Code, is amended to read as follows:

17 ‘‘Sec. 511. Compensatory absence from duty for military per18 sonnel at isolated duty stations

19 ‘‘The Secretary may prescribe regulations to grant

20 compensatory absence from duty to military personnel of

21 the Coast Guard serving at isolated duty stations of the

22 Coast Guard when conditions of duty result in confine23 ment because of isolation or in long periods of continuous

24 duty.’’.
8

•S 1089 IS

1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

2 at the beginning of chapter 13 of title 14, United States

3 Code, is amended to read as follows:

‘‘511. Compensatory absence from duty for military personnel at isolated duty

stations.’’.

4 SEC. 205. ACCELERATED PROMOTION OF CERTAIN COAST

5 GUARD OFFICERS.

6 Title 14, United States Code, is amended—

7 (1) in section 259, by adding at the end a new

8 subsection (c) to read as follows:

9 ‘‘(c) After selecting the officers to be recommended

10 for promotion, a selection board may recommend officers

11 of particular merit, from among those officers chosen for

12 promotion, to be placed at the top of the list of selectees

13 promulgated by the Secretary under section 271(a) of this

14 title. The number of officers that a board may recommend

15 to be placed at the top of the list of selectees may not

16 exceed the percentages set forth in subsection (b) unless

17 such a percentage is a number less than one, in which

18 case the board may recommend one officer for such place19 ment. No officer may be recommended to be placed at the

20 top of the list of selectees unless he or she receives the

21 recommendation of at least a majority of the members of

22 a board composed of five members, or at least two-thirds

23 of the members of a board composed of more than five

24 members.’’;
9

•S 1089 IS

1 (2) in section 260(a), by inserting ‘‘and the

2 names of those officers recommended to be advanced

3 to the top of the list of selectees established by the

4 Secretary under section 271(a) of this title’’ after

5 ‘‘promotion’’; and

6 (3) in section 271(a), by inserting at the end

7 thereof the following: ‘‘The names of all officers ap8 proved by the President and recommended by the

9 board to be placed at the top of the list of selectees

10 shall be placed at the top of the list of selectees in

11 the order of seniority on the active duty promotion

12 list.’’.

13 TITLE III—MARINE SAFETY

14 SEC. 301. EXTENSION OF TERRITORIAL SEA FOR VESSEL

15 BRIDGE-TO-BRIDGE RADIOTELEPHONE ACT.

16 Section 4(b) of the Vessel Bridge-to-Bridge Radio17 telephone Act (33 U.S.C. 1203(b)), is amended by striking

18 ‘‘United States inside the lines established pursuant to

19 section 2 of the Act of February 19, 1895 (28 Stat. 672),

20 as amended.’’ and inserting ‘‘United States, which in21 cludes all waters of the territorial sea of the United States

22 as described in Presidential Proclamation 5928 of Decem23 ber 27, 1988.’’.
10

•S 1089 IS

1 SEC. 302. REPORT ON ICEBREAKING SERVICES.

2 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 9 months after the date

3 of enactment of this Act, the Commandant of the Coast

4 Guard shall submit to the Committee on Commerce,

5 Science, and Transportation of the Senate, and the Com6 mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House,

7 a report on the use of WYTL-class harbor tugs. The re8 port shall include an analysis of the use of such vessels

9 to perform icebreaking services; the degree to which, if

10 any, the decommissioning of each such vessel would result

11 in a degradation of current icebreaking services; and in

12 the event that the decommissioning of any such vessel

13 would result in a significant degradation of icebreaking

14 services, recommendations to remediate such degradation.

15 (b) 9-MONTH WAITING PERIOD.—The Commandant

16 of the Coast Guard shall not plan, implement or finalize

17 any regulation or take any other action which would result

18 in the decommissioning of any WYTL-class harbor tugs

19 until 9 months after the date of the submission of the re20 port required by subsection (a) of this section.

21 SEC. 303. OIL SPILL LIABILITY TRUST FUND ANNUAL RE22 PORT.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The report regarding the Oil Spill

24 Liability Trust Fund required by the Conference Report

25 (House Report 101–892) accompanying the Department

26 of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations
11

•S 1089 IS

1 Act, 1991, as that requirement was amended by section

2 1122 of the Federal Reports Elimination and Sunset Act

3 of 1995 (26 U.S.C. 9509 note), shall no longer be sub4 mitted to Congress.

5 (b) REPEAL.—Section 1122 of the Federal Reports

6 Elimination and Sunset Act of 1995 (26 U.S.C. 9509

7 note) is amended by—

8 (1) striking subsection (a); and

9 (2) striking ‘‘(b) REPORT ON JOINT FEDERAL

10 AND STATE MOTOR FUEL TAX COMPLIANCE

11 PROJECT.—’’.

12 SEC. 304. OIL SPILL LIABILITY TRUST FUND; EMERGENCY

13 FUND BORROWING AUTHORITY.

14 Section 6002(b) of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33

15 U.S.C. 2752(b)) is amended after the first sentence by

16 inserting ‘‘To the extent that such amount is not adequate

17 for removal of a discharge or the mitigation or prevention

18 of a substantial threat of a discharge, the Coast Guard

19 may borrow from the Fund such sums as may be nec20 essary, up to a maximum of $100,000,000, and within 30

21 days shall notify Congress of the amount borrowed and

22 the facts and circumstances necessitating the loan.

23 Amounts borrowed shall be repaid to the Fund when, and

24 to the extent that removal costs are recovered by the Coast
12

•S 1089 IS

1 Guard from responsible parties for the discharge or sub2 stantial threat of discharge.’’.

Æ