II 

Calendar No. 197 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 576 

To amend title 14, United States Code, to require the Coast Guard to 

conduct icebreaking operations in the Great Lakes to minimize commercial disruption in the winter months, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 3, 2021 

Ms. BALDWIN (for herself, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. PETERS, Mr. CASEY, and Ms. 

SMITH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

DECEMBER 16, 2021 

Reported by Ms. CANTWELL, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To amend title 14, United States Code, to require the Coast 

Guard to conduct icebreaking operations in the Great 

Lakes to minimize commercial disruption in the winter 

months, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Great Lakes Winter 

3 Commerce Act of 2021’’. 

4 SEC. 2. GREAT LAKES ICEBREAKING OPERATIONS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter IV of chapter 5 of 

6 title 14, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

7 end the following: 

8 ‘‘§ 564. Great Lakes icebreaking operations 

9 ‘‘(a) ICEBREAKING OPERATIONS.—The Commandant 

10 shall conduct icebreaking operations in the Great Lakes 

11 in accordance with the standard for icebreaking operations 

12 under subsection (b). 

13 ‘‘(b) STANDARD FOR ICEBREAKING OPERATIONS.— 

14 In carrying out subsection (a)— 

15 ‘‘(1) except as provided in paragraph (2), the 

16 Commandant shall keep ice-covered waterways in the 

17 Great Lakes open to navigation not less than 90 

18 percent of the hours that commercial vessels and fer19 ries attempt to transit such ice-covered waterways; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(2) in a year in which the Great Lakes are not 

22 open to navigation because of ice of a thickness that 

23 occurs on average only once every 10 years, the 

24 Coast Guard shall keep ice-covered waterways in the 

25 Great Lakes open to navigation at least 70 percent 


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1 of the hours that commercial vessels and ferries at2 tempt to transit such ice-covered waterways. 

3 ‘‘(c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) DEADLINE.—Not later than July 1 of each 

5 year, the Commandant shall submit to Congress a 

6 report on the icebreaking operations conducted by 

7 the Coast Guard in the Great Lakes for the fiscal 

8 year. 

9 ‘‘(2) CONTENT.—The report required under 

10 paragraph (1) shall include the total number of 

11 hours that United States icebreakers conducted 

12 icebreaking operations in each of the types of Great 

13 Lakes waters described in paragraph (3) and the 

14 total number of hours that Canadian icebreakers 

15 conducted icebreaking operations in the type of 

16 Great Lakes waters described in subparagraphs 

17 (3)(A) and (3)(C). 

18 ‘‘(3) TYPES OF GREAT LAKES WATERS.—The 

19 types of waters described in this paragraph are— 

20 ‘‘(A) United States waters, excluding 

21 waters described in subparagraph (C); 

22 ‘‘(B) Canadian waters, excluding waters 

23 described in subparagraph (C); and 

24 ‘‘(C) frequent border crossing waters. 


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1 ‘‘(d) COORDINATION WITH INDUSTRY.—The Com2 mandant shall coordinate Great Lakes icebreaking oper3 ations with operators of commercial vessels. 

4 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

5 ‘‘(1) COMMERCIAL VESSEL.—The term ‘com6 mercial vessel’ means any privately owned cargo ves7 sel of at least 500 tons, as measured under section 

8 14502 of title 46 or an alternate tonnage measured 

9 under section 14302 of such title as prescribed by 

10 the Secretary under section 14104 of such title, op11 erating in the Great Lakes during the winter season. 

12 ‘‘(2) GREAT LAKES.—The term ‘Great 

13 Lakes’— 

14 ‘‘(A) has the meaning given such term in 

15 section 118 of the Federal Water Pollution 

16 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1268); and 

17 ‘‘(B) includes harbors. 

18 ‘‘(3) ICE-COVERED WATERWAY.—The term ‘ice19 covered waterway’ means any portion of the Great 

20 Lakes in which commercial vessels operate that is 70 

21 percent or greater covered by ice, but does not in22 clude any waters adjacent to piers or docks for 

23 which commercial icebreaking services are available 

24 and adequate for the ice conditions. 


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1 ‘‘(4) OPEN TO NAVIGATION.—The term ‘open to 

2 navigation’ means navigable to the extent necessary 

3 to meet the reasonable demands of commerce, mini4 mize delays to passenger ferries, extricate vessels 

5 and persons from danger, prevent damage due to 

6 flooding, and conduct other Coast Guard missions as 

7 required. 

8 ‘‘(5) REASONABLE DEMANDS OF COMMERCE.— 

9 The term ‘reasonable demands of commerce’ means 

10 the safe movement of commercial vessels transiting 

11 ice-covered waterways in the Great Lakes, regardless 

12 of type of cargo, at a speed consistent with the de13 sign capability of Coast Guard icebreakers operating 

14 in the Great Lakes. 

15 ‘‘(6) FREQUENT BORDER CROSSING WATERS.— 

16 The term ‘frequent border crossing waters’ means 

17 the United States waters and Canadian waters of— 

18 ‘‘(A) Whitefish Bay in Lake Superior; 

19 ‘‘(B) the St. Mary’s River; 

20 ‘‘(C) the Detroit and St. Clair rivers sys21 tem; and 

22 ‘‘(D) Western Lake Erie from the Detroit 

23 River to Pelee Passage.’’. 


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

2 for chapter 5 of title 14, United States Code, is amended 

3 by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘564. Great Lakes icebreaking operations.’’. 

4 (c) REPORT.—Not later than the first July 1 after 

5 the first winter in which the Commandant of the Coast 

6 Guard is subject to the requirements of section 564 of title 

7 14, United States Code, the Commandant shall submit to 

8 the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of 

9 the House of Representatives and the Committee on Com10 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report 

11 on the cost to the Coast Guard of meeting the require12 ments of such section. 

13 SEC. 3. GREAT LAKES ICEBREAKER ACQUISITION. 

14 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—Section 8107(a) of the Elijah 

15 E. Cummings Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2020 

16 (Public Law 116–283) is amended by striking 

17 ‘‘$160,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$350,000,000’’. 

18 (b) EXEMPTION.—Notwithstanding sections 

19 1105(a)(2), 1131, and 1132 of title 14, United States 

20 Code, and the requirements in the Competition in Con21 tracting Act (10 U.S.C. 2304), and subject to the avail22 ability of appropriations, the Commandant shall acquire 

23 the icebreaker described in section 8107(a) of the Elijah 

24 E. Cummings Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2020 

25 (Public Law 116–283) through other than full and open 


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1 competition in an accelerated timeframe and award the 

2 contract on the basis of contractor qualification and price. 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Great Lakes Winter 

5 Commerce Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. GREAT LAKES ICEBREAKING OPERATIONS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter IV of chapter 5 of title 

8 14, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

9 the following: 

10 ‘‘§ 564. Great Lakes icebreaking operations 

11 ‘‘(a) GAO REPORT.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

13 the date of the enactment of this section, the Comp14 troller General of the United States shall submit to 

15 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor16 tation of the Senate and the Committee on Transpor17 tation and Infrastructure of the House of Representa18 tives a report on the Coast Guard Great Lakes 

19 icebreaking program. 

20 ‘‘(2) ELEMENTS.—The report required under 

21 paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

22 ‘‘(A) An evaluation of the economic impact 

23 related to vessel delays or cancellations associ24 ated with ice coverage on the Great Lakes. 

25 ‘‘(B) An evaluation of mission needs. 


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1 ‘‘(C) An evaluation of the impact that the 

2 proposed standards described in subsection (b) 

3 would have on— 

4 ‘‘(i) Coast Guard operations in the 

5 Great Lakes; 

6 ‘‘(ii) Northeast icebreaking missions; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(iii) inland waterway operations. 

9 ‘‘(D) A fleet mix analysis for meeting such 

10 proposed standards. 

11 ‘‘(E) A description of any resources nec12 essary to support the fleet mix resulting from 

13 such fleet mix analysis, including for crew and 

14 operating costs. 

15 ‘‘(F) Recommendations to the Commandant 

16 for improvements to the Great Lakes icebreaking 

17 program, including with respect to facilitating 

18 commerce and meeting all Coast Guard mission 

19 needs. 

20 ‘‘(b) PROPOSED STANDARDS FOR ICEBREAKING OPER21 ATIONS.—The proposed standards described in this sub22 section are the following: 

23 ‘‘(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the 

24 Commandant shall keep ice-covered waterways in the 

25 Great Lakes open to navigation not less than 90 perVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 Dec 17, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S576.RS S576

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1 cent of the hours that commercial vessels and ferries 

2 attempt to transit such ice-covered waterways. 

3 ‘‘(2) In a year in which the Great Lakes are not 

4 open to navigation because of ice of a thickness that 

5 occurs on average only once every 10 years, the Com6 mandant shall keep ice-covered waterways in the 

7 Great Lakes open to navigation at least 70 percent of 

8 the hours that commercial vessels and ferries attempt 

9 to transit such ice-covered waterways. 

10 ‘‘(c) REPORT BY COMMANDANT.—Not later than 90 

11 days after the date on which the Comptroller General sub12 mits the report under subsection (a), the Commandant shall 

13 submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans14 portation of the Senate and the Committee on Transpor15 tation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives 

16 a report that includes the following: 

17 ‘‘(1) A plan for Coast Guard implementation of 

18 any recommendation made by the Comptroller Gen19 eral under subparagraph (F) of subsection (a)(2) the 

20 Commandant considers appropriate. 

21 ‘‘(2) With respect to any recommendation made 

22 under such subparagraph that the Commandant de23 clines to implement, a justification for such decision. 


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1 ‘‘(3) A review of, and a proposed implementation 

2 plan for, the results of the fleet mix analysis under 

3 subparagraph (D) of that subsection. 

4 ‘‘(4) Any proposed modifications to the stand5 ards for icebreaking operations in the Great Lakes.’’. 

6 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of analysis for 

7 chapter 5 of title 14, United States Code, is amended by 

8 adding at the end the following: 

‘‘564. Great Lakes icebreaking operations.’’. 

9 SEC. 3. DATABASE ON ICEBREAKING OPERATIONS IN THE 

10 GREAT LAKES. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commandant of the Coast 

12 Guard (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Commandant’’) shall 

13 establish and maintain a database for collecting, archiving, 

14 and disseminating data on icebreaking operations and com15 mercial vessel transit in the Great Lakes during ice season. 

16 (b) ELEMENTS.—The database required under sub17 section (a) shall include the following: 

18 (1) Attempts by commercial vessels and ferries to 

19 transit ice-covered waterways in the Great Lakes that 

20 are unsuccessful because of inadequate icebreaking. 

21 (2) The period of time that each commercial ves22 sel or ferry was unsuccessful at transiting due to in23 adequate icebreaking. 

24 (3) The amount of time elapsed before each such 

25 commercial vessel or ferry was successfully broken out 


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1 of the ice and whether it was accomplished by the 

2 Coast Guard or commercial icebreaking assets. 

3 (4) Relevant communications of each such com4 mercial vessel or ferry with the Coast Guard and 

5 commercial icebreaking services during such period. 

6 (5) A description of any mitigating cir7 cumstance, such as Coast Guard icebreaker diversions 

8 to higher priority missions that may have contributed 

9 to the amount of time described in paragraph (3). 

10 (c) VOLUNTARY REPORTING.—Any reporting by opera11 tors of commercial vessels or ferries under this Act shall 

12 be voluntary. 

13 (d) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Commandant shall 

14 make the database available to the public on a publicly ac15 cessible internet website of the Coast Guard. 

16 (e) CONSULTATION WITH INDUSTRY.—With respect to 

17 the Great Lakes icebreaking operations of the Coast Guard 

18 and the development of the database required under sub19 section (a), the Commandant shall consult operators of com20 mercial vessels and ferries. 

21 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

22 (1) COMMERCIAL VESSEL.—The term ‘‘commer23 cial vessel’’ means any privately owned cargo vessel 

24 of at least 500 tons, as measured under section 14502 

25 of title 46, or an alternate tonnage measured under 


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1 section 14302 of such title as prescribed by the Sec2 retary under section 14104 of such title, operating in 

3 the Great Lakes during the winter season. 

4 (2) GREAT LAKES.—The term ‘‘Great Lakes’’ 

5 means the United States waters of Lake Superior, 

6 Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, and Lake 

7 Ontario, their connecting waterways, and their adja8 cent harbors. 

9 (3) ICE-COVERED WATERWAY.—The term ‘‘ice10 covered waterway’’ means any portion of the Great 

11 Lakes in which commercial vessels operate that is 70 

12 percent or greater covered by ice, but does not include 

13 any waters adjacent to piers or docks for which com14 mercial icebreaking services are available and ade15 quate for the ice conditions. 

16 (4) OPEN TO NAVIGATION.—The term ‘‘open to 

17 navigation’’ means navigable to the extent necessary 

18 to meet the reasonable demands of commerce, mini19 mize delays to passenger ferries, extricate vessels and 

20 persons from danger, prevent damage due to flooding, 

21 and conduct other Coast Guard missions as required. 

22 (5) REASONABLE DEMANDS OF COMMERCE.—The 

23 term ‘‘reasonable demands of commerce’’ means the 

24 safe movement of commercial vessels transiting ice25 covered waterways in the Great Lakes, regardless of 


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1 type of cargo, at a speed consistent with the design 

2 capability of Coast Guard icebreakers operating in 

3 the Great Lakes. 

4 (g) PUBLIC BRIEFING.—Not later than the first July 

5 1 after the first winter in which the Commandant is subject 

6 to the requirements of section 564 of title 14, United States 

7 Code, the Commandant shall publish on a publicly acces8 sible internet website of the Coast Guard a briefing on the 

9 cost to the Coast Guard of meeting the requirements of such 

10 section. 

11 SEC. 4. GREAT LAKES ICEBREAKER ACQUISITION. 

12 Of the amounts authorized to be appropriated by sec13 tion 4902(2)(A)(ii) of title 14, United States Code, 

14 $350,000,000 shall be made available to the Commandant 

15 for fiscal year 2022 for the acquisition of a Great Lakes 

16 icebreaker at least as capable as Coast Guard Cutter Macki17 naw (WLBB–30). 


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Calendar No. 197 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 576 

A BILL 

To amend title 14, United States Code, to require 

other purposes. cial disruption in the winter months, and for ations in the Great Lakes to minimize commerthe Coast Guard to conduct icebreaking operDECEMBER 16, 2021 

Reported with an amendment 


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