I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 2940

To amend the Deepwater Port Act of 1974.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 1, 1996

Mr. HAYES (for himself, Mr. TAUZIN, Mr. BAKER of Louisiana, Mr. JEFFERSON, and Mr. MCCRERY) introduced the following bill; which was referred

to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition

to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To amend the Deepwater Port Act of 1974.

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 ‘‘Deepwater Port Mod5 ernization Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. DECLARATION OF POLICY.

7 Section 2(a) of the Deepwater Port Act of 1974 (33

8 U.S.C. 1501(a)) is amended—

9 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

10 (3);
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1 (2) by striking the period at the end of para2 graph (4) and inserting a semicolon; and

3 (3) by inserting at the end the following:

4 ‘‘(5) promote the construction and operation of

5 deepwater ports as a safe and effective means of im6 porting oil into the United States and transporting

7 oil from the outer continental shelf while minimizing

8 tanker traffic and the risks attendant thereto and

9 assure that the regulation of deepwater ports is not

10 more burdensome or stringent than that applicable

11 to persons engaged in at-sea vessel-to-vessel oil

12 transfers;

13 ‘‘(6) recognize that deepwater ports are gen14 erally subject to effective competition from alter15 native transportation modes and eliminate, for as

16 long as a port remains subject to effective competi17 tion, unnecessary Federal regulatory oversight or in18 volvement in the ports’ business and economic deci19 sions;

20 ‘‘(7) promote innovation, flexibility, and effi21 ciency in the management and operation of deep22 water ports by assuring that they are not subject to

23 duplicative, unnecessary or overly burdensome Fed24 eral regulations or license provisions;
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1 ‘‘(8) promote oil production on the outer con2 tinental shelf by affording an economic and safe

3 means of transportation of outer continental shelf oil

4 to the United States mainland; and

5 ‘‘(9) clarify authority of the States to assess

6 costs and fees on deepwater ports and associated on7 shore facilities.’’.

8 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

9 (a) ANTITRUST LAWS.—Section 3 of the Deepwater

10 Port Act of 1974 (33 U.S.C. 1502) is amended—

11 (1) by striking paragraph (3); and

12 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (4) through

13 (19) as paragraphs (3) through (18), respectively.

14 (b) DEEPWATER PORT.—The first sentence of sec15 tion 3(9) of such Act, as redesignated by subsection (a),

16 is amended by striking ‘‘such structures,’’ and all that fol17 lows through ‘‘section 23.’’ and inserting the following:

18 ‘‘structures, located beyond the territorial sea and off the

19 coast of the United States and which are used or intended

20 for use as a port or terminal for the transportation, stor21 age, and further handling of oil for transportation to any

22 State, except as otherwise provided in section 23, and for

23 other uses not inconsistent with the purposes of this Act,

24 including transportation of oil from the United States,

25 outer continental shelf.’’.
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1 SEC. 4. LICENSES.

2 (a) ELIMINATION OF UTILIZATION RESTRICTIONS.—

3 Section 4(a) of the Deepwater Port Act of 1974 (33

4 U.S.C. 1503(a)) is amended by striking the last sentence.

5 (b) ELIMINATION OF PRECONDITION TO LICENS6 ING.—Section 4(c) of such Act is amended—

7 (1) by striking paragraph (7); and

8 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (8), (9), and

9 (10) as paragraphs (7), (8), and (9), respectively.

10 (c) CONDITIONS PRESCRIBED BY SECRETARY.—Sec11 tion 4(e)(1) of such Act is amended by striking the first

12 sentence and inserting the following: ‘‘In issuing a license

13 for the ownership, construction, and operation of a deep14 water port, the Secretary shall prescribe only those condi15 tions which the Secretary deems necessary to carry out

16 the provisions of this Act or which are otherwise required

17 by any Federal department or agency pursuant to the

18 terms of this Act. Such conditions may include reasonable

19 and appropriate environmental monitoring requirements if

20 such requirements are directly related to reasonably an21 ticipated environmental impacts from the port and, in the

22 absence of data demonstrating a clear need for continued

23 monitoring, do not extend beyond 3 years from the date

24 of commencement of operations. To the maximum extent

25 possible, conditions required to carry out the provisions

26 of this Act shall be addressed in license conditions rather
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1 than by regulation and, to the maximum extent possible,

2 the license shall allow a deepwater port’s operating proce3 dures to be stated in an operations manual, approved by

4 the Coast Guard, in accordance with section 10(a) of this

5 Act, rather than in detailed and specific license conditions

6 or regulations. Amendments of a license or operations

7 manual shall not be considered rulemakings or adjudica8 tions within the meaning of chapter 5 of title 5, United

9 States Code, relating to administrative procedure, and

10 may be accomplished in accordance with such informal

11 procedures as the Secretary determines appropriate given

12 the issues involved.’’.

13 (d) ELIMINATION OF RESTRICTION ON TRANS14 FERS.—Section 4(e)(2) of such Act is amended by striking

15 ‘‘(A) there will be no substantial change from the plans,

16 operational systems, and methods, procedures, and safe17 guards set forth in his application, as approved, without

18 prior approval in writing from the Secretary; and (B)’’.

19 (e) FINDINGS REQUIRED FOR TRANSFERS.—Section

20 4(f) of such Act is amended to read as follows:

21 ‘‘(f) The Secretary may amend, transfer, or reinstate

22 a license issued under this Act if the Secretary finds that

23 the amendment, transfer, or reinstatement is consistent

24 with the purposes of this Act.’’.
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1 SEC. 5. PROCEDURE.

2 Section 5(h)(2) of the Deepwater Port Act of 1974

3 (33 U.S.C. 1504(h)(2)) is amended by inserting before the

4 last sentence the following: ‘‘Any fees assessed under this

5 paragraph upon or incurred by a licensee for environ6 mental monitoring required by an adjacent coastal State

7 shall not be considered reasonable within the meaning of

8 this section unless the environmental monitoring required

9 conforms to the criteria specified in section 4(e)(1) of this

10 Act.’’.

11 SEC. 6. ANTITRUST REVIEW.

12 Section 7 of the Deepwater Port Act of 1974 (33

13 U.S.C. 1506) is repealed.

14 SEC. 7. OPERATION.

15 (a) AS COMMON CARRIER.—Section 8(a) of the

16 Deepwater Port Act of 1974 (33 U.S.C. 1507(a)) is

17 amended by inserting after ‘‘subtitle IV of title 49, United

18 States Code,’’ the following: ‘‘and shall accept, transport,

19 or convey without discrimination all oil delivered to the

20 deepwater port with respect to which its license is issued,’’.

21 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 8(b) of

22 such Act is amended by striking the first sentence and

23 the first 3 words of the second sentence and inserting the

24 following: ‘‘A licensee is not discriminating under this sec25 tion and’’.
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1 SEC. 8. MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND NAVI2 GATIONAL SAFETY.

3 Section 10(a) of the Deepwater Port Act of 1974 (33

4 U.S.C. 1509(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘shall prescribe’’

5 and all that follows through the period at the end and

6 inserting the following: ‘‘shall publish guidance regarding

7 preparation by a licensee of an operations manual, which

8 shall address facility description, tanker navigation proce9 dures, cargo transfer procedures, safety and fire protec10 tion, maintenance procedures and emergency drills. A li11 censee’s operations manual, and proposed changes to the

12 operations manual, shall be reviewed and approved by the

13 Coast Guard. Compliance by a licensee with its operations

14 manual shall constitute compliance with all governmental

15 requirements applicable to the subjects addressed in the

16 operations manual.’’.

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