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Union Calendar No. 360

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 2940

[Report No. 104–692, Part I]

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

JULY 18, 1996

Reported from the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure with an

amendment

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

JULY 18, 1996

Referral to the Committee on the Judiciary extended for a period ending not

later than July 18, 1996

JULY 18, 1996

Committee discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on

the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on February 1, 1996]

A BILL

To amend the Deepwater Port Act of 1974.
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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. DECLARATIONS OF PURPOSE AND POLICY.

7 (a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to—

8 (1) update and improve the Deepwater Port Act

9 of 1974;

10 (2) assure that the regulation of deepwater ports

11 is not more burdensome or stringent than necessary

12 in comparison to the regulation of other modes of im13 porting or transporting oil;

14 (3) recognize that deepwater ports are generally

15 subject to effective competition from alternative trans16 portation modes and eliminate, for as long as a port

17 remains subject to effective competition, unnecessary

18 Federal regulatory oversight or involvement in the

19 ports’ business and economic decisions; and

20 (4) promote innovation, flexibility, and effi21 ciency in the management and operation of deepwater

22 ports by removing or reducing any duplicative, un23 necessary, or overly burdensome Federal regulations

24 or license provisions.
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1 (b) POLICY.—Section 2(a) of the Deepwater Port Act

2 of 1974 (33 U.S.C. 1501(a)) is amended—

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

4 (3);

5 (2) by striking the period at the end of para6 graph (4) and inserting a semicolon; and

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

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

9 deepwater ports as a safe and effective means of im10 porting oil into the United States and transporting

11 oil from the outer continental shelf while minimizing

12 tanker traffic and the risks attendant thereto; and

13 ‘‘(6) promote oil production on the outer con14 tinental shelf by affording an economic and safe

15 means of transportation of outer continental shelf oil

16 to the United States mainland.’’.

17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

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

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

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

21 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (4) through (19)

22 as paragraphs (3) through (18), respectively.

23 (b) DEEPWATER PORT.—The first sentence of section

24 3(9) of such Act, as redesignated by subsection (a), is

25 amended by striking ‘‘such structures,’’ and all that follows
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1 through ‘‘section 23.’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘struc2 tures, located beyond the territorial sea and off the coast

3 of the United States and which are used or intended for

4 use as a port or terminal for the transportation, storage,

5 and further handling of oil for transportation to any State,

6 except as otherwise provided in section 23, and for other

7 uses not inconsistent with the purposes of this Act, includ8 ing transportation of oil from the United States outer con9 tinental shelf.’’.

10 SEC. 4. LICENSES.

11 (a) ELIMINATION OF UTILIZATION RESTRICTIONS.—

12 Section 4(a) of the Deepwater Port Act of 1974 (33 U.S.C.

13 1503(a)) is amended by striking all that follows the second

14 sentence.

15 (b) ELIMINATION OF PRECONDITION TO LICENSING.—

16 Section 4(c) of such Act is amended—

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

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

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

20 (c) CONDITIONS PRESCRIBED BY SECRETARY.—Sec21 tion 4(e)(1) of such Act is amended by striking the first

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

23 for the ownership, construction, and operation of a deep24 water port, the Secretary shall prescribe those conditions

25 which the Secretary deems necessary to carry out the provi-
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1 sions and requirements of this Act or which are otherwise

2 required by any Federal department or agency pursuant

3 to the terms of this Act. To the extent practicable, conditions

4 required to carry out the provisions and requirements of

5 this Act shall be addressed in license conditions rather than

6 by regulation and, to the extent practicable, the license shall

7 allow a deepwater port’s operating procedures to be stated

8 in an operations manual approved by the Coast Guard

9 rather than in detailed and specific license conditions or

10 regulations; except that basic standards and conditions

11 shall be addressed in regulations.’’.

12 (d) ELIMINATION OF RESTRICTION RELATING TO AP13 PLICATIONS.—Section 4(e)(2) of such Act is amended by

14 striking ‘‘application’’ and inserting ‘‘license’’.

15 (e) FINDINGS REQUIRED FOR TRANSFERS.—Section

16 4(f) of such Act is amended to read as follows:

17 ‘‘(f) AMENDMENTS, TRANSFERS, AND REINSTATE18 MENTS.—The Secretary may amend, transfer, or reinstate

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

20 the amendment, transfer, or reinstatement is consistent

21 with the requirements of this Act.’’.

22 SEC. 5. INFORMATIONAL FILINGS.

23 Section 5(c) of the Deepwater Port Act of 1974 (33

24 U.S.C. 1504(c)) is amended by adding the following:
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1 ‘‘(3) Upon written request of any person subject to this

2 subsection, the Secretary may make a determination in

3 writing to exempt such person from any of the informa4 tional filing provisions enumerated in this subsection or the

5 regulations implementing this section if the Secretary deter6 mines that such information is not necessary to facilitate

7 the Secretary’s determinations under section 4 of this Act

8 and that such exemption will not limit public review and

9 evaluation of the deepwater port project.’’.

10 SEC. 6. ANTITRUST REVIEW.

11 Section 7 of the Deepwater Port Act of 1974 (33 U.S.C.

12 1506) is repealed.

13 SEC. 7. OPERATION.

14 (a) AS COMMON CARRIER.—Section 8(a) of the Deep15 water Port Act of 1974 (33 U.S.C. 1507(a)) is amended

16 by inserting after ‘‘subtitle IV of title 49, United States

17 Code,’’ the following: ‘‘and shall accept, transport, or convey

18 without discrimination all oil delivered to the deepwater

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

20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 8(b) of such

21 Act is amended by striking the first sentence and the first

22 3 words of the second sentence and inserting the following:

23 ‘‘A licensee is not discriminating under this section 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—

5 (1) by inserting after ‘‘international law’’ the

6 following: ‘‘and the provision of adequate opportuni7 ties for public involvement’’;

8 (2) by striking ‘‘shall prescribe by regulation

9 and enforce procedures with respect to any deepwater

10 port, including, but not limited to,’’ and inserting the

11 following: ‘‘shall prescribe and enforce procedures, ei12 ther by regulation (for basic standards and condi13 tions) or by the licensee’s operations manual, with re14 spect to’’; and

15 (3) by redesignating clauses (A), (B), and (C) as

16 clauses (1), (2), and (3), respectively.
Union Calendar No. 360

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 2940

[Report No. 104–692, Part I]

A BILL

To amend the Deepwater Port Act of 1974.

JULY 18, 1996

Reported from the Committee on Transportation and

Infrastructure with an amendment

JULY 18, 1996

Referral to the Committee on the Judiciary extended for

a period ending not later than July 18, 1996

JULY 18, 1996

Committee discharged; committed to the Committee of

dered to be printedthe Whole House on the State of the Union and or-