104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 2940

AN ACT

To amend the Deepwater Port Act of 1974.
104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 2940

AN ACT

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’’.
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1 SEC. 2. DECLARATIONS OF PURPOSE AND POLICY.

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

3 (1) update and improve the Deepwater Port Act

4 of 1974;

5 (2) assure that the regulation of deepwater

6 ports is not more burdensome or stringent than nec7 essary in comparison to the regulation of other

8 modes of importing or transporting oil;

9 (3) recognize that deepwater ports are generally

10 subject to effective competition from alternative

11 transportation modes and eliminate, for as long as

12 a port remains subject to effective competition, un13 necessary Federal regulatory oversight or involve14 ment in the ports’ business and economic decisions;

15 and

16 (4) promote innovation, flexibility, and effi17 ciency in the management and operation of deep18 water ports by removing or reducing any duplicative,

19 unnecessary, or overly burdensome Federal regula20 tions or license provisions.

21 (b) POLICY.—Section 2(a) of the Deepwater Port Act

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

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

24 (3);

25 (2) by striking the period at the end of para26 graph (4) and inserting a semicolon; and
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1 (3) by inserting at the end the following:

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

3 deepwater ports as a safe and effective means of im4 porting oil into the United States and transporting

5 oil from the outer continental shelf while minimizing

6 tanker traffic and the risks attendant thereto; and

7 ‘‘(6) promote oil production on the outer con8 tinental shelf by affording an economic and safe

9 means of transportation of outer continental shelf oil

10 to the United States mainland.’’.

11 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

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

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

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

15 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (4) through

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

17 (b) DEEPWATER PORT.—The first sentence of sec18 tion 3(9) of such Act, as redesignated by subsection (a),

19 is amended by striking ‘‘such structures,’’ and all that fol20 lows through ‘‘section 23.’’ and inserting the following:

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

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

23 for use as a port or terminal for the transportation, stor24 age, and further handling of oil for transportation to any

25 State, except as otherwise provided in section 23, and for
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1 other uses not inconsistent with the purposes of this Act,

2 including transportation of oil from the United States

3 outer continental shelf.’’.

4 SEC. 4. LICENSES.

5 (a) ELIMINATION OF UTILIZATION RESTRICTIONS.—

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

7 U.S.C. 1503(a)) is amended by striking all that follows

8 the second sentence.

9 (b) ELIMINATION OF PRECONDITION TO LICENS10 ING.—Section 4(c) of such Act is amended—

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

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

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

14 (c) CONDITIONS PRESCRIBED BY SECRETARY.—Sec15 tion 4(e)(1) of such Act is amended by striking the first

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

17 for the ownership, construction, and operation of a deep18 water port, the Secretary shall prescribe those conditions

19 which the Secretary deems necessary to carry out the pro20 visions and requirements of this Act or which are other21 wise required by any Federal department or agency pursu22 ant to the terms of this Act. To the extent practicable,

23 conditions required to carry out the provisions and re24 quirements of this Act shall be addressed in license condi25 tions rather than by regulation and, to the extent prac-
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1 ticable, the license shall allow a deepwater port’s operating

2 procedures to be stated in an operations manual approved

3 by the Coast Guard rather than in detailed and specific

4 license conditions or regulations; except that basic stand5 ards and conditions shall be addressed in regulations.’’.

6 (d) ELIMINATION OF RESTRICTION RELATING TO

7 APPLICATIONS.—Section 4(e)(2) of such Act is amended

8 by striking ‘‘application’’ and inserting ‘‘license’’.

9 (e) FINDINGS REQUIRED FOR TRANSFERS.—Section

10 4(f) of such Act is amended to read as follows:

11 ‘‘(f) AMENDMENTS, TRANSFERS, AND REINSTATE12 MENTS.—The Secretary may amend, transfer, or reinstate

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

14 the amendment, transfer, or reinstatement is consistent

15 with the requirements of this Act.’’.

16 SEC. 5. INFORMATIONAL FILINGS.

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

18 U.S.C. 1504(c)) is amended by adding the following:

19 ‘‘(3) Upon written request of any person subject to

20 this subsection, the Secretary may make a determination

21 in writing to exempt such person from any of the informa22 tional filing provisions enumerated in this subsection or

23 the regulations implementing this section if the Secretary

24 determines that such information is not necessary to facili25 tate the Secretary’s determinations under section 4 of this
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1 Act and that such exemption will not limit public review

2 and evaluation of the deepwater port project.’’.

3 SEC. 6. ANTITRUST REVIEW.

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

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

6 SEC. 7. OPERATION.

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

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

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

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

11 or convey without discrimination all oil delivered to the

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

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

14 such Act is amended by striking the first sentence and

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

16 following: ‘‘A licensee is not discriminating under this sec17 tion and’’.

18 SEC. 8. MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND NAVI19 GATIONAL SAFETY.

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

21 U.S.C. 1509(a)) is amended—

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

23 following: ‘‘and the provision of adequate opportuni24 ties for public involvement’’;
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1 (2) by striking ‘‘shall prescribe by regulation

2 and enforce procedures with respect to any deep3 water port, including, but not limited to,’’ and in4 serting the following: ‘‘shall prescribe and enforce

5 procedures, either by regulation (for basic standards

6 and conditions) or by the licensee’s operations man7 ual, with respect to’’; and

8 (3) by redesignating clauses (A), (B), and (C)

9 as clauses (1), (2), and (3), respectively.

Passed the House of Representatives September 18,

1996.

Attest:

Clerk.