I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7416 

To amend title 46, United States Code, to allow the Administrator of the 

Maritime Administration to provide assistance to the owners and operators of certain ports and terminals, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 30, 2020 

Mr. BOST (for himself, Mr. LAMB, Mr. GIBBS, Mr. RESCHENTHALER, Mrs. 

HARTZLER, Mr. LOEBSACK, and Mrs. MILLER) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend title 46, United States Code, to allow the Administrator of the Maritime Administration to provide assistance to the owners and operators of certain ports and 

terminals, 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 ‘‘Coastal and Inland 

5 Ports and Terminals Commerce Improvement Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ASSISTANCE FOR INLAND AND SMALL COASTAL 

2 PORTS AND TERMINALS. 

3 Section 50302 of title 46, United States Code, is 

4 amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (c)— 

6 (A) in paragraph (2) by adding at the end 

7 the following: 

8 ‘‘(H) In the case of a small project funded 

9 under subsection (d), a private entity or group 

10 of entities.’’; 

11 (B) in paragraph (6) by striking subpara12 graph (C); 

13 (C) in paragraph (7)(B) by striking ‘‘para14 graph (3)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (d)’’; 

15 (D) in paragraph (8)(B)— 

16 (i) in clause (i) by striking ‘‘under 

17 this subsection’’ and inserting ‘‘under this 

18 subsection and subsection (d)’’; and 

19 (ii) in clause (ii) by inserting ‘‘under 

20 subsection (d) or’’ after ‘‘project’’; and 

21 (E) in paragraph (11) by— 

22 (i) striking ‘‘under this subsection’’ 

23 and inserting ‘‘under this subsection and 

24 subsection (d)’’ each place such phrase ap25 pears; and 


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1 (ii) striking ‘‘fiscal year.’’ and insert2 ing ‘‘fiscal year, and shall be awarded as 

3 grants under the subsection for which the 

4 original grant was made.’’; 

5 (2) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub6 section (e); 

7 (3) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(d) ASSISTANCE FOR INLAND AND SMALL COASTAL

10 PORTS AND TERMINALS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Of amounts reserved under 

12 subsection (c)(7)(B), the Secretary, acting through 

13 the Administrator of the Maritime Administration, 

14 shall make grants under this subsection— 

15 ‘‘(A) to the owners or operators of a facil16 ity at a port, as such term is defined in sub17 section (c), to and from which the average an18 nual tonnage of cargo for the immediately pre19 ceding 3 calendar years from the time an appli20 cation is submitted is less than 8,000,000 short 

21 tons as determined using Corps of Engineers 

22 data; and 

23 ‘‘(B) for infrastructure improvements, 

24 equipment purchases, and capital investments 

25 at such a facility, including piers, wharves, 


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1 docks, terminals, and similar structures used 

2 principally for the movement of goods, including 

3 areas of land, water, or areas in proximity to 

4 such structure that are necessary for the move5 ment of goods. 

6 ‘‘(2) AWARDS.—In providing assistance under 

7 this subsection, the Secretary shall— 

8 ‘‘(A) take into account— 

9 ‘‘(i) the economic advantage and the 

10 contribution to freight transportation at an 

11 eligible facility; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) the competitive disadvantage of 

13 an eligible facility; 

14 ‘‘(B) not make more than 1 award per ap15 plicant for each fiscal year appropriation; and 

16 ‘‘(C) promote the enhancement and effi17 ciencies of an eligible facility. 

18 ‘‘(3) USE OF FUNDS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Assistance provided 

20 under this subsection may be used to— 

21 ‘‘(i) make capital improvements; 

22 ‘‘(ii) construct, improve, repair, or 

23 maintain transportation or physical infra24 structure, buildings, equipment, or facility 

25 security; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) perform planning activities re2 lated to carrying out an activity described 

3 in clause (i); and 

4 ‘‘(iv) otherwise fulfill the purposes for 

5 which such assistance is provided. 

6 ‘‘(B) ACQUISITION METHODS.—The Sec7 retary may not require as a condition of issuing 

8 a grant under this subsection— 

9 ‘‘(i) direct ownership of either a facil10 ity or equipment to be procured using 

11 funds awarded under this subsection; or 

12 ‘‘(ii) that equipment procured using 

13 such funds be new. 

14 ‘‘(4) PROHIBITED USES.—Funds provided 

15 under this subsection may not be used for— 

16 ‘‘(A) projects conducted on property lying 

17 outside port or terminal boundaries and not 

18 owned or leased by the applicant; 

19 ‘‘(B) any single grant award more than 10 

20 percent of total allocation of funds to carry out 

21 this subsection per fiscal year appropriation; or 

22 ‘‘(C) activities, including channel improve23 ments or harbor deepening, authorized, as of 

24 the date of the application for assistance under 


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1 this subsection, to be carried out by of the 

2 Corps of Engineers. 

3 ‘‘(5) MATCHING REQUIREMENTS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 

5 not provide assistance under this subsection un6 less the Secretary determines that sufficient 

7 funding is available to meet the matching re8 quirements of subsection (c)(8). Any costs of 

9 the project to be paid by the recipient’s match10 ing share may be incurred prior to the date on 

11 which assistance is provided. 

12 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—For the purpose of 

13 making the determination under subparagraph 

14 (A), funding may include a loan agreement, a 

15 commitment from investors, cash on balance 

16 sheet, or other contributions determined accept17 able by the Secretary. 

18 ‘‘(6) APPLICATION AND AWARD.— 

19 ‘‘(A) MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR PAYMENT

20 OR REIMBURSEMENT.—Each application sub21 mitted shall include a comprehensive description 

22 of— 

23 ‘‘(i) the project; 

24 ‘‘(ii) the need for the project; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) the methodology for imple2 menting the project; and 

3 ‘‘(iv) documentation of matching 

4 funds as described in paragraph (5). 

5 ‘‘(B) DEMONSTRATION OF EFFECTIVE6 NESS.—In determining whether a project will 

7 achieve the purposes for which such assistance 

8 is requested under this subsection, the Sec9 retary shall accept documentation used to ob10 tain a commitment of the matching funds de11 scribed in paragraph (5), including feasibility 

12 studies, business plans, investor prospectuses, 

13 loan applications, or similar documentation. 

14 ‘‘(C) PROJECT APPROVAL REQUIRED.— 

15 The Secretary may not award a grant under 

16 this subsection unless the Secretary determines 

17 that the— 

18 ‘‘(i) project will be completed without 

19 unreasonable delay; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) recipient has authority to carry 

21 out the proposed project. 

22 ‘‘(7) PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS, AUDITS, AND

23 EXAMINATIONS.— 

24 ‘‘(A) PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS.—The 

25 Administrator shall issue guidelines to establish 


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1 appropriate accounting, reporting, and review 

2 procedures to ensure that— 

3 ‘‘(i) assistance provided under this 

4 subsection is used for the purposes for 

5 which such assistance is made available; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(ii) grantees have properly accounted 

8 for all expenditures of grant funds. 

9 ‘‘(B) AUDITS AND EXAMINATIONS.—All 

10 grantees under this subsection shall maintain 

11 such records as the Administrator may require 

12 and make such records available for review and 

13 audit by the Administrator. 

14 ‘‘(8) LIMITATION.—Not more than 10 percent 

15 of the funds made available under subsection 

16 (c)(7)(B) may be used for the planning and design 

17 of eligible projects described in paragraph 

18 (3)(A)(iii). 

19 ‘‘(9) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

20 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE FACILITY.—The term ‘eli21 gible facility’ means a facility or collection of fa22 cilities that includes piers, wharves, docks, ter23 minals, and similar structures used principally 

24 for the movement of goods, including areas of 

25 land, water, or areas in proximity to such strucVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Jul 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7416.IH H7416

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1 ture that are necessary for the movement of 

2 goods, located at a port, as that term is defined 

3 in subsection (c), to and from which the aver4 age annual tonnage of cargo for the imme5 diately preceding 3 calendar years from the 

6 time an application is submitted is less than 

7 8,000,000 short tons as determined using Corps 

8 of Engineers data. 

9 ‘‘(B) PROJECT.—The term ‘project’ has 

10 the meaning given such term in subsection 

11 (c).’’. 

Æ 


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