II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1385 

To amend title 46, United States Code, to improve port safety and security. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 25, 2009 

Mr. LAUTENBERG (for himself, Mr. ROCKEFELLER, Mrs. HUTCHISON, and 

Mr. THUNE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To amend title 46, United States Code, to improve port 

safety and security. 

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 ‘‘Maritime Hazardous 

5 Cargo Security Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR THE SAFE AND 

2 SECURE TRANSPORTATION OF ESPECIALLY 

3 HAZARDOUS CARGO. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 701 of title 46, United 

5 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 70109 

6 the following: 

7 ‘‘§ 70109A. International committee for the safe and 

8 secure transportation of especially haz9 ardous cargo 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 

11 with the Secretary of State and other appropriate entities, 

12 is authorized to promote, in a manner consistent with 

13 international treaties, conventions, and agreements to 

14 which the United States is a party, the establishment of 

15 a committee within the International Maritime Organiza16 tion that includes representatives of United States trading 

17 partners that supply tank, bulk, or break-bulk vessel ship18 ments of especially hazardous cargo to the United States. 

19 ‘‘(b) SAFE AND SECURE LOADING, UNLOADING, AND

20 TRANSPORTATION OF ESPECIALLY HAZARDOUS CAR21 GOES.—In carrying out this section, the Secretary, in co22 operation with the International Maritime Organization 

23 and in consultation with the International Standards Or24 ganization and shipping industry stakeholders, shall de25 velop protocols, procedures, standards, and requirements 

26 for receiving, handling, loading, unloading, vessel crewing, 


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1 and transportation of especially hazardous cargo to pro2 mote the safe and secure operation of ports, facilities, and 

3 vessels that transport especially hazardous cargo to the 

4 United States. 

5 ‘‘(c) DEADLINES.—The Secretary shall— 

6 ‘‘(1) initiate the development of the committee 

7 within 180 days after the date of enactment of the 

8 Maritime Hazardous Cargo Security Act; and 

9 ‘‘(2) endeavor to have the protocols, procedures, 

10 standards, and requirements developed by the com11 mittee take effect within 3 years after the date of 

12 enactment of that Act. 

13 ‘‘(d) REPORTS.—The Secretary shall report annually 

14 to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

15 Transportation, the House of Representatives Committee 

16 on Transportation and Infrastructure, and the House of 

17 Representatives Committee on Homeland Security on the 

18 development, implementation, and administration of the 

19 protocols, procedures, standards, and requirements devel20 oped by the committee established under subsection (a).’’. 

21 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter anal22 ysis for chapter 701 of title 46, United States Code, is 

23 amended by inserting after the item relating the section 

24 70109 the following: 

‘‘70109A. International committee for the safe and secure transportation of especially hazardous cargo.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. INTERNATIONAL SHIP AND PORT FACILITY SECU2 RITY CODE. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 701 of title 46, United 

4 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 70110 

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘70110A. Port safety and security validations 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 

8 with the Secretary of State, shall, in a manner consistent 

9 with international treaties, conventions, and agreements 

10 to which the United States is a party, develop and imple11 ment a voluntary program under which foreign ports and 

12 facilities can certify their compliance with applicable Inter13 national Ship and Port Facility Code standards. 

14 ‘‘(b) THIRD-PARTY VALIDATION.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out this sec16 tion, the Secretary, in cooperation with the Inter17 national Maritime Organization and the Inter18 national Standards Organization, shall develop and 

19 implement a program under which independent, 

20 third-party entities are certified to validate a foreign 

21 port’s or facility’s compliance under the program de22 veloped under subsection (a). 

23 ‘‘(2) PROGRAM COMPONENTS.—The inter24 national program shall include— 

25 ‘‘(A) international inspection protocols and 

26 procedures; 


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1 ‘‘(B) minimum validation standards to en2 sure a port or facility meets the applicable 

3 International Ship and Port Facility Code 

4 standards; 

5 ‘‘(C) recognition for foreign ports or facili6 ties that exceed the minimum standards; 

7 ‘‘(D) uniform performance metrics by 

8 which inspection validations are to be con9 ducted; 

10 ‘‘(E) a process for notifying a port or facil11 ity, and its host nation, of areas of concern 

12 about the port’s or facility’s failure to comply 

13 with International Ship and Port Facility Code 

14 standards; 

15 ‘‘(F) provisional or probationary valida16 tions; 

17 ‘‘(G) conditions under which routine moni18 toring is to occur if a port or facility receives 

19 a provisional or probationary validation; 

20 ‘‘(H) a process by which failed validations 

21 can be appealed; and 

22 ‘‘(I) an appropriate cycle for re-inspection 

23 and validation. 

24 ‘‘(c) CERTIFICATION OF THIRD PARTY ENTITIES.— 

25 The Secretary may not certify a third party entity to valiVerDate Nov 24 2008 05:58 Jun 26, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1385.IS S1385

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1 date ports or facilities under subsection (b) unless the en2 tity— 

3 ‘‘(1) is a recognized security organization (as 

4 defined in the applicable International Ship and Port 

5 Facility Code Standard); 

6 ‘‘(2) demonstrates to the satisfaction of the 

7 Secretary the ability to perform validations in ac8 cordance with the standards, protocols, procedures, 

9 and requirements established by the program imple10 mented under subsection (a); and 

11 ‘‘(3) has no beneficial interest in or any direct 

12 control over the port and facilities being inspected 

13 and validated. 

14 ‘‘(d) MONITORING—The Secretary shall regularly 

15 monitor and audit the operations of each third party entity 

16 conducting validations under this section to ensure that 

17 it is meeting the minimum standards, operating protocols, 

18 procedures, and requirements established by international 

19 agreement. 

20 ‘‘(e) REVOCATION.—The Secretary shall revoke the 

21 certification of any entity determined by the Secretary not 

22 to meet the minimum standards, operating protocol, pro23 cedures, and requirements established by international 

24 agreement for third party entity validations. 


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1 ‘‘(f) PROTECTION OF SECURITY AND PROPRIETARY

2 INFORMATION.—In carrying out this section, the Sec3 retary shall take appropriate actions to protect from dis4 closure information that— 

5 ‘‘(1) is security sensitive, proprietary, or busi6 ness sensitive; or 

7 ‘‘(2) is otherwise not appropriately in the public 

8 domain. 

9 ‘‘(g) DEADLINES.—The Secretary shall— 

10 ‘‘(1) initiate procedures to carry out this section 

11 within 180 days after the date of enactment of the 

12 Maritime Hazardous Cargo Security Act; and 

13 ‘‘(2) develop standards under subsection (b) for 

14 third party validation within 2 years after the date 

15 of enactment of that Act. 

16 ‘‘(h) REPORTS.—The Secretary shall report annually 

17 to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

18 Transportation, the House of Representatives Committee 

19 on Transportation and Infrastructure, and the House of 

20 Representatives Committee on Homeland Security on ac21 tivities conducted pursuant to this section.’’. 

22 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter anal23 ysis for chapter 701 of title 46, United States Code, is 

24 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

25 70110 the following: 

‘‘70110A. Port safety and security validations.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. SAFETY AND SECURITY ASSISTANCE FOR FOREIGN 

2 PORTS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 70110(e)(1) of title 46, 

4 United States Code, is amended by striking the second 

5 sentence and inserting the following: ‘‘The Secretary shall 

6 establish a strategic plan to utilize those assistance pro7 grams to assist ports and facilities that are found by the 

8 Secretary under subsection (a) not to maintain effective 

9 antiterrorism measures in the implementation of port se10 curity antiterrorism measures.’’. 

11 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

12 (1) Section 70110 of title 46, United States 

13 Code, is amended— 

14 (A) by inserting ‘‘or facilities’’ after 

15 ‘‘ports’’ in the section heading; 

16 (B) by inserting ‘‘or facility’’ after ‘‘port’’ 

17 each place it appears; and 

18 (C) by striking ‘‘PORTS’’ in the heading 

19 for subsection (e) and inserting ‘‘PORTS, FA20 CILITIES,’’. 

21 (2) The chapter analysis for chapter 701 of title 

22 46, United States Code, is amended by striking the 

23 item relating to section 70110 and inserting the fol24 lowing: 

‘‘70110. Actions and assistance for foreign ports or facilities and United States 

territories.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. COAST GUARD PORT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 

2 Section 70110 of title 46, United States Code, is 

3 amended by adding at the end thereof the following: 

4 ‘‘(f) COAST GUARD ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may lend, 

6 lease, donate, or otherwise provide equipment, and 

7 provide technical training and support, to the owner 

8 or operator of a foreign port or facility— 

9 ‘‘(A) to assist in bringing the port or facil10 ity into compliance with applicable International 

11 Ship and Port Facility Code standards; 

12 ‘‘(B) to assist the port or facility in meet13 ing standards established under section 70109A 

14 of this chapter; and 

15 ‘‘(C) to assist the port or facility in exceed16 ing the standards described in subparagraph 

17 (A) and (B). 

18 ‘‘(2) CONDITIONS.—The Secretary— 

19 ‘‘(A) shall provide such assistance based 

20 upon an assessment of the risks to the security 

21 of the United States and the inability of the 

22 owner or operator of the port or facility other23 wise to bring the port or facility into compli24 ance with those standards and to maintain or 

25 exceed compliance with them; 


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1 ‘‘(B) may not provide such assistance un2 less the facility or port has been subjected to a 

3 comprehensive port security assessment by the 

4 Coast Guard or a third party entity certified by 

5 the Secretary under section 70110A(b) to vali6 date foreign port or facility compliance with 

7 International Ship and Port Facility Code 

8 standards; and 

9 ‘‘(C) may only lend, lease, or otherwise 

10 provide equipment that the Secretary has first 

11 determined is not required by the Coast Guard 

12 for the performance of its missions.’’. 

13 SEC. 6. NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR WATERSIDE SECURITY 

14 OF LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS AND OTHER ES15 PECIALLY HAZARDOUS CARGOES. 

16 (a) STUDY AND EVALUATION.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 

18 through the Commandant, shall— 

19 (A) initiate a national study to identify 

20 measures to improve the security of maritime 

21 transportation of liquefied natural gas and 

22 other especially hazardous cargoes; and 

23 (B) coordinate with other Federal agen24 cies, the National Maritime Security Advisory 

25 Committee, and appropriate State and local 


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1 government officials through the Area Maritime 

2 Security Committees and other existing coordi3 nating committees, to evaluate the waterside se4 curity of vessels carrying, and waterfront facili5 ties handling, especially hazardous cargo. 

6 (2) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The study 

7 conducted under this section shall include— 

8 (A) an analysis of existing risk assessment 

9 data relating to waterside security generated by 

10 the Coast Guard and Area Maritime Security 

11 Committees as part of the Maritime Security 

12 Risk Assessment Model; 

13 (B) a review and analysis of appropriate 

14 roles and responsibilities of maritime stake15 holders, including Federal, State and local law 

16 enforcement and industry security personnel, 

17 responsible for waterside security of vessels car18 rying, and waterfront facilities handling, espe19 cially hazardous cargo; 

20 (C) recommendations for risk-sensitive 

21 measures to improve waterside security of ves22 sels carrying, and waterfront facilities handling, 

23 especially hazardous cargo; 

24 (D) identification of security funding alter25 natives, including an analysis of the potential 


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1 for cost-sharing by public and private sectors; 

2 and 

3 (E) recommendations regarding oper4 ational standards and training qualifications for 

5 personnel conducting waterside security for ves6 sels carrying, and waterfront facilities handling, 

7 especially hazardous cargo. 

8 (3) INFORMATION PROTECTION.—In carrying 

9 out the coordination necessary to effectively com10 plete the study, the Commandant shall implement 

11 measures to ensure the protection of any special sen12 sitive information or classified information collected, 

13 reviewed, or shared during collaborative engagement 

14 with maritime stakeholders and other Government 

15 entities. 

16 (4) REPORT.—Not later than 12 months after 

17 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, act18 ing through the Commandant of the Coast Guard, 

19 shall submit to the Committee on Transportation 

20 and Infrastructure and the Committee on Homeland 

21 Security of the House of Representatives, and the 

22 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor23 tation and the Committee on Homeland Security 

24 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report on 

25 the results of the study under this section. 


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1 (b) DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL STRATEGY.—Not 

2 later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this 

3 Act, the Secretary, acting through the Commandant, shall 

4 develop, in conjunction with appropriate Federal agencies, 

5 a national strategy for the waterside security of vessels 

6 carrying, and waterfront facilities handling, especially haz7 ardous cargo. The strategy shall utilize the results of the 

8 study required by subsection (a). 

9 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

10 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary 

11 $2,000,000 for all necessary expenses as may be required 

12 to carry out the purposes of this section, including travel, 

13 conference expenses, document development, printing and 

14 reproduction, and contractor support. Amounts made 

15 available under this subsection shall remain available until 

16 expended. 

17 SEC. 7. TRANSPORTATION SECURITY INCIDENT MITIGA18 TION PLAN. 

19 Section 70103(b)(2) of title 46, United States Code, 

20 is amended— 

21 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (E) 

22 through (G) as subparagraphs (F) through (H), re23 spectively; and 

24 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(E) establish regional response and recovery 

2 protocols to prepare for, respond to, mitigate 

3 against, and recover from a transportation security 

4 incident consistent with section 202 of the Security 

5 and Accountability for Every Port Act of 2006 (6 

6 U.S.C. 942) and section 70103(a) of title 46, United 

7 States Code;’’. 

8 SEC. 8. INCIDENT COMMAND SYSTEM TRAINING. 

9 The Secretary shall ensure that Federal, State, and 

10 local personnel responsible for the safety and security of 

11 vessels in port carrying especially hazardous cargo have 

12 successfully completed training in the Department of 

13 Homeland Security’s incident command system protocols. 

14 SEC. 9. PRE-POSITIONING INTEROPERABLE COMMUNICA15 TIONS EQUIPMENT AT INTERAGENCY OPER16 ATIONAL CENTERS. 

17 Section 70107A of title 46, United States Code, is 

18 amended— 

19 (1) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as 

20 subsections (f) and (g), respectively; and 

21 (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(e) DEPLOYMENT OF INTEROPERABLE COMMUNICA24 TIONS EQUIPMENT AT INTERAGENCY OPERATIONAL CEN25 TERS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall ensure 

2 that interoperable communications technology is de3 ployed at all interagency operational centers estab4 lished under subsection (a). 

5 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In carrying out para6 graph (1), the Secretary shall consider the con7 tinuing technological evolution of communications 

8 technologies and devices, with its implicit risk of ob9 solescence, and shall ensure, to the maximum extent 

10 feasible, that a substantial part of the technology de11 ployed involves prenegotiated contracts and other ar12 rangements for rapid deployment of equipment, sup13 plies, and systems rather than the warehousing or 

14 storage of equipment and supplies currently avail15 able at the time the technology is deployed. 

16 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS AND CHARACTERISTICS.— 

17 The interoperable communications technology de18 ployed under paragraph (1) shall— 

19 ‘‘(A) be capable of re-establishing commu20 nications when existing infrastructure is dam21 aged or destroyed in an emergency or a major 

22 disaster; 

23 ‘‘(B) include appropriate current, widely24 used equipment, such as Land Mobile Radio 

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1 ment, Cells-On-Wheels, Cells-On-Light-Trucks, 

2 or other self-contained mobile cell sites that can 

3 be towed, backup batteries, generators, fuel, 

4 and computers; 

5 ‘‘(C) include contracts (including 

6 prenegotiated contracts) for rapid delivery of 

7 the most current technology available from 

8 commercial sources; 

9 ‘‘(D) include arrangements for training to 

10 ensure that personnel are familiar with the op11 eration of the equipment and devices to be de12 livered pursuant to such contracts; and 

13 ‘‘(E) be utilized as appropriate during live 

14 area exercises conducted by the United States 

15 Coast Guard. 

16 ‘‘(4) ADDITIONAL CHARACTERISTICS.—Portions 

17 of the communications technology deployed under 

18 paragraph (1) may be virtual and may include items 

19 donated on an in-kind contribution basis. 

20 ‘‘(5) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

21 this subsection shall be construed or interpreted to 

22 preclude the use of funds under this section by the 

23 Secretary for interim or long-term Internet Protocol24 based interoperable solutions, notwithstanding com25 pliance with the Project 25 standard.’’. 


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1 SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) COMMANDANT.—The term ‘‘Commandant’’ 

4 means the Commandant of the Coast Guard. 

5 (2) ESPECIALLY HAZARDOUS CARGO.—The 

6 term ‘‘especially hazardous cargo’’ means anhydrous 

7 ammonia, ammonium nitrate, chlorine, liquefied nat8 ural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, and any other sub9 stance or materials identified as an especially haz10 ardous cargo by the Secretary of the department in 

11 which the Coast Guard is operating. 

12 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

13 the Secretary of the department in which the Coast 

14 Guard is operating. 

Æ 


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