II

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1868

To amend the Deepwater Port Act of 1974 to promote the use of deepwater

ports to transport Outer Continental Shelf oil by reducing unnecessary

and duplicative regulatory requirements, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 12, 1996

Mr. BREAUX introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To amend the Deepwater Port Act of 1974 to promote

the use of deepwater ports to transport Outer Continental Shelf oil by reducing unnecessary and duplicative

regulatory requirements, 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 ‘‘Deepwater Port Mod5 ernization Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

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

8 U.S.C. 1502(10)) is amended—
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1 (1) by striking ‘‘for the loading or unloading’’

2 and inserting ‘‘for the transportation, storage,’’; and

3 (2) by inserting after ‘‘section 23’’ the follow4 ing: ‘‘, and for any other use consistent with the

5 purposes of this Act, including transportation of oil

6 from the Outer Continental Shelf of the United

7 States’’.

8 SEC. 3. LICENSE FOR THE OWNERSHIP, CONSTRUCTION,

9 AND OPERATION OF A DEEPWATER PORT.

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

11 U.S.C. 1503) is amended—

12 (1) in subsection (a), by striking the last sen13 tence;

14 (2) in subsection (c)—

15 (A) by striking paragraph (7); and

16 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (8)

17 through (10) as paragraphs (7) through (9), re18 spectively;

19 (3) in subsection (e)—

20 (A) by striking ‘‘(e)(1) In’’ and inserting

21 the following:

22 ‘‘(e) TERMS OF LICENSES.—

23 ‘‘(1) CONDITIONS.—

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In’’;

25 (B) in paragraph (1)—
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1 (i) in the first sentence, by striking

2 ‘‘any conditions which he’’ and inserting

3 ‘‘only such conditions as the Secretary’’;

4 (ii) by striking ‘‘On petition’’ and in5 serting the following:

6 ‘‘(B) PREFERENCE FOR LICENSE CONDI7 TIONS.—To the maximum extent practicable—

8 ‘‘(i) conditions required to carry out

9 this Act shall be addressed in license con10 ditions rather than regulations; and

11 ‘‘(ii) a license shall allow the operat12 ing procedures of a deepwater port to be

13 specified in an operations manual, pre14 pared in accordance with section 10(a) and

15 approved by the Secretary of the depart16 ment in which the Coast Guard is operat17 ing, rather than in detailed and specific li18 cense conditions or regulations.

19 ‘‘(C) REVIEW OF CONDITIONS.—On peti20 tion’’;

21 (iii) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and

22 inserting the following:

23 ‘‘(D) AMENDMENT AND RESCISSION OF

24 CONDITIONS.—
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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary’’;

2 and

3 (iv) in subparagraph (D) (as so des4 ignated), by adding at the end the follow5 ing:

6 ‘‘(ii) PROCEDURES FOR AMEND7 MENTS.—An amendment of a license or

8 operations manual—

9 ‘‘(I) shall not be considered to be

10 a rulemaking or adjudication within

11 the meaning of chapter 5 of title 5,

12 United States Code; and

13 ‘‘(II) may be made in accordance

14 with such procedures as the Secretary

15 determines are appropriate given the

16 issues involved.’’; and

17 (C) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘ap18 plication, as approved,’’ and inserting ‘‘license’’;

19 and

20 (4) by striking subsection (f) and inserting the

21 following:

22 ‘‘(f) AMENDMENT, TRANSFER, OR REINSTATEMENT

23 OF LICENSE.—The Secretary may amend, transfer, or re24 instate a license issued under this Act on finding that the
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1 amendment, transfer, or reinstatement is consistent with

2 the purposes of this Act.’’.

3 SEC. 4. EXEMPTIONS FROM CERTAIN INFORMATION RE4 QUIREMENTS.

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

6 U.S.C. 1504(c)) is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing:

8 ‘‘(3) EXEMPTIONS FROM CERTAIN INFORMA9 TION REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary may exempt a

10 person from any information requirement under

11 paragraph (2), or under any other provision of this

12 Act, if the Secretary determines that the information

13 is not necessary to facilitate the determinations of

14 the Secretary under section 4.’’.

15 SEC. 5. ANTITRUST REVIEW.

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

17 U.S.C. 1506) is amended—

18 (1) by striking subsections (a) and (b)(1);

19 (2) by striking ‘‘(2) Nothing’’ and inserting the

20 following:

21 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY TO CHALLENGE ANTI-COMPETI22 TIVE SITUATIONS.—Nothing’’;

23 (3) by striking ‘‘(3) Nothing’’ and inserting the

24 following:

25 ‘‘(b) EFFECT ON ANTITRUST LAWS.—Nothing’’; and
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1 (4) in subsections (a) and (b) (as so redesig2 nated), by striking ‘‘section’’ each place it appears

3 and inserting ‘‘Act’’.

4 SEC. 6. COMMON CARRIER STATUS.

5 Section 8 of the Deepwater Port Act of 1974 (33

6 U.S.C. 1507) is amended—

7 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘and shall

8 accept, transport, or convey without discrimination

9 all oil delivered to the deepwater port with respect

10 to which the license of the deepwater port is issued,’’

11 before ‘‘except as provided’’; and

12 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘(b) A li13 censee’’ and all that follows through ‘‘However, a li14 censee is not’’ and inserting the following:

15 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS.—A licensee shall not be consid16 ered to be discriminating for the purpose of subsection (a)

17 and shall not be’’.

18 SEC. 7. MARINE PROTECTION AND NAVIGATIONAL SAFETY.

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

20 U.S.C. 1509(a)) is amended—

21 (1) by striking ‘‘shall prescribe by regulation

22 and enforce procedures with respect to any deep23 water port, including, but not limited to, rules’’ and

24 inserting ‘‘, with respect to a deepwater port, shall
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1 prescribe and enforce procedures, by regulation or

2 through the operations manual of a licensee,’’;

3 (2) by striking ‘‘unloading procedures’’ and in4 serting ‘‘unloading’’; and

5 (3) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘Com6 pliance by a licensee with its operations manual, as

7 approved by the Secretary of the department in

8 which the Coast Guard is operating, shall constitute

9 compliance with all requirements under this Act ap10 plicable to the subjects addressed in the operations

11 manual.’’.

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