Union Calendar No. 162

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1250

[Report No. 103–307]

A BILL

To amend the coastwise trade laws to clarify their

application to certain passenger vessels.

OCTOBER 26, 1993

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Commitordered to be printed tee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and
IB

Union Calendar No. 162

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1250

To amend the coastwise trade laws to clarify their application to certain

passenger vessels.

[Report No. 103–307]

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 9, 1993

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi (for himself, Mr. STUDDS, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr.

FIELDS of Texas, Mr. BATEMAN, and Mr. TAUZIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Merchant Marine and

Fisheries

OCTOBER 26, 1993

Additional sponsors: Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. PASTOR, Mr. DINGELL,

Mr. PARKER, Mr. HUGHES, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, and Ms. MOLINARI

OCTOBER 26, 1993

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

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

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 9, 1993]

A BILL

To amend the coastwise trade laws to clarify their application

to certain passenger vessels.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States-Flag Pas3 senger Vessel Act of 1993’’.

4 SEC. 2. COASTWISE TRANSPORTATION OF PASSENGERS.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8 of the Act of June 19,

6 1886 (46 App. U.S.C. 289), is amended to read as follows:

7 ‘‘SEC. 8. COASTWISE TRANSPORTATION OF PASSENGERS.

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided by

9 law, a vessel may transport passengers in coastwise trade

10 only if—

11 ‘‘(1) the vessel meets the requirements of section

12 27 of the Merchant Marine Act, 1920 and section 2

13 of the Shipping Act, 1916 for engaging in the coast14 wise trade; and

15 ‘‘(2) for a vessel that is at least 5 net tons, the

16 vessel is documented under chapter 121 of title 46,

17 United States Code, with a coastwise endorsement.

18 ‘‘(b) PENALTIES.—

19 ‘‘(1) CIVIL PENALTY.—A person operating a ves20 sel in violation of this section is liable to the United

21 States Government for a civil penalty of $1,000 for

22 each passenger transported in violation of this

23 section.

24 ‘‘(2) FORFEITURE.—A vessel operated in know25 ing violation of this section, and its equipment, are
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1 liable to seizure by and forfeiture to the United States

2 Government.

3 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—

4 ‘‘(1) the term ‘coastwise trade’ includes—

5 ‘‘(A) transportation of a passenger from a

6 place in any State or possession of the United

7 States and returning to that place, if during

8 that transportation no passenger departs from

9 the vessel in a foreign country; and

10 ‘‘(B) transportation of a passenger between

11 points in the United States, either directly or by

12 way of a foreign port; and

13 ‘‘(2) the term ‘passenger’ does not include a trav14 el agent on a voyage if—

15 ‘‘(A) the purpose of the voyage is to promote

16 future trips on the vessel;

17 ‘‘(B) money is not paid to the vessel owner

18 or charterer for the voyage; and

19 ‘‘(C) the voyage goes beyond the territorial

20 sea of the United States.’’.

21 (b) EXCEPTION.—

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the amend23 ment made by subsection (a), an ineligible vessel may

24 engage in transport of passengers in coastwise trade
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1 (as those terms are defined in that amendment) on a

2 trade route, if—

3 (A) the vessel engaged, in the period begin4 ning January 1, 1990, and ending March 9,

5 1993, in transport of passengers in coastwise

6 trade on that trade route; and

7 (B) within one year after the date of the en8 actment of this Act, the owner files with the Sec9 retary of Transportation an affidavit certifying

10 compliance with subparagraph (A) and listing

11 each trade route on which the vessel engaged in

12 transport of passengers in coastwise trade in the

13 period described in subparagraph (A).

14 (2) SCHEDULED EXPIRATION OF EXCEPTION.—

15 Paragraph (1) does not apply to an ineligible vessel

16 after the later of—

17 (A) January 1, 2000,

18 (B) the date that is 15 years after the date

19 of completion of construction of the vessel, or

20 (C) the date that is 15 years after the date

21 of completion of any major conversion of the ves22 sel that is begun before the date of the enactment

23 of this Act.

24 (3) EXPIRATION OF EXCEPTION FOR FAILURE TO

25 RECREW.—Paragraph (1) does not apply to an ineli-
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1 gible vessel after the date that is 5 years after the date

2 of the enactment of this Act, unless—

3 (A) each individual employed on the vessel

4 after the one-year period beginning on the date

5 of the enactment of this Act is either a citizen of

6 the United States or an alien lawfully admitted

7 to the United States for permanent residence;

8 and

9 (B) not more than 25 percent of the total

10 number of individuals employed on the vessel

11 after the one-year period beginning on the date

12 of the enactment of this Act are aliens lawfully

13 admitted to the United States for permanent

14 residence.

15 (4) TERMINATION OF EXCEPTION UPON ENTRY OF

16 REPLACEMENT.—Paragraph (1) does not apply to an

17 ineligible vessel with respect to a trade route after the

18 date of the entry into service on that trade route of

19 an eligible vessel, if—

20 (A) the eligible vessel has a passenger carry21 ing capacity that is equal to at least 75 percent

22 of the passenger carrying capacity of the ineli23 gible vessel, as determined by the Secretary of the

24 Department in which the Coast Guard is

25 operating;
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1 (B) the person that is the owner or

2 charterer of the eligible vessel submits to the Sec3 retary of Transportation, by not later than 270

4 days before the date of that entry into service—

5 (i) a notice of the intent of the person

6 to enter into that service; and

7 (ii) such evidence as the Secretary may

8 require that the person is offering and ad9 vertising that service;

10 (C) any individual employed on the ineli11 gible vessel after the one-year period beginning

12 on the date of the enactment of this Act—

13 (i) is not a citizen of the United

14 States; and

15 (ii) is not an alien lawfully admitted

16 to the United States for permanent resi17 dence; and

18 (D) more than 25 percent of the total num19 ber of individuals employed on the ineligible ves20 sel after the one-year period beginning on the

21 date of the enactment of this Act are aliens law22 fully admitted to the United States for perma23 nent residence.

24 (5) TERMINATION OF EXCEPTION UPON SALE OF

25 VESSEL.—Paragraph (1) does not apply to an ineli-
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1 gible vessel after any date on which the vessel is sold

2 after the date of the enactment of this Act.

3 (6) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection—

4 (A) the term ‘‘eligible vessel’’ means a vessel

5 that is eligible under chapter 121 of title 46,

6 United States Code, for a certificate of docu7 mentation authorizing the vessel to engage in

8 coastwise trade;

9 (B) the term ‘‘ineligible vessel’’ means a ves10 sel that is not eligible under chapter 121 of title

11 46, United States Code, for a certificate of docu12 mentation authorizing the vessel to engage in

13 coastwise trade; and

14 (C) the term ‘‘major conversion’’ has the

15 meaning that term has under section 2101 of

16 title 46, United States Code.

17 SEC. 3. DOCUMENTATION OF VESSELS.

18 (a)(1) Notwithstanding the first proviso of section 27

19 of the Merchant Marine Act, 1920 (46 App. U.S.C. 883),

20 the Secretary of Transportation may issue a certificate of

21 documentation with a coastwise endorsement for any of the

22 vessels described in paragraph (2) if an application for that

23 certificate is submitted to the Secretary by not later than

24 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.

25 (2) The vessels referred to in paragraph (1)—
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1 (A) are vessels that engaged, in the period begin2 ning January 1, 1990, and ending March 9, 1993, in

3 coastwise trade described in section 8(c)(1)(A) of the

4 Act of June 19, 1886, as amended by section 2 of this

5 Act, and

6 (B) include the vessels EUROPA SUN (former

7 United States official number 596656), EUROPA

8 STAR (former United States official number 588270),

9 and EMERALD PRINCESS (former United States

10 official number 530095).

11 (b) Notwithstanding section 27 of the Merchant Marine

12 Act, 1920 (46 App. U.S.C. 883) and section 12106 of title

13 46, United States Code, the Secretary of Transportation

14 may issue a certificate of documentation with a coastwise

15 endorsement for the vessel M/V HELTON VOYAGER

16 (Spanish registration lista 2A–Folio–592) if—

17 (1) the person documenting the vessel entered a

18 contract before May 21, 1992, to purchase the vessel;

19 (2) the vessel undergoes a major conversion (as

20 defined in section 2101 of title 46, United States

21 Code) in a United States shipyard under a contract

22 signed before January 1, 1994;

23 (3) the cost of the major conversion is more than

24 the value of the vessel before the major conversion; and
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1 (4) the major conversion is completed and the

2 vessel is documented under chapter 121 of title 46,

3 United States Code, with a coastwise endorsement be4 fore January 1, 1995.

5 SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY OF STATES TO REGU6 LATE GAMBLING DEVICES ON VESSELS.

7 Section 5(b)(2) of the Act of January 2, 1951 (15

8 U.S.C. 1175(b)(2)), commonly referred to as the ‘‘Johnson

9 Act’’, is amended by adding at the end the following:

10 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN VOYAGES AND

11 SEGMENTS.—A voyage or segment of a voyage is

12 not described in subparagraph (B) if it includes

13 or consists of, respectively, a segment—

14 ‘‘(i) that begins and ends in the same

15 State or possession of the United States;

16 ‘‘(ii) that is part of a voyage to an17 other State or possession of the United

18 States or to a foreign country; and

19 ‘‘(iii) in which the vessel reaches the

20 other State or possession of the United

21 States or the foreign country within 3 days

22 after leaving the State or possession of the

23 United States in which the segment

24 begins.’’.