II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3224 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a program to provide 

grants to owners of cargo vessels being rerouted from the western seaboard of the United States through the Panama Canal, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 17, 2021 

Mr. SCOTT of Florida introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a 

program to provide grants to owners of cargo vessels 

being rerouted from the western seaboard of the United 

States through the Panama Canal, 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 ‘‘Supply Chain Emer5 gency Response Act’’. 


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•S 3224 IS

1 SEC. 2. EMERGENCY INCENTIVE PROGRAM FOR REROUT2 ING CARGO VESSELS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transportation, 

4 acting through the Administrator of the Maritime Admin5 istration, shall establish a program to provide grants to 

6 eligible entities to cover toll costs associated with rerouting 

7 cargo vessels from ports along the western seaboard of the 

8 United States through the Panama Canal to ports along 

9 the Gulf of Mexico and the eastern seaboard of the United 

10 States. 

11 (b) GRANT AMOUNT.—A grant provided under this 

12 section shall be in an amount equal to the cost of the toll 

13 fees at the Panama Canal. 

14 (c) DOCUMENTATION REQUIRED.—To receive a 

15 grant under this section, an eligible entity shall submit 

16 to the Administrator documentation that such eligible en17 tity— 

18 (1) had an agreement to dock a cargo vessel at 

19 a port along the western seaboard of the United 

20 States and intends to reroute such cargo vessel from 

21 such port through the Panama Canal to a port along 

22 the Gulf of Mexico or the eastern seaboard of the 

23 United States; and 

24 (2) has an agreement to dock such cargo vessel 

25 at such port along the Gulf of Mexico or the eastern 

26 seaboard of the United States. 


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•S 3224 IS

1 (d) ENTITIES INELIGIBLE FOR GRANT.—Any indi2 vidual who is a member of the Chinese Communist Party 

3 or any company owned, in whole or in part, by the Chinese 

4 Communist Party may not receive a grant under this sec5 tion. 

6 (e) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—In this sec7 tion, the term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means the owner of a cargo 

8 vessel who intends to reroute such cargo vessel from a port 

9 along the western seaboard of the United States through 

10 the Panama Canal to a destination located in the United 

11 States. 

12 (f) FUNDING.—Notwithstanding any other provision 

13 of law, not more than $125,000,000 of the total amount 

14 of unobligated funds made available under the CARES 

15 Act (Public Law 116–136) may be used to carry out this 

16 section. 

17 SEC. 3. USE OF COVID RELIEF FUNDS TO OFFSET SHIPPING 

18 COSTS. 

19 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a State 

20 or unit of local government may use any unobligated funds 

21 made available to such State or unit of local government 

22 under the CARES Act (Public Law 116–136) for costs 

23 related to rerouting cargo vessels from the western sea24 board of the United States to the eastern seaboard of the 

25 United States. 


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1 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON COLLECTION OF PORT FEES. 

2 Any marine terminal operator (as defined in section 

3 40102 of title 46, United States Code) that is located 

4 along the western seaboard of the United States, and sub5 ject to the jurisdiction of the United States, may not col6 lect port fees from a recipient of a grant under section 

7 2 that has rerouted a cargo vessel from such marine ter8 minal operator due to the inability of such marine terminal 

9 operator to receive such vessel. 

10 SEC. 5. DEFINITION OF CARGO VESSEL. 

11 In this Act, the term ‘‘cargo vessel’’ has the meaning 

12 given such term in section 199.30 of title 46, Code of Fed13 eral Regulations (as in effect on the date of enactment 

14 of this Act). 

Æ 


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