I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1561 

To amend title 14, United States Code, to require the Coast Guard to 

conduct icebreaking operations in the Great Lakes to minimize commercial disruption in the winter months, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 3, 2021 

Mr. GALLAGHER (for himself, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. GIBBS, Mrs. DINGELL, Mrs. 

MCCLAIN, Mr. BERGMAN, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. HUIZENGA, Mr. 

JOYCE of Ohio, and Mr. STAUBER) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend title 14, United States Code, to require the Coast 

Guard to conduct icebreaking operations in the Great 

Lakes to minimize commercial disruption in the winter 

months, 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 ‘‘Great Lakes Winter 

5 Commerce Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GREAT LAKES ICEBREAKING OPERATIONS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter IV of chapter 5 of 

3 title 14, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

4 end the following: 

5 ‘‘§ 564. Great Lakes icebreaking operations 

6 ‘‘(a) ICEBREAKING OPERATIONS.—The Commandant 

7 shall conduct icebreaking operations in the Great Lakes 

8 in accordance with the standard for icebreaking operations 

9 under subsection (b). 

10 ‘‘(b) STANDARD FOR ICEBREAKING OPERATIONS.— 

11 In carrying out subsection (a)— 

12 ‘‘(1) except as provided in paragraph (2), the 

13 Commandant shall keep ice-covered waterways in the 

14 Great Lakes open to navigation not less than 90 

15 percent of the hours that commercial vessels and fer16 ries attempt to transit such ice-covered waterways; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(2) in a year in which the Great Lakes are not 

19 open to navigation because of ice of a thickness that 

20 occurs on average only once every 10 years, the 

21 Coast Guard shall keep ice-covered waterways in the 

22 Great Lakes open to navigation at least 70 percent 

23 of the hours that commercial vessels and ferries at24 tempt to transit such ice-covered waterways. 

25 ‘‘(c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) DEADLINE.—Not later than July 1 of each 

2 year, the Commandant shall submit to Congress a 

3 report on the icebreaking operations conducted by 

4 the Coast Guard in the Great Lakes for the fiscal 

5 year. 

6 ‘‘(2) CONTENT.—The report required under 

7 paragraph (1) shall include the total number of 

8 hours that United States icebreakers conducted 

9 icebreaking operations in each of the types of Great 

10 Lakes waters described in paragraph (3) and the 

11 total number of hours that Canadian icebreakers 

12 conducted icebreaking operations in the type of 

13 Great Lakes waters described in subparagraphs 

14 (3)(A) and (3)(C). 

15 ‘‘(3) TYPES OF GREAT LAKES WATERS.—The 

16 types of waters described in this paragraph are— 

17 ‘‘(A) United States waters, excluding 

18 waters described in subparagraph (C); 

19 ‘‘(B) Canadian waters, excluding waters 

20 described in subparagraph (C); and 

21 ‘‘(C) frequent border crossing waters. 

22 ‘‘(d) COORDINATION WITH INDUSTRY.—The Com23 mandant shall coordinate Great Lakes icebreaking oper24 ations with operators of commercial vessels. 

25 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 ‘‘(1) COMMERCIAL VESSEL.—The term ‘com2 mercial vessel’ means any privately owned cargo ves3 sel of at least 500 tons, as measured under section 

4 14502 of title 46 or an alternate tonnage measured 

5 under section 14302 of such title as prescribed by 

6 the Secretary under section 14104 of such title, op7 erating in the Great Lakes during the winter season. 

8 ‘‘(2) GREAT LAKES.—The term ‘Great 

9 Lakes’— 

10 ‘‘(A) has the meaning given such term in 

11 section 118 of the Federal Water Pollution 

12 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1268); and 

13 ‘‘(B) includes harbors. 

14 ‘‘(3) ICE-COVERED WATERWAY.—The term ‘ice15 covered waterway’ means any portion of the Great 

16 Lakes in which commercial vessels operate that is 70 

17 percent or greater covered by ice, but does not in18 clude any waters adjacent to piers or docks for 

19 which commercial icebreaking services are available 

20 and adequate for the ice conditions. 

21 ‘‘(4) OPEN TO NAVIGATION.—The term ‘open to 

22 navigation’ means navigable to the extent necessary 

23 to meet the reasonable demands of commerce, mini24 mize delays to passenger ferries, extricate vessels 

25 and persons from danger, prevent damage due to 


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1 flooding, and conduct other Coast Guard missions as 

2 required. 

3 ‘‘(5) REASONABLE DEMANDS OF COMMERCE.— 

4 The term ‘reasonable demands of commerce’ means 

5 the safe movement of commercial vessels transiting 

6 ice-covered waterways in the Great Lakes, regardless 

7 of type of cargo, at a speed consistent with the de8 sign capability of Coast Guard icebreakers operating 

9 in the Great Lakes. 

10 ‘‘(6) FREQUENT BORDER CROSSING WATERS.— 

11 The term ‘frequent border crossing waters’ means 

12 the United States waters and Canadian waters of— 

13 ‘‘(A) Whitefish Bay in Lake Superior; 

14 ‘‘(B) the St. Mary’s River; 

15 ‘‘(C) the Detroit and St. Clair rivers sys16 tem; and 

17 ‘‘(D) Western Lake Erie from the Detroit 

18 River to Pelee Passage.’’. 

19 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of analysis 

20 for chapter 5 of title 14, United States Code, is amended 

21 by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘564. Great Lakes icebreaking operations.’’. 

22 (c) REPORT.—Not later than the first July 1 after 

23 the first winter in which the Commandant of the Coast 

24 Guard is subject to the requirements of section 564 of title 

25 14, United States Code, the Commandant shall submit to 


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1 the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of 

2 the House of Representatives and the Committee on Com3 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report 

4 on the cost to the Coast Guard of meeting the require5 ments of such section. 

6 SEC. 3. GREAT LAKES ICEBREAKER ACQUISITION. 

7 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—Section 8107(a) of the Elijah 

8 E. Cummings Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2020 

9 (Public law 116–283) is amended by striking 

10 ‘‘$160,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$350,000,000’’. 

11 (b) EXEMPTION.—Notwithstanding sections 

12 1105(a)(2), 1131, and 1132 of title 14, United States 

13 Code, and the requirements in the Competition in Con14 tracting Act (10 U.S.C. 2304), and subject to the avail15 ability of appropriations, the Commandant shall acquire 

16 the icebreaker described in section 8107(a) of the Elijah 

17 E. Cummings Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2020 

18 (Public law 116–283) through other than full and open 

19 competition in an accelerated timeframe and award the 

20 contract on the basis of contractor qualification and price. 

Æ 


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