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Union Calendar No. 79

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1412

[Report No. 109–137] 

To amend the Ports and Waterways Safety Act to require notification of 

the Coast Guard regarding obstructions to navigation, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 17, 2005

Mr. LOBIONDO (for himself, Mr. SAXTON, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. CASTLE, and 

Ms. SCHWARTZ of Pennsylvania) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

JUNE 16, 2005

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 17, 2005] 

A BILL

To amend the Ports and Waterways Safety Act to require 

notification of the Coast Guard regarding obstructions 

to navigation, 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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Delaware River Protec3 tion Act of 2005’’. 

4 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT TO NOTIFY COAST GUARD OF RE5 LEASE OF OBJECTS INTO THE NAVIGABLE 

6 WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

7 The Ports and Waterways Safety Act (33 U.S.C. 1221 

8 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 15. REQUIREMENT TO NOTIFY COAST GUARD OF RE10 LEASE OF OBJECTS INTO THE NAVIGABLE 

11 WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

12 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.—As soon as a person has knowl13 edge of any release from a vessel or facility into the navi14 gable waters of the United States of any object that creates 

15 an obstruction prohibited under section 10 of the Act of 

16 March 3, 1899, popularly known as the Rivers and Harbors 

17 Appropriations Act of 1899 (chapter 425; 33 U.S.C. 403), 

18 such person shall notify the Secretary and the Secretary 

19 of the Army of such release. 

20 ‘‘(b) RESTRICTION ON USE OF NOTIFICATION.—Any 

21 notification provided by an individual in accordance with 

22 subsection (a) shall not be used against such individual in 

23 any criminal case, except a prosecution for perjury or for 

24 giving a false statement.’’. 

25 SEC. 3. LIMITS ON LIABILITY. 

26 (a) ADJUSTMENT OF LIABILITY LIMITS.—
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1 (1) TANK VESSELS.—Section 1004(a)(1) of the 

2 Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33 U.S.C. 2704(a)(1)) is 

3 amended—

4 (A) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as 

5 subparagraph (C); 

6 (B) by striking subparagraph (A) and in7 serting the following: 

8 ‘‘(A) with respect to a single-hull vessel, in9 cluding a single-hull vessel fitted with double 

10 sides only or a double bottom only—

11 ‘‘(i) $1,550 per gross ton for an inci12 dent that occurs in 2005; 

13 ‘‘(ii) $1,900 per gross ton for an inci14 dent that occurs in 2006; or 

15 ‘‘(iii) $2,250 per gross ton for an inci16 dent that occurs in 2007 or in any year 

17 thereafter; or 

18 ‘‘(B) with respect to a double-hull vessel 

19 (other than any vessel referred to in subpara20 graph (A))—

21 ‘‘(i) $1,350 per gross ton for an inci22 dent that occurs in 2005; 

23 ‘‘(ii) $1,500 per gross ton for an inci24 dent that occurs in 2006; and 
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1 ‘‘(iii) $1,700 per gross ton for any in2 cident that occurs in 2007 or in any year 

3 thereafter; or’’; and 

4 (C) in subparagraph (C), as redesignated by 

5 subparagraph (A) of this paragraph—

6 (i) in clause (i) by striking 

7 ‘‘$10,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$14,000,000’’; 

8 and 

9 (ii) in clause (ii) by striking 

10 ‘‘$2,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$2,500,000’’. 

11 (2) LIMITATION ON APPLICATION.—In the case of 

12 an incident occurring before the date of the enactment 

13 of this Act, section 1004(a)(1) of the Oil Pollution Act 

14 of 1990 (33 U.S.C. 2704(a)(1)) shall apply as in ef15 fect immediately before the effective date of this sub16 section. 

17 (b) ADJUSTMENT TO REFLECT CONSUMER PRICE

18 INDEX.—Section 1004(d)(4) of the Oil Pollution Act of 

19 1990 (33 U.S.C. 2704(d)(4)) is amended to read as follows: 

20 ‘‘(4) ADJUSTMENT TO REFLECT CONSUMER

21 PRICE INDEX.—The President shall, by regulations 

22 issued no later than 3 years after the date of the en23 actment of the Delaware River Protection Act of 2005 

24 and no less than every 3 years thereafter, adjust the 
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1 limits on liability specified in subsection (a) to reflect 

2 significant increases in the Consumer Price Index.’’. 

3 SEC. 4. REQUIREMENT TO UPDATE PHILADELPHIA AREA 

4 CONTINGENCY PLAN. 

5 The Philadelphia Area Committee established under 

6 section 311(j)(4) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 

7 (33 U.S.C. 1321(j)(4)) shall, by not later than 12 months 

8 after the date of the enactment of this Act and not less than 

9 annually thereafter, review and revise the Philadelphia 

10 Area Contingency Plan to include available data and bio11 logical information on environmentally sensitive areas of 

12 the Delaware River and Delaware Bay that has been col13 lected by Federal and State surveys. 

14 SEC. 5. SUBMERGED OIL REMOVAL. 

15 (a) AMENDMENTS.—Title VII of the Oil Pollution Act 

16 of 1990 is amended—

17 (1) in section 7001(c)(4)(B) (33 U.S.C. 

18 2761(c)(4)(B)) by striking ‘‘RIVERA,’’ and inserting 

19 ‘‘RIVERA and the T/V ATHOS I;’’; and 

20 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 7002. SUBMERGED OIL PROGRAM. 

22 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM.—

23 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Undersecretary of 

24 Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, in conjunction 

25 with the Commandant of the Coast Guard, shall es-
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1 tablish a program to detect, monitor, and evaluate the 

2 environmental effects of submerged oil. Such program 

3 shall include the following elements: 

4 ‘‘(A) The development of methods to remove, 

5 disperse or otherwise diminish the persistence of 

6 submerged oil. 

7 ‘‘(B) The development of improved models 

8 and capacities for predicting the environmental 

9 fate, transport, and effects of submerged oil. 

10 ‘‘(C) The development of techniques to detect 

11 and monitor submerged oil. 

12 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—The Secretary of Commerce 

13 shall, no later than 3 years after the date of the enact14 ment of the Delaware River Protection Act of 2005, 

15 submit to the Committee on Transportation and In16 frastructure of the House of Representatives and the 

17 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor18 tation and the Committee on Environment and Pub19 lic Works of the Senate a report on the activities car20 ried out under this subsection and activities proposed 

21 to be carried out under this subsection. 

22 ‘‘(3) FUNDING.—There is authorized to be appro23 priated to the Secretary of Commerce $1,000,000 for 

24 each of fiscal years 2006 through 2010 to carry out 

25 this subsection. 
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1 ‘‘(b) DEMONSTRATION PROJECT.—

2 ‘‘(1) REMOVAL OF SUBMERGED OIL.—The Com3 mandant of the Coast Guard, in conjunction with the 

4 Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmos5 phere, shall conduct a demonstration project for the 

6 purpose of developing and demonstrating technologies 

7 and management practices to remove submerged oil 

8 from the Delaware River and other navigable waters. 

9 ‘‘(2) FUNDING.—There is authorized to be appro10 priated to the Commandant of the Coast Guard 

11 $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 through 2010 

12 to carry out this subsection.’’. 

13 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections in 

14 section 2 of such Act is amended by inserting after the item 

15 relating to section 7001 the following:

‘‘Sec. 7002. Submerged oil program.’’.

16 SEC. 6. DELAWARE RIVER AND BAY OIL SPILL ADVISORY 

17 COMMITTEE. 

18 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the Dela19 ware River and Bay Oil Spill Advisory Committee (in this 

20 section referred to as the ‘‘Committee’’). 

21 (b) FUNCTIONS.—

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Committee shall, by not 

23 later than 1 year after the date the Commandant of 

24 the Coast Guard (in this section referred to as the 

25 ‘‘Commandant’’) completes appointment of the mem-
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1 bers of the Committee, make recommendations to the 

2 Commandant, the Committee on Transportation and 

3 Infrastructure of the House of Representatives, and 

4 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor5 tation of the Senate on methods to improve the pre6 vention of and response to future oil spills in the 

7 Delaware River and Delaware Bay. 

8 (2) MEETINGS.—The Committee—

9 (A) shall hold its first meeting not later 

10 than 60 days after the completion of the appoint11 ment of the members of the Committee; and 

12 (B) shall meet thereafter at the call of the 

13 Chairman. 

14 (c) MEMBERSHIP.—The Committee shall consist of 15 

15 members who have particular expertise, knowledge, and ex16 perience regarding the transportation, equipment, and tech17 niques that are used to ship cargo and to navigate vessels 

18 in the Delaware River and Delaware Bay, as follows: 

19 (1) Three members who are employed by port au20 thorities that oversee operations on the Delaware 

21 River or have been selected to represent these entities, 

22 of whom—

23 (A) one member must be an employee or 

24 representative of the Port of Wilmington; 
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1 (B) one member must be an employee or 

2 representative of the South Jersey Port Corpora3 tion; and 

4 (C) one member must be an employee or 

5 representative of the Philadelphia Regional Port 

6 Authority. 

7 (2) Two members who represent organizations 

8 that operate tugs or barges that utilize the port facili9 ties on the Delaware River and Delaware Bay. 

10 (3) Two members who represent shipping compa11 nies that transport cargo by vessel from ports on the 

12 Delaware River and Delaware Bay. 

13 (4) Two members who represent operators of oil 

14 refineries on the Delaware River and Delaware Bay. 

15 (5) Two members who represent environmental 

16 and conservation interests. 

17 (6) Two members who represent State-licensed 

18 pilots who work on the Delaware River and Delaware 

19 Bay. 

20 (7) One member who represents labor organiza21 tions that load and unload cargo at ports on the 

22 Delaware River and Delaware Bay. 

23 (8) One member who represents the general pub24 lic. 
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1 (d) APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS.—The Commandant 

2 shall appoint the members of the Committee, after soliciting 

3 nominations by notice published in the Federal Register. 

4 (e) CHAIRMAN AND VICE CHAIRMAN.—The Committee 

5 shall elect, by majority vote at its first meeting, one of the 

6 members of the Committee as the Chairman and one of the 

7 members as the Vice Chairman. The Vice Chairman shall 

8 act as Chairman in the absence of or incapacity of the 

9 Chairman, or in the event of vacancy in the Office of the 

10 Chairman. 

11 (f) PAY AND EXPENSES.—

12 (1) PROHIBITION ON PAY.—Members of the Com13 mittee who are not officers or employees of the United 

14 States shall serve without pay. Members of the Com15 mittee who are officers or employees of the United 

16 States shall receive no additional pay on account of 

17 their service on the Committee. 

18 (2) EXPENSES.—While away from their homes 

19 or regular places of business, members of the Com20 mittee may be allowed travel expenses, including per 

21 diem, in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by section 

22 5703 of title 5, United States Code. 

23 (g) TERMINATION.—The Committee shall terminate 

24 one year after the completion of the appointment of the 

25 members of the Committee. 
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1 SEC. 7. MARITIME FIRE AND SAFETY ACTIVITIES. 

2 The Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 

3 (Public Law 107–295) is amended—

4 (1) in section 407—

5 (A) in the heading by striking ‘‘LOWER

6 COLUMBIA RIVER’’; and 

7 (B) by striking ‘‘$987,400’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘$1,500,000’’; and 

9 (2) in the table of contents in section 1(b) by 

10 striking the item relating to section 407 and inserting 

11 the following:

‘‘Sec. 407. Maritime fire and safety activities.’’. 
Union Calendar No. 79

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1412

[Report No. 109–137] 

A BILL

To amend the Ports and Waterways Safety Act to 

poses. obstructions to navigation, and for other purrequire notification of the Coast Guard regarding 

JUNE 16, 2005

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union,