I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1412 

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 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Delaware River Protec5 tion Act of 2005’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT TO NOTIFY COAST GUARD OF RE2 LEASE OF OBJECTS INTO THE NAVIGABLE 

3 WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

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

5 1221 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 15. REQUIREMENT TO NOTIFY COAST GUARD OF RE8 LEASE OF OBJECTS INTO THE NAVIGABLE 

9 WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

10 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.—As soon as a person has 

11 knowledge of any release from a vessel or facility into the 

12 navigable waters of the United States of any object that 

13 creates an obstruction prohibited under section 10 of the 

14 Act of March 3, 1899, popularly known as the Rivers and 

15 Harbors Appropriations Act of 1899 (chapter 425; 33 

16 U.S.C. 403), such person shall notify the Secretary and 

17 the Secretary of the Army of such release. 

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

19 notification provided by an individual in accordance with 

20 subsection (a) shall not be used against such individual 

21 in any criminal case, except a prosecution for perjury or 

22 for giving a false statement.’’. 

23 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING THE DETECTION 

24 OF SUBMERGED OBSTRUCTIONS. 

25 It is the sense of the Congress that the Secretary of 

26 the Army should— 
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1 (1) place a high priority on enhancing the Army 

2 Corps of Engineers’ capabilities to detect submerged 

3 obstructions in the navigable waterways of the 

4 United States through the use of advanced sonar 

5 and other technologies; and 

6 (2) enter into contracts and agreements with 

7 other Federal agencies, State governments, local 

8 governments, and private entities to accomplish such 

9 enhancements. 

10 SEC. 4. AUTHORITY TO REMOVE OBSTRUCTIONS IN DELA11 WARE RIVER. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Army, acting 

13 through the Chief of Engineers, may remove from the tidal 

14 waters of the Delaware River any object that creates an 

15 obstruction prohibited under section 10 of the Act of 

16 March 3, 1899, popularly known as the Rivers and Har17 bors Appropriations Act of 1899 (chapter 425; 33 U.S.C. 

18 403). 

19 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

20 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary $5,000,000 

21 for each of fiscal years 2006, 2007, and 2008 to carry 

22 out activities authorized in this section. 

23 SEC. 5. LIMITS ON LIABILITY. 

24 (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, 

9 including 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 

5 by subparagraph (A) of this paragraph— 

6 (i) in clause (i) by striking 

7 ‘‘$10,000,000’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘$14,000,000’’; 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 

12 of an incident occurring before the date of the enact13 ment of this Act, section 1004(a)(1) of the Oil Pol14 lution Act of 1990 (33 U.S.C. 2704(a)(1)) shall 

15 apply as in effect immediately before the effective 

16 date of this subsection. 

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 fol20 lows: 

21 ‘‘(4) ADJUSTMENT TO REFLECT CONSUMER

22 PRICE INDEX.—The President shall, by regulations 

23 issued no later than 3 years after the date of the en24 actment of the Delaware River Protection Act of 

25 2005 and no less than every 3 years thereafter, ad-
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1 just the limits on liability specified in subsection (a) 

2 to reflect significant increases in the Consumer Price 

3 Index.’’. 

4 SEC. 6. REQUIREMENT TO UPDATE PHILADELPHIA AREA 

5 CONTINGENCY PLAN. 

6 The Philadelphia Area Committee established under 

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

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

9 months after the date of the enactment of this Act and 

10 not less than annually thereafter, review and revise the 

11 Philadelphia Area Contingency Plan to include available 

12 data and biological information on environmentally sen13 sitive areas of the Delaware River and Delaware Bay that 

14 has been collected by Federal and State surveys. 

15 SEC. 7. SUBMERGED OIL REMOVAL. 

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

17 Act of 1990 is amended— 

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

19 2761(c)(4)(B)) by striking ‘‘RIVERA,’’ and insert20 ing ‘‘RIVERA and the T/V ATHOS I;’’; and 

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

22 ‘‘SEC. 7002. SUBMERGED OIL PROGRAM. 

23 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM.— 

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

25 Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, in conjunc-
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1 tion with the Commandant of the Coast Guard, shall 

2 establish a program to monitor and evaluate the en3 vironmental effects of submerged oil. Such program 

4 shall include the following elements: 

5 ‘‘(A) The development of methods to re6 move, disperse or otherwise diminish the per7 sistence of submerged oil. 

8 ‘‘(B) The development of improved models 

9 and capacities for predicting the environmental 

10 fate, transport, and effects of submerged oil. 

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

12 shall, no later than 3 years after the date of the en13 actment of the Delaware River Protection Act of 

14 2005, submit to the Committee on Transportation 

15 and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives 

16 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

17 Transportation and the Committee on Environment 

18 and Public Works of the Senate a report on the ac19 tivities carried out under this subsection and activi20 ties proposed to be carried out under this subsection. 

21 ‘‘(3) FUNDING.—There is authorized to be ap22 propriated to the Secretary of Commerce $1,000,000 

23 for each of fiscal years 2006 through 2010 to carry 

24 out this subsection. 

25 ‘‘(b) DEMONSTRATION PROJECT.— 
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1 ‘‘(1) REMOVAL OF SUBMERGED OIL.—The 

2 Commandant of the Coast Guard, in conjunction 

3 with the Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans 

4 and Atmosphere, shall conduct a demonstration 

5 project in the Delaware River for the purpose of de6 veloping and demonstrating technologies and man7 agement practices to remove submerged oil. 

8 ‘‘(2) FUNDING.—There is authorized to be ap9 propriated to the Commandant of the Coast Guard 

10 $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 and 2007 

11 to carry out this subsection.’’. 

12 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

13 in section 2 of such Act is amended by inserting after the 

14 item relating to section 7001 the following: 

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

15 SEC. 8. DELAWARE RIVER AND BAY OIL SPILL ADVISORY 

16 COMMITTEE. 

17 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the Dela18 ware River and Bay Oil Spill Advisory Committee (in this 

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

20 (b) FUNCTIONS.— 

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

22 later than 1 year after the date the Commandant of 

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

24 ‘‘Commandant’’) completes appointment of the mem25 bers of the Committee, make recommendations to 
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1 the Commandant, the Committee on Transportation 

2 and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives, 

3 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

4 Transportation of the Senate on methods to improve 

5 the prevention of and response to future oil spills in 

6 the Delaware River and Delaware Bay. 

7 (2) MEETINGS.—The Committee— 

8 (A) shall hold its first meeting not later 

9 than 60 days after the completion of the ap10 pointment of the members of the Committee; 

11 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 

16 experience regarding the transportation, equipment, and 

17 techniques that are used to ship cargo and to navigate 

18 vessels in the Delaware River and Delaware Bay, as fol19 lows: 

20 (1) Three members who are employed by port 

21 authorities that oversee operations on the Delaware 

22 River or have been selected to represent these enti23 ties, of whom— 

24 (A) one member must be an employee or 

25 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 Cor3 poration; 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 fa9 cilities on the Delaware River and Delaware Bay. 

10 (3) Two members who represent shipping com11 panies that transport cargo by vessel from ports on 

12 the 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 Dela19 ware 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 

24 public. 
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1 (d) APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS.—The Commandant 

2 shall appoint the members of the Committee, after solic3 iting nominations by notice published in the Federal Reg4 ister. 

5 (e) CHAIRMAN AND VICE CHAIRMAN.—The Com6 mittee shall elect, by majority vote at its first meeting, 

7 one of the members of the Committee as the Chairman 

8 and one of the members as the Vice Chairman. The Vice 

9 Chairman shall act as Chairman in the absence of or inca10 pacity of the Chairman, or in the event of vacancy in the 

11 Office of the Chairman. 

12 (f) PAY AND EXPENSES.— 

13 (1) PROHIBITION ON PAY.—Members of the 

14 Committee who are not officers or employees of the 

15 United States shall serve without pay. Members of 

16 the Committee who are officers or employees of the 

17 United States shall receive no additional pay on ac18 count of their service on the Committee. 

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

20 or regular places of business, members of the Com21 mittee may be allowed travel expenses, including per 

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

23 5703 of title 5, United States Code. 
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1 (g) TERMINATION.—The Committee shall terminate 

2 one year after the completion of the appointment of the 

3 members of the Committee. 

4 SEC. 9. MARITIME FIRE AND SAFETY ACTIVITIES. 

5 The Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 

6 (Public Law 107–295) is amended— 

7 (1) in section 407— 

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

9 COLUMBIA RIVER’’; and 

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

11 ‘‘$1,500,000’’; and 

12 (2) in the table of contents in section 1(a) by 

13 striking the item relating to section 407 and insert14 ing the following: 

‘‘Sec. 407. Maritime fire and safety activities.’’. 

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