II

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2124

To authorize appropriations for fiscal year 1999 for the Maritime

Administration and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 22, 1998

Mrs. HUTCHISON (for herself and Mr. INOUYE) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,

Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To authorize appropriations for fiscal year 1999 for the

Maritime Administration 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 SEC. 1. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL

4 YEAR 1999.

5 Funds are hereby authorized to be appropriated for

6 fiscal year 1999, to be available without fiscal year limita7 tion if so provided in appropriations Acts, for the use of

8 the Department of Transportation for the Maritime Ad9 ministration as follows:
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1 (1) For expenses necessary for operations and

2 training activities, $70,978,000.

3 (2) For expenses under the loan guarantee pro4 gram authorized by title XI of the Merchant Marine

5 Act, 1936 (46 U.S.C. App. 1271 et seq.),

6 $20,000,000, of which—

7 (A) $16,000,000 is for the cost (as defined

8 in section 502(5) of the Federal Credit Reform

9 Act of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 661a(5))) of loan guar10 antees under the program; and

11 (B) $4,000,000 is for administrative ex12 penses related to loan guarantee commitments

13 under the program.

14 SEC. 2. AUTHORITY TO CONVEY NATIONAL DEFENSE RE15 SERVE FLEET VESSEL.

16 (a) AUTHORITY TO CONVEY.—Not withstanding any

17 other law, the Secretary of Transportation may convey all

18 right, title, and interest of the United States Government

19 in and to the vessel M/V BAYAMON (United States offi20 cial number 530007) to the Trade Fair Ship Company,

21 a corporation established under the laws of the State of

22 Delaware and having its principal offices located in New

23 York, New York (in this section referred to as the ‘‘recipi24 ent’’), for use as floating trade exposition to showcase
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1 United States technology, industrial products, and serv2 ices.

3 (b) TERMS OF CONVEYANCE.—

4 (1) DELIVERY OF VESSEL.—In carrying out

5 subsection (a), the Secretary shall deliver the ves6 sel—

7 (A) at the place where the vessel is located

8 on the date of conveyance;

9 (B) in its condition on that date; and

10 (C) at no cost to the United States Gov11 ernment.

12 (2) REQUIRED CONDITIONS.—The Secretary

13 may not convey a vessel under this section unless—

14 (A) the recipient pays consideration equal

15 to the domestic fair market value of the vessel

16 as determined by the Secretary;

17 (B) the recipient agrees that any repair,

18 except for emergency repairs, restoration, or re19 construction work for the vessel will be per20 formed in the United States;

21 (C) the recipient agrees to hold the Gov22 ernment harmless for any claims arising from

23 exposure to hazardous material, including as24 bestos and polychlorinated biphenyls, after the

25 conveyance of the vessel, except for claims aris-
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1 ing before the date of the conveyance or from

2 use of the vessel by the Government after that

3 date; and

4 (D) the recipient provides sufficient evi5 dence to the Secretary that it has adequate fi6 nancial resources in the form of cash, liquid as7 sets, or a written loan commitment to complete

8 the reconstruction of the vessel.

9 (3) ADDITIONAL TERMS.—The Secretary may

10 require such additional terms in connection with the

11 conveyance authorized by this section as the Sec12 retary considers appropriate.

13 (c) PROCEEDS.—Any amounts received by the United

14 States as proceeds from the sale of the M/V BAYAMON

15 shall be deposited in the Vessel Operations Revolving

16 Fund established by the Act of June 2, 1951 (chapter

17 121; 46 U.S.C. App. 1241a) and shall be available and

18 expended in accordance with section 6(a) of the National

19 Maritime Heritage Act (16 U.S.C. App. 5405(a)).

20 SEC. 3. AUTHORITY TO CONVEY CERTAIN NATIONAL DE21 FENSE RESERVE FLEET VESSELS.

22 (a) AUTHORITY TO CONVEY.—Notwithstanding any

23 other law, except as described in subsection (b), the Sec24 retary of Transportation may convey all right, title, and

25 interest of the United States Government in and to the
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1 vessels BENJAMIN ISHERWOOD (TAO–191) and

2 HENRY ECKFORD (TAO–192) to a purchaser for the

3 purpose of reconstruction of those vessels for sale or char4 ter.

5 (b) TERMS OF CONVEYANCE.—

6 (1) DELIVERY OF VESSEL.—In carrying out

7 subsection (a), the Secretary shall deliver the ves8 sel—

9 (A) at the place where the vessel is located

10 on the date of the conveyance;

11 (B) in its condition on that date; and

12 (C) at no cost to the United States Gov13 ernment.

14 (2) REQUIRED CONDITIONS.—The Secretary

15 may not convey a vessel under this section unless—

16 (A) competitive procedures are used for

17 sales under this section. The purchaser or pur18 chasers shall be selected on the basis of sealed

19 bids solicited and evaluated in accordance with

20 those procedures, except that a sale of a vessel

21 may not be made for less than the fair market

22 value of the vessel in the United States, as de23 termined by the Secretary of Transportation;

24 (B) with respect to the vessel, the recipient

25 remains subject to all laws and regulations gov-
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1 erning the export of military items, including

2 the requirements administered by the Depart3 ment of State regarding export licenses and cer4 tification of nontransfer end use;

5 (C) the recipient provides sufficient evi6 dence to the Secretary that it has adequate fi7 nancial resources in the form of cash, liquid as8 sets, or a written loan commitment to complete

9 the reconstruction of the vessel;

10 (D) the recipient agrees that any repair,

11 except for emergency repairs, restoration, or re12 construction work for the vessel will be per13 formed in the United States; and

14 (E) the recipient agrees to hold the Gov15 ernment harmless for any claims arising from

16 defects in the vessel or from exposure to haz17 ardous material, including asbestos and poly18 chlorinated biphenyls, after the conveyance of

19 the vessel, except for claims arising before the

20 date of the conveyance or from use of the vessel

21 by the Government after that date.

22 (3) ADDITIONAL TERMS.—The Secretary may

23 require such additional terms in connection with a

24 conveyance authorized by this section as the Sec25 retary considers appropriate.
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1 (c) PROCEEDS.—Any amounts received by the United

2 States as proceeds from the sale of a vessel under this

3 section shall be deposited in the Vessel Operations Revolv4 ing Fund established by section 801 of the Act of June

5 2, 1951 (65 Stat. 59; 46 U.S.C. App. 1241a) and shall

6 be available and expended in accordance with section 6(a)

7 of the national Maritime Heritage Act (16 U.S.C. App.

8 5405(a)).

9 (d) DURATION OF AUTHORITY.—The authority of the

10 Secretary under this section may only be exercised during

11 the one-year period beginning on the date of the enact12 ment of this Act.

13 SEC. 4. CLEARINGHOUSE FOR MARITIME INFORMATION.

14 Of the amount authorized to be appropriated pursu15 ant to section 1(1) for operations of the Maritime Admin16 istration, $75,000 may be available for the establishment

17 at a State Maritime Academy of a clearinghouse for mari18 time information that makes that information publicly

19 available, including by use of the Internet.

20 SEC. 5. SHIP SCRAPPING EXPENSES.

21 (a) PROCEEDS OF SALE.—Section 508 of the Mer22 chant Marine Act of 1936 (46 U.S.C. App. 1158) is

23 amended by adding at the end thereof the following: ‘‘Pro24 ceeds of sale under this section, net expenses of sale (as

25 defined in section 801 of the Act of June 2, 1951 (65
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1 Stat. 59; 46 U.S.C. App. 1241a)), shall be credited to the

2 Vessels Operation Revolving Fund established by that sec3 tion.’’.

4 (b) COSTS OF SALE.—Section 510(i) of the Merchant

5 Marine Act of 1936 (46 U.S.C. App. 1160(i)), is amended

6 by inserting before ‘‘Notwithstanding’’ the following: ‘‘All

7 costs incident to the sale of an obsolete vessel under this

8 subsection and not covered by the gross proceeds of the

9 sale may be paid from balances in the Fund derived from

10 the sale of obsolete vessels. Proceeds to be credited to the

11 Fund from the sale of a vessel under this subsection shall

12 be net of the expenses of sale (as defined in section 801

13 of the Act of June 2, 1951 (65 Stat. 59; 46 U.S.C. App.

14 1241a)).’’.

15 (c) VESSEL OPERATIONS REVOLVING FUND.—

16 (1) The first sentence of section 801 of the Act

17 of June 2, 1951 (65 Stat. 59; 46 U.S.C. App.

18 1241a) is amended by striking ‘‘and betterment’’

19 and inserting ‘‘betterment, husbanding, and sale’’.

20 (2) The second paragraph of such section is

21 amended by striking ‘‘stated therein:’’ and inserting

22 ‘‘stated therein; Provided further, That such sums

23 as may be determined to be necessary by the Sec24 retary of Transportation and that have not been re25 covered from the gross proceeds from the sale of a
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1 obsolete vessel in the National Defense Reserve

2 Fleet, may be transferred from this fund, but only

3 if derived from the sale of obsolete vessels, to the op4 erations and training account of the Maritime Ad5 ministration for the purpose of paying all expenses

6 of sale including, but not limited to, cost of adminis7 tration, personnel, and travel related to the review of

8 bids, inspection of bidders’ facilities, surveys for haz9 ardous materials, removal and disposal of hazardous

10 materials, and oversight of the scrapping account.’’.

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