I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3896 

To amend the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act to provide 

a definition of recreational vessel for purposes of such Act. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 16, 2014 

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (for herself, Mr. PETRI, Ms. FRANKEL of Florida, 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. MURPHY of Florida, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, and 

Ms. WILSON of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act to provide a definition of recreational vessel 

for purposes of such Act. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. DEFINITION OF RECREATIONAL VESSEL. 

4 (a) DEFINITION.—Section 2 of the Longshore and 

5 Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (33 U.S.C. 902) is 

6 amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating paragraph (22) as para8 graph (23); and 


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1 (2) by inserting after paragraph (21) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(22)(A) The term ‘recreational vessel’ means a 

4 vessel— 

5 ‘‘(i) being manufactured or operated pri6 marily for pleasure; or 

7 ‘‘(ii) leased, rented, or chartered to an8 other for the latter’s pleasure. 

9 ‘‘(B) In applying the definition in subparagraph 

10 (A), the following rules apply: 

11 ‘‘(i) A vessel being manufactured or built, 

12 or being repaired under warranty by its manu13 facturer or builder, is a recreational vessel if 

14 the vessel appears intended, based on its design 

15 and construction, to be for ultimate recreational 

16 uses. The manufacturer or builder bears the 

17 burden of establishing that a vessel is rec18 reational under this standard. 

19 ‘‘(ii) A vessel being repaired, dismantled 

20 for repair, or dismantled at the end of its life 

21 will be treated as recreational at the time of re22 pair, dismantling for repair, or dismantling, 

23 provided that such vessel shares elements of de24 sign and construction of traditional recreational 

25 vessels and is not normally engaged in a miliVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:59 Jan 23, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3896.IH H3896

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1 tary, commercial or traditionally commercial 

2 undertaking. 

3 ‘‘(iii) A vessel will be treated as a rec4 reational vessel if it is a public vessel, such as 

5 a vessel owned or chartered and operated by the 

6 United States, or by a State or political subdivi7 sion thereof, at the time of repair, dismantling 

8 for repair, or dismantling, provided that such 

9 vessel shares elements of design and construc10 tion with traditional recreational vessels and is 

11 not normally engaged in a military, commercial, 

12 or traditionally commercial undertaking.’’. 

13 (b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 90 days after the 

14 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor 

15 shall— 

16 (1) amend the regulations in section 701.501 of 

17 title 20, Code of Federal Regulations, by deleting 

18 the text of subsections (a) and (b) of such section 

19 and replacing it with only the text of the definition 

20 of recreational vehicle in section 2(22) of the 

21 Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, 

22 as added by subsection (a); and 


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1 (2) make no further modification to such defini2 tion in another regulation or any administrative di3 rective. 

Æ 


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