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Union Calendar No. 296 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5503 

[Report No. 111–521, Part I] 

To revise laws regarding liability in certain civil actions arising from maritime 

incidents, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 10, 2010 

Mr. CONYERS (for himself, Mr. MELANCON, Mr. NADLER of New York, Ms. 

JACKSON LEE of Texas, Ms. WATERS, Mr. COHEN, Mr. JOHNSON of 

Georgia, Ms. CHU, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. WEINER, Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ

of California, and Mr. BRALEY of Iowa) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition 

to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to 

be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 

concerned 

JUNE 30, 2010 

Reported from the Committee on the Judiciary with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

JUNE 30, 2010 

Additional sponsors: Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. 

CONNOLLY of Virginia, Mr. BERMAN, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. MAFFEI, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. BACA, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. HOLT, Mr. PAYNE, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. SHERMAN, and Ms. 

HIRONO

JUNE 30, 2010 

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure discharged; committed to the 

Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered 

to be printed 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on June 10, 2010] 


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A BILL 

To revise laws regarding liability in certain civil actions 

arising from maritime incidents, and for other purposes. 


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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 ‘‘Securing Protections 

5 for the Injured from Limitations on Liability Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO DEATH ON THE HIGH SEAS ACT. 

7 The Death on the High Seas Act (chapter 303 of title 

8 46, United States Code), is amended— 

9 (1) in section 30302— 

10 (A) by inserting ‘‘or law’’ after ‘‘admi11 ralty’’; 

12 (B) by striking ‘‘3 nautical miles’’ and in13 serting ‘‘12 nautical miles’’; and 

14 (C) by striking the last sentence; 

15 (2) in section 30303— 

16 (A) by inserting ‘‘and nonpecuniary loss’’ 

17 after ‘‘pecuniary loss’’; 

18 (B) by striking ‘‘by’’ and all that follows 

19 through the end, and inserting ‘‘, plus a fair 

20 compensation for the decedent’s pain and suf21 fering.’’; and 

22 (C) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘In 

23 this section, the term ‘nonpecuniary loss’ means 

24 loss of care, comfort, and companionship.’’; 


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1 (3) in section 30305 by inserting ‘‘or law’’ after 

2 ‘‘admiralty’’; 

3 (4) in section 30306, by inserting ‘‘or law’’ after 

4 ‘‘admiralty’’; 

5 (5) by striking section 30307, and redesignating 

6 section 30308 as section 30307; 

7 (6) in section 30307, as so redesignated, by 

8 amending subsection (b) to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘(b) INTERNAL AND TERRITORIAL WATERS.—This 

10 chapter does not apply to the waters of the Great Lakes 

11 or waters within the territorial limits of a State that do 

12 not exceed 12 nautical miles from the shore of the United 

13 States. In such waters, the rules applicable under Federal, 

14 State, maritime, and other appropriate law shall apply.’’; 

15 and 

16 (7) in the table of sections at the beginning of 

17 such chapter, by striking the items relating to sections 

18 30307 and 30308 and inserting the following: 

‘‘30307. Nonapplication.’’. 

19 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO JONES ACT. 

20 Title 46, United States Code, is amended— 

21 (1) in section 30104, by adding at the end the 

22 following: ‘‘In addition to other amounts authorized 

23 under such laws, the recovery for a seaman who so 

24 dies shall include recovery for loss of care, comfort, 

25 and companionship.’’; and 


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1 (2) by striking section 30105 and the item relat2 ing to that section in the table of sections at the be3 ginning of chapter 301. 

4 SEC. 4. REPEAL OF LIMITATION OF LIABILITY ACT. 

5 Chapter 305 of title 46, United States Code, is amend6 ed by repealing sections 30505, 30506, 30507, 30511, and 

7 30512 and the items relating to those sections in the table 

8 of sections at the beginning of chapter 305. 

9 SEC. 5. AMENDMENT TO CLASS ACTION FAIRNESS ACT. 

10 Title 28, United States Code, is amended— 

11 (1) in section 1711(2), by inserting ‘‘, but does 

12 not include an action brought by a State or subdivi13 sion of a State on behalf of its citizens’’ before the pe14 riod; 

15 (2) in section 1332(d)(1)(B), by inserting ‘‘, but 

16 does not include an action brought by a State or sub17 division of a State on behalf of its citizens’’ before the 

18 semicolon; and 

19 (3) in section 1332(d)(11)(B)(ii)— 

20 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subclause 

21 (III); 

22 (B) by striking the period at the end of sub23 clause (IV) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

24 (C) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(V) the claims are made by a State or subdivi2 sion of a State on behalf of its citizens.’’. 

3 SEC. 6. UNENFORCEABILITY OF CERTAIN SECRECY AGREE4 MENTS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part VI of title 28, United States 

6 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘CHAPTER 181—UNENFORCEABILITY OF 

8 CERTAIN SECRECY AGREEMENTS 

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘4101. Unenforceability of certain secrecy agreements. 

9 ‘‘§ 4101. Unenforceability of certain secrecy agree10 ments 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), an 

12 agreement, promise, or directive to restrict the dissemina13 tion of information regarding the cause of a discharge into 

14 waters off the shore of the United States of a substance that 

15 contaminates a marine or coastal environment or endan16 gers public health, regarding the nature or extent of such 

17 a discharge, regarding the damage caused or threatened by 

18 such a discharge, or regarding the efforts to remediate the 

19 effects of such a discharge, shall be void as against public 

20 policy and unenforceable in any legal proceeding. 

21 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTION.— 

22 ‘‘(1) GENERALLY.—Subsection (a) does not 

23 apply with respect to a directive contained in a court 

24 order, or issued by a Government agency with authorVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:59 Jun 30, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5503.RH H5503

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1 ity to enforce such a directive in a court, restricting 

2 dissemination of information as necessary to protect 

3 public health or safety. 

4 ‘‘(2) PROCEDURE RELATING TO EXCEPTION.— 

5 ‘‘(A) A court shall not grant judicial en6 forcement of a directive or order described in 

7 paragraph (1) unless the proponent of the direc8 tive or order proves by clear and convincing evi9 dence that such enforcement is permitted under 

10 paragraph (1). 

11 ‘‘(B) If a court grants judicial enforcement 

12 of any directive or order described in paragraph 

13 (1), the court shall state the court’s factual find14 ings and conclusions of law relating to that en15 forcement on the record.’’. 

16 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters for 

17 part VI of title 28, United States Code, is amended by add18 ing at the end the following new item: 

‘‘181. Unenforceability of Certain Secrecy Agreements ........ 4101’’. 

19 SEC. 7. AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 11 OF THE UNITED STATES 

20 CODE. 

21 (a) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN PROPERTY IN BANK22 RUPTCY.— 

23 (1) LIMITATION ON SALE OR LEASE OF CERTAIN

24 PROPERTY IN BANKRUPTCY.—Section 363 of title 11, 


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1 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

2 the following: 

3 ‘‘(q) Notwithstanding any other provision of this sec4 tion, if the debtor is liable under any law for a claim aris5 ing from an incident (as defined in section 1001 of the Oil 

6 Pollution Act of 1990, and that gives rise to liability under 

7 such Act), the trustee may not sell or lease all or substan8 tially all property of the estate of the debtor (or, to the ex9 tent that the court has or can obtain jurisdiction over any 

10 affiliate of the debtor, property of such affiliate) unless the 

11 entity that acquires such property (including any affiliate 

12 of such entity) assumes the obligation to pay the amount 

13 of allowed unsecured claims arising from such incident that 

14 is not paid by the debtor, or unless creditors holding at least 

15 two-thirds in amount, and more than one-half in number, 

16 of such claims consent to different treatment.’’. 

17 (2) LIMITATION ON TREATMENT OF CERTAIN

18 PROPERTY UNDER A PLAN OF REORGANIZATION.—Sec19 tion 1129(b)(2)(B) of title 11, United States Code, is 

20 amended— 

21 (A) in clause (i) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

22 end; 

23 (B) in clause (ii) by striking the period at 

24 the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

25 (C) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(iii) that includes claims of the kind de2 scribed in section 363(q), if the plan provides for 

3 a sale or lease of all or substantially all of prop4 erty of the estate, the plan requires the entity 

5 that acquires such property (including any affil6 iate of such entity) to assume the obligation to 

7 pay the amount of allowed unsecured claims 

8 arising from an incident described in section 

9 363(q) that is not paid by the debtor, or credi10 tors holding at least two-thirds in amount, and 

11 more than one-half in number, of such claims 

12 consent to different treatment.’’. 

13 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 303(f) of title 

14 11, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

15 the following: ‘‘If the debtor is liable under any law for a 

16 claim arising from an incident (as defined in section 1001 

17 of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, and that gives rise to li18 ability under such Act), the debtor may not sell or lease 

19 all or substantially all property of the debtor (or, to the 

20 extent that the court has or can obtain jurisdiction over 

21 any affiliate of the debtor, property of such affiliate) unless 

22 the entity that acquires such property (including any affil23 iate of such entity) assumes the obligation to pay the 

24 amount of allowed unsecured claims arising from such inci25 dent that is not paid by the debtor, or creditors holding 


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1 at least two-thirds in amount, and more than one-half in 

2 number, of such claims consent to different treatment.’’. 

3 SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

4 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

5 take effect on the date of enactment of this Act and shall 

6 apply to cases pending on or after such date. 


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Union Calendar No. 296 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5503 

[Report No. 111–521, Part I] 

A BILL 

To revise laws regarding liability in certain civil acother purposes. tions arising from maritime incidents, and for 

JUNE 30, 2010 

Reported from the Committee on the Judiciary with an 

amendment 

JUNE 30, 2010 

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure disprinted House on the State of the Union and ordered to be charged; committed to the Committee of the Whole 


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