II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1632 

To ensure that vessels of the United States conveyed to eligible recipients 

for educational, cultural, historical, charitable, recreational, or other public purposes are maintained and utilized for the purposes for which 

they were conveyed. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 14, 2007 

Ms. SNOWE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To ensure that vessels of the United States conveyed to 

eligible recipients for educational, cultural, historical, 

charitable, recreational, or other public purposes are 

maintained and utilized for the purposes for which they 

were conveyed. 

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 ‘‘Vessel Conveyance 

5 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CONVEYANCE OF UNITED STATES VESSELS FOR 

2 PUBLIC PURPOSES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The conveyance of a United 

4 States Government vessel to an eligible entity for use as 

5 an educational, cultural, historical, charitable, or rec6 reational or other public purpose shall be made subject 

7 to any conditions, including the reservation of such rights 

8 on behalf of the United States, as the Secretary considers 

9 necessary to ensure that the vessel will be maintained and 

10 used in accordance with the purposes for which it was con11 veyed, including conditions necessary to ensure that unless 

12 approved by the Secretary— 

13 (1) the eligible entity to which the vessel is con14 veyed may not sell, convey, assign, exchange, or en15 cumber the vessel, any part thereof, or any associ16 ated historic artifact conveyed to the eligible entity 

17 in conjunction with the vessel; and 

18 (2) the eligible entity to which the vessel is con19 veyed may not conduct any commercial activities at 

20 the vessel, any part thereof, or in connection with 

21 any associated historic artifact conveyed to the eligi22 ble entity in conjunction with the vessel, in any man23 ner. 

24 (b) REVERSION.—In addition to any term or condi25 tion established pursuant to this section, the conveyance 

26 of a United States Government vessel shall include a conVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:05 Jun 15, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1632.IS S1632

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1 dition that the vessel, or any associated historic artifact 

2 conveyed to the eligible entity in conjunction with the ves3 sel, at the option of the Secretary, shall revert to the 

4 United States and be placed under the administrative con5 trol of the Administrator if, without approval of the Sec6 retary— 

7 (1) the vessel, any part thereof, or any associ8 ated historic artifact ceases to be available for the 

9 educational, cultural, historical, charitable, or rec10 reational or other public purpose for which it was 

11 conveyed under reasonable conditions which shall be 

12 set forth in the eligible entity’s application; 

13 (2) the vessel or any part thereof ceases to be 

14 maintained in a manner consistent with the commit15 ments made by the eligible entity to which it was 

16 conveyed; 

17 (3) the eligible entity to which the vessel is con18 veyed, sells, conveys, assigns, exchanges, or encum19 bers the vessel, any part thereof, or any associated 

20 historic artifact; or 

21 (4) the eligible entity to which the vessel is con22 veyed, conducts any commercial activities at the ves23 sel, any part thereof, or in conjunction with any as24 sociated historic artifact. 


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1 (c) AGREEMENT REQUIRED.—Except as may be oth2 erwise explicitly provided by statute, a United States Gov3 ernment vessel may not be conveyed to an entity unless 

4 that entity agrees to comply with any terms or conditions 

5 imposed on the conveyance under this section. 

6 (d) RECORDS AND MONITORING.— 

7 (1) COMPILATION AND TRANSFER.—The Sec8 retary shall provide a written or electronic record for 

9 each vessel conveyed pursuant to the Secretary’s au10 thority, including the vessel registration, the applica11 tion for conveyance, the terms and conditions of con12 veyance, and any other documents associated with 

13 the conveyance, and any post-conveyance cor14 respondence or other documentation, to the Adminis15 trator. 

16 (2) MONITORING.—For a period not less than 

17 5 years after the date of conveyance the Adminis18 trator shall monitor the eligible entity’s use of the 

19 vessel conveyed to ensure that the vessel is being 

20 used in accordance with the purpose for which it was 

21 conveyed. The Administrator shall create a written 

22 or electronic record of such monitoring activities and 

23 their findings. 

24 (3) MAINTENANCE.—The Administrator shall 

25 maintain vessel conveyance records provided under 


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1 paragraph (1), and monitoring records created 

2 under paragraph (2), on each vessel conveyed until 

3 such time as the vessel is destroyed, scuttled, recy4 cled, or otherwise disposed of. The Administrator 

5 may make the records available to the public. 

6 (e) COST ESTIMATES.—The Secretary may provide 

7 an estimate to an eligible entity of the cost of maintaining 

8 and operating any vessel to be conveyed to that entity. 

9 (f) GUIDANCE.—The Secretary may issue guidance 

10 concerning the types and extent of commercial activities, 

11 including the sale of goods or services incidental to, and 

12 consistent with, the purposes for which a vessel was con13 veyed, that are approved by the Secretary for purposes 

14 of subsections (a)(2) and (b)(4) of this section. 

15 SEC. 3. WORKING GROUP ON CONVEYANCE OF UNITED 

16 STATES VESSELS. 

17 Within 180 days after the date of enactment of this 

18 Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall convene a work19 ing group, composed of representatives from the Maritime 

20 Administration, the Coast Guard, and the United States 

21 Navy to review and to make recommendations on a com22 mon set of conditions for the conveyance of vessels of the 

23 United States to eligible entities (as defined in section 

24 2(d)(2)). The Secretary may request the participation of 


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1 senior representatives of any other Federal department or 

2 agency, as appropriate. 

3 SEC. 4. CIVIL ENFORCEMENT OF CONVEYANCE CONDI4 TIONS. 

5 (a) CIVIL ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTIES.— 

6 (1) Any eligible entity found by the Secretary, 

7 after notice and opportunity for a hearing in accord8 ance with section 554 of title 5, United States Code, 

9 to have failed to comply with the terms and condi10 tions under which a vessel was conveyed to it shall 

11 be liable to the United States for a civil penalty. The 

12 amount of the civil penalty under this paragraph 

13 shall not exceed $10,000 for each violation. Each 

14 day of a continuing violation shall constitute a sepa15 rate violation. 

16 (2) COMPROMISE OR OTHER ACTION BY THE

17 SECRETARY.—The Secretary may compromise, mod18 ify, or remit, with or without conditions, any civil 

19 administrative penalty imposed under this section 

20 that has not been referred to the Attorney General 

21 for further enforcement action. 

22 (b) HEARING.—For the purposes of conducting any 

23 investigation or hearing under this section, the Secretary 

24 may issue subpoenas for the attendance and testimony of 

25 witnesses and the production of relevant papers, books, 


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1 and documents, and may administer oaths. Witnesses 

2 summoned shall be paid the same fees and mileage that 

3 are paid to witnesses in the courts of the United States. 

4 In case of contempt or refusal to obey a subpoena served 

5 upon any person pursuant to this subsection, the district 

6 court of the United States for any district in which such 

7 person is found, resides, or transacts business, upon appli8 cation by the United States and after notice to such per9 son, shall have jurisdiction to issue an order requiring 

10 such person to appear and give testimony before the Sec11 retary or to appear and produce documents before the Sec12 retary, or both, and any failure to obey such order of the 

13 court may be punished by such court as a contempt there14 of. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to grant juris15 diction to a district court to entertain an application for 

16 an order to enforce a subpoena issued by the Secretary 

17 of Commerce to the Federal Government or any entity 

18 thereof. 

19 (c) JURISDICTION.—The United States district 

20 courts shall have original jurisdiction of any action under 

21 this section arising out of or in connection with the oper22 ation, maintenance, or disposition of a conveyed vessel, 

23 and proceedings with respect to any such action may be 

24 instituted in the judicial district in which any defendant 

25 resides or may be found. For the purpose of this section, 


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1 American Samoa shall be included within the judicial dis2 trict of the District Court of the United States for the 

3 District of Hawaii. 

4 (d) COLLECTION.—If an eligible entity fails to pay 

5 an assessment of a civil penalty after it has become a final 

6 and unappealable order, or after the appropriate court has 

7 entered final judgment in favor of the Secretary, the mat8 ter may be referred to the Attorney General, who may re9 cover the amount (plus interest at currently prevailing 

10 rates from the date of the final order). In such action the 

11 validity, amount, and appropriateness of the final order 

12 imposing the civil penalty shall not be subject to review. 

13 Any eligible entity that fails to pay, on a timely basis, the 

14 amount of an assessment of a civil penalty shall be re15 quired to pay, in addition to such amount and interest, 

16 attorney’s fees and costs for collection proceedings and a 

17 quarterly nonpayment penalty for each quarter during 

18 which such failure to pay persists. Such nonpayment pen19 alty shall be in an amount equal to 20 percent of the ag20 gregate amount of such the entity’s penalties and non21 payment penalties which are unpaid as of the beginning 

22 of such quarter. 

23 (e) NATIONWIDE SERVICE OF PROCESS.—In any ac24 tion by the United States under this Act, process may be 

25 served in any district where the defendant is found, reVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:05 Jun 15, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1632.IS S1632

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1 sides, transacts business or has appointed an agent for 

2 the service of process, and for civil cases may also be 

3 served in a place not within the United States in accord4 ance with Rule 4 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. 

5 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act: 

7 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis8 trator’’ means the Administrator of General Serv9 ices. 

10 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti11 ty’’ means a State or local government, nonprofit 

12 corporation, educational agency, community develop13 ment organization, or other entity that agrees to 

14 comply with the conditions established under this 

15 section. 

16 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

17 the Secretary of the department or agency on whose 

18 authority a vessel is conveyed to an eligible entity. 

19 (4) UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT VESSEL.— 

20 The term ‘‘United States government vessel’’ means 

21 a vessel owned by the United States Government. 

Æ 


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