II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 428 

To expedite the development of Arctic deepwater ports and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 28, 2013 

Mr. BEGICH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To expedite the development of Arctic deepwater ports 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 ‘‘Arctic Deep Water 

5 Ports Enhancement Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) There is a pressing national need to prepare 

9 for increasing human activity and expanding com10 merce in the Arctic. Such activity will likely include 


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1 oil and gas development, fishing, shipping, and tour2 ism. 

3 (2) To respond to this increase in activity, there 

4 is a need for port facilities in the Arctic that can ac5 commodate deep-draft ships, support search and res6 cue activities, scientific research, and Arctic oil and 

7 gas development, and serve as an Arctic harbor of 

8 refuge. 

9 (3) The residents of the Arctic region of the 

10 United States are under-served in freight transpor11 tation, and deep-draft ports in the Arctic will en12 hance economic opportunities and quality of life for 

13 such residents. 

14 (4) Arctic communities rely on subsistence 

15 hunting for economic and cultural survival, and it is 

16 critical to protect the Arctic environment and main17 tain subsistence resources. 

18 (5) Coordinating and expediting the develop19 ment of deep-draft ports in the Arctic is in the na20 tional interest. 

21 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

22 In this Act: 

23 (1) ARCTIC DEEPWATER PORT.—The term 

24 ‘‘Arctic deepwater port’’ means any port facility lo25 cated— 


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1 (A) in waters north of 60 degrees latitude 

2 north and west of 162 degrees longitude west 

3 that have a water depth of not less than 30 

4 feet; or 

5 (B) in waters north of 63 degrees latitude 

6 north that have a water depth of not less than 

7 30 feet. 

8 (2) CONSUMER PRICE INDEX.—The term ‘‘Con9 sumer Price Index’’ means the Consumer Price 

10 Index for all-urban consumers, United States city 

11 average, as published by the Bureau of Labor Sta12 tistics, or if such index shall cease to be published, 

13 any successor index or reasonable substitute thereof. 

14 (3) COORDINATOR.—The term ‘‘Coordinator’’ 

15 means the Federal Coordinator for Arctic Deepwater 

16 Port Projects appointed under section 7(b)(1). 

17 (4) DEVELOPER.—The term ‘‘developer’’, with 

18 respect to an Arctic deepwater port, means any pri19 vate entity, State, municipal, or borough govern20 ment, Alaska Native corporation created by section 

21 7 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 

22 U.S.C. 1606), or the western Alaska community de23 velopment quota program created by section 

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1 servation and Management Act that is seeking to de2 velop an arctic deepwater port. 

3 (5) DEVELOPMENT.—The term ‘‘development’’, 

4 with respect to an Arctic deepwater port, means any 

5 aspect of the development, construction, or operation 

6 of such port. 

7 (6) ELIGIBLE LENDER.—The term ‘‘eligible 

8 lender’’ means any non-Federal qualified institu9 tional buyer (as defined by section 230.144A(a) of 

10 title 17, Code of Federal Regulations (or any suc11 cessor regulation), known as Rule 144A(a) of the 

12 Securities and Exchange Commission and issued 

13 under the Securities Act of 1933), including— 

14 (A) a qualified retirement plan (as defined 

15 in section 4974(c) of the Internal Revenue Code 

16 of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 4974(c)) that is a qualified 

17 institutional buyer; and 

18 (B) a governmental plan (as defined in 

19 section 414(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

20 1986 (26 U.S.C. 414(d)) that is a qualified in21 stitutional buyer. 

22 (7) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW.—The term ‘‘en23 vironmental review’’ means an environmental impact 

24 statement, environmental assessment, or other docu25 ment required for compliance with the National EnVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:19 Mar 02, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S428.IS S428

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1 vironmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 

2 seq.). 

3 (8) FEDERAL GUARANTEE INSTRUMENT.—The 

4 term ‘‘Federal guarantee instrument’’ means any 

5 guarantee or other pledge by the Secretary to pledge 

6 the full faith and credit of the United States to pay 

7 all of the principal and interest on any loan or other 

8 debt obligation entered into by a holder of a certifi9 cate of public convenience and necessity. 

10 (9) OFFICE.—Except as otherwise specifically 

11 provided, the term ‘‘Office’’ means the Office of the 

12 Federal Arctic Deepwater Port Coordinator estab13 lished under section 7(a). 

14 (10) SECRETARY.—Except as otherwise specifi15 cally provided, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Sec16 retary of the Army. 

17 SEC. 4. ARCTIC DEEPWATER PORT DEVELOPMENT PART18 NERSHIPS. 

19 The Secretary is authorized to enter into partnership 

20 agreements with developers— 

21 (1) to plan, survey, design, construct, maintain, 

22 or operate Arctic deepwater ports; 

23 (2) to provide technical assistance for the ac24 tivities described in paragraph (1); and 


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1 (3) to receive funds for such activities from 

2 Federal, non-Federal, and private entities, including 

3 developers of an Arctic deepwater ports that have an 

4 agreement with the Secretary for such an activity 

5 under this section. 

6 SEC. 5. ARCTIC PORT INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT 

7 FUND. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

9 Treasury of the United States a trust fund to be known 

10 as the ‘‘Arctic Port Infrastructure Development Fund’’, 

11 consisting of such amounts as may be appropriated or 

12 credited to such Fund, as provided in this section. 

13 (b) DEPOSITS IN THE FUND.—There may be depos14 ited into the Arctic Port Infrastructure Development 

15 Fund— 

16 (1) amounts from Federal, non-Federal, and 

17 private entities received by the Secretary under sec18 tion 4(3); and 

19 (2) such amounts as may be appropriated or 

20 transferred to the Fund under this section. 

21 (c) EXPENDITURES.—Amounts in the Arctic Port In22 frastructure Development Fund shall be available to the 

23 Secretary— 

24 (1) to administer and carry out Arctic deep25 water port development projects; 


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1 (2) to make refunds related to Arctic deepwater 

2 port development projects that will not be completed; 

3 and 

4 (3) to make loan guarantees as described in 

5 subsection (d). 

6 (d) LOAN GUARANTEES.— 

7 (1) AUTHORITY.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 

9 enter into agreements with developers to issue 

10 Federal guarantee instruments with respect to 

11 loans and other debt obligations for Arctic 

12 deepwater ports. 

13 (B) EXPIRATION OF AUTHORITY.—The au14 thority of the Secretary to issue Federal guar15 antee instruments under this section for Arctic 

16 deepwater ports shall expire on the date that is 

17 30 years from the date of enactment of this 

18 Act. 

19 (2) CONDITIONS.—The Secretary may issue a 

20 Federal guarantee instrument under this section for 

21 Arctic deepwater ports only if the loan or other debt 

22 obligation guaranteed by the instrument has been 

23 issued by an eligible lender. 

24 (3) LIMITATIONS ON AMOUNTS.— 


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1 (A) LIMITATION ON PERCENTAGE OF

2 TOTAL CAPITAL COSTS.—The amount of loans 

3 and other debt obligations guaranteed under 

4 this section for Arctic deepwater ports shall not 

5 exceed 75 percent of the total capital costs of 

6 the project, including interest during construc7 tion. 

8 (B) MAXIMUM AMOUNT GUARANTEED.— 

9 The principal amount of loans and other debt 

10 obligations guaranteed under this section shall 

11 not exceed, in the aggregate, $3,000,000,000, 

12 which amount shall be indexed for United 

13 States dollar inflation from the date of the en14 actment of this Act, as measured by the Con15 sumer Price Index. 

16 (4) LOAN TERMS AND FEES.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 

18 issue Federal guarantee instruments under this 

19 section that take into account repayment pro20 files and grace periods justified by project cash 

21 flows and project-specific considerations. 

22 (B) MAXIMUM LOAN TERM.—The term of 

23 any loan guaranteed under this section shall not 

24 exceed 30 years. 


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1 (C) FEES.—An eligible lender may assess 

2 and collect from the borrower such other fees 

3 and costs associated with the application and 

4 origination of the loan or other debt obligation 

5 as are reasonable and customary for a project 

6 finance transaction in the transportation infra7 structure sector. 

8 (5) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary may issue 

9 regulations to carry out this subsection. 

10 (e) TRANSFERS, AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.— 

11 (1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

12 (A) ARCTIC DEEPWATER PORT DEVELOP13 MENT PROJECTS.—There are authorized to be 

14 appropriated to the Arctic Port Infrastructure 

15 Development Fund such sums as may be nec16 essary to carry out paragraphs (1) and (2) of 

17 subsection (c). 

18 (B) LOAN GUARANTEES.—There are au19 thorized to be appropriated such sums as may 

20 be necessary to cover the cost of loan guaran21 tees under this section, as defined by section 

22 502(5) of the Federal Credit Reform Act of 

23 1990 (2 U.S.C. 661a(5)). 

24 (2) TRANSFERS.—Amounts appropriated or 

25 otherwise made available for any fiscal year for an 


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1 Arctic deepwater port facility may be transferred, at 

2 the option of the recipient of such amounts, to the 

3 Arctic Port Infrastructure Development Fund and 

4 administered by the Secretary as a component of an 

5 Arctic deepwater port development project. 

6 (3) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts appro7 priated pursuant to an authorization of appropria8 tions in this subsection and other amounts in the 

9 Arctic Port Infrastructure Fund shall remain avail10 able until expended. 

11 SEC. 6. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWS FOR ARCTIC DEEP12 WATER PORTS. 

13 (a) DESIGNATION OF LEAD AGENCY.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary— 

15 (A) shall be the lead for purposes of com16 plying with the National Environmental Policy 

17 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) for the 

18 development of an Arctic deepwater port, re19 gardless of the agency or department of the 

20 United States taking the action that requires 

21 compliance with such Act; and 

22 (B) shall be responsible for preparing any 

23 environmental review related to such action. 

24 (2) CONSOLIDATION OF STATEMENTS.—In car25 rying out paragraph (1), with respect to any enviVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:19 Mar 02, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S428.IS S428

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1 ronmental review for an action related to develop2 ment of an Arctic deepwater port, the Secretary 

3 shall prepare a single document, which shall consoli4 date the environmental reviews of each agency or de5 partment of the United States considering any as6 pect of such action. 

7 (3) SATISFACTION OF REQUIREMENTS.—An en8 vironmental review prepared by the Secretary under 

9 paragraph (1) for an action related to development 

10 of an Arctic deepwater port shall be adopted by each 

11 appropriate agency or department of the United 

12 States in satisfaction of the responsibilities of such 

13 agency or department under the National Environ14 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) 

15 with respect to such action. 

16 (b) EXPEDITED PROCESS.—The Secretary shall— 

17 (1) not later than 1 year after the date that the 

18 Secretary determines that an application for an envi19 ronmental review related to an Arctic deepwater port 

20 is complete, issue a draft version of the environ21 mental review; and 

22 (2) not later than 180 days after the date of 

23 issuance of such draft version, issue the final version 

24 of the environmental review, unless the Secretary for 


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1 good cause determines that additional time is need2 ed. 

3 (c) COOPERATION WITH OTHER AGENCIES.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each agency or department 

5 of the United States that, if not for subsection (a), 

6 would be required to prepare an environmental re7 view for any aspect of the development of an Arctic 

8 deepwater port project shall— 

9 (A) cooperate with the Secretary; and 

10 (B) comply with deadlines established by 

11 subsection (b) for the issuance of the environ12 mental review by the Secretary. 

13 SEC. 7. FEDERAL COORDINATOR FOR ARCTIC DEEPWATER 

14 PORT PROJECTS. 

15 (a) OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL ARCTIC DEEPWATER

16 PORT COORDINATOR.—There is established, as an inde17 pendent office in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of 

18 the Army for Civil Works of the Department of the Army, 

19 the Office of the Federal Arctic Deepwater Port Coordi20 nator. 

21 (b) COORDINATOR FOR ARCTIC DEEPWATER PORT

22 PROJECTS.— 

23 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The Office shall be headed 

24 by a Federal Coordinator for Arctic Deepwater Port 


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1 Projects, who shall be appointed by the President, 

2 by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. 

3 (2) COMPENSATION.—The Coordinator shall be 

4 compensated at the rate prescribed for level III of 

5 the Executive Schedule set out in section 5314 of 

6 title 5, United States Code. 

7 (3) DUTIES.—The Coordinator shall be respon8 sible for— 

9 (A) coordinating the expeditious discharge 

10 of all activities of the agencies and departments 

11 of the United States for the preparation of en12 vironmental reviews related to the development 

13 of an Arctic deepwater port; 

14 (B) ensuring the compliance of such agen15 cies or departments with the provisions of this 

16 Act; 

17 (C) assessing potential partnerships de18 scribed in section 4 and advising the Secretary 

19 on such partnerships; and 

20 (D) assessing applications for loan guaran21 tees under section 5(d) and advising the Sec22 retary on such terms as may be advisable to 

23 issue such guarantees. 

24 (c) PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN TERMS AND CONDI25 TIONS.—No agency or department of the United States 


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1 may include in any certificate, right-of-way, permit, lease, 

2 or other authorization issued for an Arctic deepwater port 

3 any term or condition that may be permitted, but is not 

4 required by, any applicable law if the Coordinator deter5 mines that such term or condition would prevent or impair 

6 in any significant respect the expeditious construction and 

7 operation, or an expansion, of an Arctic deepwater port. 

8 (d) PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN ACTIONS.—Unless re9 quired by law, no agency or department of the United 

10 States shall add to, amend, or abrogate any certificate, 

11 right-of-way, permit, lease, or other authorization issued 

12 to an Arctic deepwater port if the Coordinator determines 

13 that the action would prevent or impair in any significant 

14 respect the expeditious construction and operation, or an 

15 expansion, of an Arctic deepwater port. 

16 SEC. 8. ASSISTANCE TO DEVELOPERS OF ARCTIC DEEP17 WATER PORTS. 

18 (a) INFRASTRUCTURE FINANCE FUNDING.—Not19 withstanding any limitation of chapter 6 of title 23, 

20 United States Code, a developer of an Arctic deepwater 

21 port shall be eligible for assistance from the funds made 

22 available pursuant to such chapter for the development of 

23 such port. 

24 (b) ROLE OF THE COAST GUARD.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commandant of the 

2 Coast Guard is authorized— 

3 (A) to enter into long-term lease for moor4 age, warehousing, hangar space, and logistical 

5 support with a developer of an Arctic deep 

6 water port; and 

7 (B) to convey any property deemed surplus 

8 to the Coast Guard’s needs in Alaska to any 

9 Alaskan borough, municipality or native cor10 poration seeking to develop an Arctic deepwater 

11 port. 

12 SEC. 9. DEEPWATER PORT ACT OF 1974 AMENDMENT. 

13 Section 3(9)(A) of the Deepwater Port Act of 1974 

14 (33 U.S.C. 1502(9)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘uses’’ 

15 and inserting ‘‘uses, including general handling of cargo, 

16 ship service or repair, logistical support for government 

17 and private sector activities at sea, or service as a harbor 

18 of refuge,’’. 

19 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

20 There is authorized to be appropriated $3,000,000 

21 for each fiscal year to carry out this Act. 

Æ 


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