II 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2279 

To amend title 46, United States Code, with respect to maritime 

transportation security, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 1, 2004 

Mr. HOLLINGS (for himself, Mr. MCCAIN, and Mr. BREAUX) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To amend title 46, United States Code, with respect to 

maritime transportation security, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2004’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents 

Sec. 2. In rem liability; enforcement; pier and wharf security costs. 

Sec. 3. Maritime information. 

Sec. 4. Intermodal cargo security plan. 

Sec. 5. Joint operations center for port security. 

Sec. 6. Maritime transportation security plan grants. 
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Sec. 7. Assistance for foreign ports. 

Sec. 8. Federal and State commercial maritime transportation training. 

Sec. 9. Port security research and development. 

Sec. 10. Nuclear facilities in maritime areas. 

Sec. 11. Transportation worker background investigation programs. 

Sec. 12. Security service fee. 

Sec. 13. Port security capital fund. 

1 SEC. 2. IN REM LIABILITY; ENFORCEMENT; PIER AND 

2 WHARF SECURITY COSTS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 701 of title 46, United 

4 States Code, is amended— 

5 (1) by redesignating section 70117 as 70120; 

6 and 

7 (2) by inserting after section 70116 the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘§ 70117. In rem liability for civil penalties and cer10 tain costs 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Any vessel subject to the provi12 sions of this chapter, which is used in violation of this 

13 chapter or any regulations issued hereunder shall be liable 

14 in rem for any civil penalty assessed pursuant to section 

15 70120 and may be proceeded against in the United States 

16 district court for any district in which such vessel may 

17 be found. 

18 ‘‘(b) REIMBURSABLE COSTS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any vessel subject to the 

20 provisions of this chapter shall be liable in rem for 

21 the reimbursable costs incurred by any valid claim22 ant related to implementation and enforcement of 
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1 this chapter with respect to the vessel, including port 

2 authorities, facility or terminal operators, shipping 

3 agents, Federal, State, or local government agencies, 

4 and other persons to whom the management of the 

5 vessel at the port of supply is entrusted, and any 

6 fine or penalty relating to reporting requirements of 

7 the vessel or its cargo, crew, or passengers, and may 

8 be proceeded against in the United States district 

9 court for any district in which such vessel may be 

10 found. 

11 ‘‘(2) REIMBURSABLE COSTS DEFINED.—In this 

12 subsection the term ‘reimbursable costs’ means costs 

13 incurred by any service provider, including port au14 thorities, facility or terminal operators, shipping 

15 agents, Federal, State, or local government agencies, 

16 or other person to whom the management of the ves17 sel at the port of supply is entrusted, for— 

18 ‘‘(A) vessel crew on board, or in transit to 

19 or from, the vessel under lawful order, including 

20 accommodation, detention, transportation, and 

21 medical expenses; and 

22 ‘‘(B) required handling under lawful order 

23 of cargo or other items on board the vessel. 
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1 ‘‘§ 70118. Enforcement by injunction or withholding 

2 of clearance 

3 ‘‘(a) INJUNCTION.—The United States district courts 

4 shall have jurisdiction to restrain violations of this chapter 

5 or of regulations issued hereunder, for cause shown. 

6 ‘‘(b) WITHHOLDING OF CLEARANCE.— 

7 ‘‘(1) If any owner, agent, master, officer, or 

8 person in charge of a vessel is liable for a penalty 

9 or fine under section 70120, or if reasonable cause 

10 exists to believe that the owner, agent, master, offi11 cer, or person in charge may be subject to a penalty 

12 under section 70120, the Secretary may, with re13 spect to such vessel, refuse or revoke any clearance 

14 required by section 4197 of the Revised Statutes of 

15 the United States (46 U.S.C. App. 91). 

16 ‘‘(2) Clearance refused or revoked under this 

17 subsection may be granted upon filing of a bond or 

18 other surety satisfactory to the Secretary. 

19 ‘‘§ 70119. Security of piers and wharfs 

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any provision 

21 of law, the Secretary shall require any uncleared, imported 

22 merchandise remaining on the wharf or pier onto which 

23 it was unladen for more than 5 calendar days to be re24 moved from the wharf or pier and deposited in the public 

25 stores or a general order warehouse, where it shall be in-
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1 spected for determination of contents, and thereafter a 

2 permit for its delivery may be granted. 

3 ‘‘(b) PENALTY.—The Secretary may impose an ad4 ministrative penalty of $5,000 for each bill of lading for 

5 general order merchandise remaining on a wharf or pier 

6 in violation of subsection (a).’’. 

7 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT FOR IN REM LIABIL8 ITY PROVISION IN CHAPTER 701.—Section 2 of the Act 

9 of June 15, 1917 (50 U.S.C. 192) is amended— 

10 (1) by striking ‘‘Act,’’ each place it appears and 

11 inserting ‘‘title,’’; and 

12 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(d) IN REM LIABILITY.—Any vessel subject to the 

14 provisions of this title, which is used in violation of this 

15 title, or any regulations issued hereunder, shall be liable 

16 in rem for any civil penalty assessed pursuant to sub17 section (c) and may be proceeded against in the United 

18 States district court for any district in which such vessel 

19 may be found. 

20 ‘‘(e) INJUNCTION.—The United States district courts 

21 shall have jurisdiction to restrain violations of this title 

22 or of regulations issued hereunder, for cause shown. 

23 ‘‘(f) WITHHOLDING OF CLEARANCE.— 

24 ‘‘(1) If any owner, agent, master, officer, or 

25 person in charge of a vessel is liable for a penalty 
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1 or fine under subsection (c), or if reasonable cause 

2 exists to believe that the owner, agent, master, offi3 cer, or person in charge may be subject to a penalty 

4 or fine under subsection (c), the Secretary may, with 

5 respect to such vessel, refuse or revoke any clearance 

6 required by section 4197 of the Revised Statutes of 

7 the United States (46 U.S.C. App. 91). 

8 ‘‘(2) Clearance refused or revoked under this 

9 subsection may be granted upon filing of a bond or 

10 other surety satisfactory to the Secretary of the De11 partment in which the Coast Guard is operating.’’. 

12 (c) EMPTY CONTAINERS.—Within 90 days after the 

13 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland 

14 Security shall review United States ports and transmit to 

15 the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans16 portation and the House of Representatives Committee on 

17 Transportation and Infrastructure a report on the prac18 tices and policies in place to secure shipment of empty 

19 containers. The Secretary shall include in the report rec20 ommendations with respect to whether additional regula21 tions or legislation is necessary to ensure the safe and se22 cure delivery of cargo and to prevent potential acts of ter23 rorism involving such containers. 
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1 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The chapter analysis 

2 for chapter 701 of title 46, United States Code, is amend3 ed by striking the last item and inserting the following: 

‘‘70117. In rem liability for civil penalties and certain costs 

‘‘70118. Enforcement by injunction or withholding of clearance 

‘‘70119. Security of piers and wharfs 

‘‘70120. Civil penalty’’. 

4 SEC. 3. MARITIME INFORMATION. 

5 Within 90 days after the date of enactment of this 

6 Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit a 

7 report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, 

8 and Transportation and the House of Representatives 

9 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure that pro10 vides a preliminary plan for the implementation of section 

11 70113 of title 46, United States Code. The plan shall— 

12 (1) provide the identification of Federal agen13 cies with maritime information relating to vessels, 

14 crew, passengers, cargo, and cargo shippers; 

15 (2) establish a timeline for coordinating the ef16 forts of those Federal agencies in the collection of 

17 maritime information; 

18 (3) establish a timeline for the incorporation of 

19 information on vessel movements derived through 

20 the implementation of sections 70114 and 70115 of 

21 title 46, United States Code; 
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1 (4) include recommendations on co-locating 

2 agency personnel in order to maximize expertise, 

3 minimize cost, and avoid redundancy; 

4 (5) include recommendations on how to leverage 

5 information on commercial maritime information col6 lected by the Department of the Navy, and identify 

7 any legal impediments that would prevent or reduce 

8 the utilization of such information outside the De9 partment of the Navy; 

10 (6) include recommendations on educating Fed11 eral officials on commercial maritime operations in 

12 order to facilitate the identification of security risks 

13 posed through commercial maritime transportation 

14 operations; 

15 (7) include recommendations on how private 

16 sector resources could be utilized to collect or ana17 lyze information, along with a preliminary assess18 ment of the availability and expertise of private sec19 tor resources; 

20 (8) include recommendations on how to dissemi21 nate information collected and analyzed through 

22 Federal maritime security coordinator while consid23 ering the need for nondisclosure of sensitive security 

24 information and the maximizing of security through 
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1 the utilization of State, local, and private security 

2 personnel; and 

3 (9) include recommendations on how the De4 partment could help support a maritime information 

5 sharing and analysis center for the purpose of col6 lecting information from public and private entities, 

7 along with recommendations on the appropriate lev8 els of funding to help disseminate maritime security 

9 information to the private sector. 

10 SEC. 4. INTERMODAL CARGO SECURITY PLAN. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the plan submitted 

12 under section 3, within 180 days after the date of enact13 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

14 submit a report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, 

15 Science, and Transportation and the House of Represent16 atives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

17 containing the following: 

18 (1) SECURE SYSTEMS OF TRANSPORTATION (46

19 U.S.C. 70116).—A plan, along with timelines, for the 

20 implementation of section 70116 of title 46, United 

21 States Code. The plan shall— 

22 (A) provide an update on current efforts 

23 by the Department of Homeland Security could 

24 be incorporated into the certification process 
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1 outlined in section 70116 to ensure the physical 

2 screening or inspection of imported cargo; 

3 (B) provide a preliminary assessment of 

4 resources necessary to evaluate and certify ‘‘Se5 cure Systems of Transportation’’, and the re6 sources necessary to validate that ‘‘Secure Sys7 tems of Transportation’’ are operating in com8 pliance with the certification requirements; and 

9 (C) contain an analysis of the feasibility of 

10 establishing a user fee in order to be able to 

11 evaluate, certify, and validate ‘‘Secure Systems 

12 of Transportation’’. 

13 (2) RADIATION DETECTORS.—A report on 

14 progress in the installation of a system of radiation 

15 detection at all major United States seaports, along 

16 with a timeline and expected completion date for the 

17 system. In the report, the Secretary shall include a 

18 preliminary analysis of any issues related to the in19 stallation of the radiation detection equipment, as 

20 well as a cost estimate for completing installation of 

21 the system. 

22 (3) NON-INTRUSIVE INSPECTION AT FOREIGN

23 PORTS.—A report— 

24 (A) on whether and to what extent foreign 

25 seaports have been willing to utilize screening 
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1 equipment at their ports to screen cargo, includ2 ing the number of cargo containers that have 

3 been screened at foreign seaports, and the ports 

4 where they were screened; 

5 (B) indicating which foreign ports may be 

6 willing to utilize their screening equipment for 

7 cargo exported for import into the United 

8 States, and a recommendation as to whether, 

9 and to what extent, United States cargo screen10 ing equipment will be required to be purchased 

11 and stationed at foreign seaports for inspection; 

12 and 

13 (C) indicating to what extent additional re14 sources and program changes will be necessary 

15 to maximize scrutiny of cargo in foreign sea16 ports. 

17 (4) COMPLIANCE WITH SECURITY STANDARD

18 PROGRAMS.—A plan to establish, validate, and en19 sure compliance with security standards that would 

20 require ports, terminals, vessel operators, and ship21 pers to adhere to security standards established by 

22 or consistent with the National Transportation Sys23 tem Security Plan. The plan shall indicate what re24 sources will be utilized, and how they would be uti-
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1 lized, to ensure that companies operate in compli2 ance with security standards. 

3 (b) EVALUATION OF CARGO INSPECTION TARGETING

4 SYSTEM FOR INTERNATIONAL INTERMODAL CARGO CON5 TAINERS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Within 6 months after the 

7 date of enactment of this Act, and annually there8 after, the Inspector General of the Department of 

9 Homeland Security shall evaluate the system used 

10 by the Department to target international inter11 modal containers for inspection and report the re12 sults of the evaluation to the Senate Committee on 

13 Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the 

14 House of Representatives Committee on Transpor15 tation and Infrastructure. In conducting the evalua16 tion, the Inspector General shall assess— 

17 (A) the effectiveness of the current track18 ing system to determine whether it is adequate 

19 to prevent international intermodal containers 

20 from being used for purposes of terrorism; 

21 (B) the sources of information used by the 

22 system to determine whether targeting informa23 tion is collected from the best and most credible 

24 sources and evaluate data sources to determine 

25 information gaps and weaknesses; 
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1 (C) the targeting system for reporting and 

2 analyzing inspection statistics, as well as testing 

3 effectiveness; 

4 (D) the competence and training of em5 ployees operating the system to determine 

6 whether they are sufficiently capable to detect 

7 potential terrorist threats; and 

8 (E) whether the system is an effective sys9 tem to detect potential acts of terrorism and 

10 whether additional steps need to be taken in 

11 order to remedy deficiencies in targeting inter12 national intermodal containers for inspection. 

13 (2) INCREASE IN INSPECTIONS.—If the Inspec14 tor General determines in any of the reports re15 quired by paragraph (1) that the targeting system is 

16 insufficiently effective as a means of detecting poten17 tial acts of terrorism utilizing international inter18 modal containers, then within 12 months after that 

19 report, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

20 double the number of containers subjected to intru21 sive or non-intrusive inspection at United States 

22 ports or to be shipped to the United States at for23 eign seaports. 

24 (c) REPORT AND PLAN FORMATS.—The Secretary 

25 and the Inspector General may submit any plan or report 
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1 required by this section in both classified and redacted for2 mats if the Secretary determines that it is appropriate or 

3 necessary. 

4 SEC. 5. JOINT OPERATIONS CENTER FOR PORT SECURITY. 

5 The Commandant of the United States Coast Guard 

6 shall report to Congress, within 180 days after the date 

7 of enactment of this Act, on the potential benefits of estab8 lishing joint operational centers for port security at certain 

9 United States seaports. The report shall consider the 3 

10 Joint Operational Centers that have been established at 

11 Norfolk, Charleston, San Diego, and elsewhere and com12 pare and contrast their composition and operational char13 acteristics. The report shall consider— 

14 (1) whether it would be beneficial to establish 

15 linkages to Federal maritime information systems 

16 established pursuant to section 70113 of title 46, 

17 United States Code; 

18 (2) whether the operational centers could be 

19 beneficially utilized to track vessel movements under 

20 sections 70114 and 70115 of title 46, United States 

21 Code; 

22 (3) whether the operational centers could be 

23 beneficial in the facilitation of intermodal cargo se24 curity programs such as the ‘‘Secure Systems of 

25 Transportation Program’’; 
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1 (4) the extent to which such operational centers 

2 could be beneficial in the operation of maritime area 

3 security plans and maritime area contingency re4 sponse plans and in coordinating the port security 

5 activities of Federal, State, and local officials; and 

6 (5) include recommendations for the number of 

7 centers and their possible location, as well as pre8 liminary cost estimates for the operation of the cen9 ters. 

10 SEC. 6. MARITIME TRANSPORTATION SECURITY PLAN 

11 GRANTS. 

12 Section 70107(a) of title 46, United States Code, is 

13 amended to read as follows: 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary of Home15 land Security for Border and Transportation Security 

16 shall establish a grant program for making a fair and eq17 uitable allocation of funds to implement Area Maritime 

18 Transportation Security Plans and to help fund compli19 ance with Federal security plans among port authorities, 

20 facility operators, and State and local agencies required 

21 to provide security services. Grants shall be made on the 

22 basis of the need to address vulnerabilities in security sub23 ject to review and comment by the appropriate Federal 

24 Maritime Security Coordinators and the Maritime Admin25 istration. The grant program shall take into account na-
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1 tional economic and strategic defense concerns and shall 

2 be coordinated with the Director of the Office of Domestic 

3 Preparedness to ensure that the grant process is con4 sistent with other Department of Homeland Security 

5 grant programs.’’. 

6 SEC. 7. ASSISTANCE FOR FOREIGN PORTS. 

7 Section 70109 of title 46, United States Code, is 

8 amended— 

9 (1) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ in subsection 

10 (b) and inserting ‘‘The Administrator of the Mari11 time Administration’’; and 

12 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(c) FOREIGN ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS.—The Ad14 ministrator of the Maritime Administration, in coordina15 tion with the Secretary of State, shall identify foreign as16 sistance programs that could facilitate implementation of 

17 port security antiterrorism measures in foreign countries. 

18 The Administrator and the Secretary shall establish a pro19 gram to utilize those programs that are capable of imple20 menting port security antiterrorism measures at ports in 

21 foreign countries that the Secretary finds, under section 

22 70108, to lack effective antiterrorism measures.’’. 
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1 SEC. 8. FEDERAL AND STATE COMMERCIAL MARITIME 

2 TRANSPORTATION TRAINING. 

3 Section 109 of the Maritime Transportation Security 

4 Act of 2002 (46 U.S.C. 70101 note) is amended— 

5 (1) by redesignating subsections (c) through (f) 

6 as subsections (d) through (g), respectively; and 

7 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(c) FEDERAL AND STATE COMMERCIAL MARITIME

10 TRANSPORTATION TRAINING.—The Secretary of Trans11 portation shall establish a curriculum, to be incorporated 

12 into the curriculum developed under subsection (a)(1), to 

13 educate and instruct Federal and State officials on com14 mercial maritime and intermodal transportation. The cur15 riculum shall be designed to familiarize those officials with 

16 commercial maritime transportation in order to facilitate 

17 performance of their commercial maritime and intermodal 

18 transportation security responsibilities. In developing the 

19 standards for the curriculum, the Secretary shall consult 

20 with each agency in the Department of Homeland Security 

21 with maritime security responsibilities to determine areas 

22 of educational need. The Secretary shall also coordinate 

23 with the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in the 

24 development of the curriculum and the provision of train25 ing opportunities for Federal and State law enforcement 

26 officials at appropriate law enforcement training facilities. 
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1 SEC. 9. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 70107 of title 46, United 

3 States Code, is amended by striking subsection (i) and in4 serting the following: 

5 ‘‘(i) RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—As part of the research and 

7 development program within the Science and Tech8 nology directorate, the Secretary of Homeland Secu9 rity shall conduct investigations, fund pilot pro10 grams, award grants, and otherwise conduct re11 search and development across the various portfolios 

12 focused on making United States ports safer and 

13 more secure. Research conducted under this sub14 section may include— 

15 ‘‘(A) methods or programs to increase the 

16 ability to target for inspection vessels, cargo, 

17 crewmembers, or passengers that will arrive or 

18 have arrived at any port or place in the United 

19 States; 

20 ‘‘(B) equipment to detect accurately explo21 sives, chemical, or biological agents that could 

22 be used to commit terrorist acts against the 

23 United States; 

24 ‘‘(C) equipment to detect accurately nu25 clear or radiological materials, including scin26 tillation-based detection equipment capable of 
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1 signalling the presence of nuclear or radio2 logical materials; 

3 ‘‘(D) improved tags and seal designed for 

4 use on shipping containers to track the trans5 portation of the merchandise in such con6 tainers, including ‘smart sensors’ that are able 

7 to track a container throughout its entire sup8 ply chain, detect hazardous and radioactive ma9 terials within that container, and transmit that 

10 information to the appropriate law enforcement 

11 authorities; 

12 ‘‘(E) tools, including the use of satellite 

13 tracking systems, to increase the awareness of 

14 maritime areas and to identify potential ter15 rorist threats that could have an impact on fa16 cilities, vessels, and infrastructure on or adja17 cent to navigable waterways, including under18 water access; 

19 ‘‘(F) tools to mitigate the consequences of 

20 a terrorist act on, adjacent to, or under navi21 gable waters of the United States, including 

22 sensor equipment, and other tools to help co23 ordinate effective response to a terrorist action; 

24 and 
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1 ‘‘(G) applications to apply existing tech2 nologies from other areas or industries to in3 crease overall port security. 

4 ‘‘(2) IMPLEMENTATION OF TECHNOLOGY.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In conjunction with 

6 ongoing efforts to improve security at United 

7 States ports, the Director of the Science and 

8 Technology Directorate, in consultation with 

9 other Department of Homeland Security agen10 cies with responsibility for port security, may 

11 conduct pilot projects at United States ports to 

12 test the effectiveness and applicability of new 

13 port security projects, including— 

14 ‘‘(i) testing of new detection and 

15 screening technologies; 

16 ‘‘(ii) projects to protect United States 

17 ports and infrastructure on or adjacent to 

18 the navigable waters of the United States, 

19 including underwater access; and 

20 ‘‘(iii) tools for responding to a ter21 rorist threat or incident at United States 

22 ports and infrastructure on or adjacent to 

23 the navigable waters of the United States, 

24 including underwater access. 
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1 ‘‘(B) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA2 TIONS.—There are authorized to be appro3 priated to the Secretary of Homeland Security 

4 $35,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2005 

5 through 2009 to carry out pilot projects under 

6 subparagraph (A). 

7 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) NO DUPLICATION OF EFFORT.—Be9 fore making any grant, the Secretary of Home10 land Security shall coordinate with other Fed11 eral agencies to ensure the grant will not be 

12 used for research and development that is al13 ready being conducted with Federal funding. 

14 ‘‘(B) ACCOUNTING.—The Secretary of 

15 Homeland Security shall by regulation establish 

16 accounting, reporting, and review procedures to 

17 ensure that funds made available under para18 graph (1) are used for the purpose for which 

19 they were made available, that all expenditures 

20 are properly accounted for, and that amounts 

21 not used for such purposes and amounts not ex22 pended are recovered. 

23 ‘‘(C) RECORDKEEPING.—Recipients of 

24 grants shall keep all records related to expendi25 tures and obligations of funds provided under 
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1 paragraph (1) and make them available upon 

2 request to the Inspector General of the Depart3 ment of Homeland Security and the Secretary 

4 of Homeland Security for audit and examina5 tion.’’. 

6 (b) ANNUAL REPORT.—Within 30 days after the be7 ginning of each fiscal year from fiscal year 2005 through 

8 fiscal year 2009, the Director of the Science and Tech9 nology Directorate shall submit a report describing its re10 search that can be applied to port security to the Senate 

11 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, 

12 the House of Representatives Committee on Science, and 

13 the House of Representatives Select Committee on Home14 land Security. The report shall— 

15 (1) describe any port security-related research, 

16 including grants and pilot projects, that were con17 ducted in the preceding fiscal year; 

18 (2) describe the amount of Department of 

19 Homeland Security resources dedicated to research 

20 that can be applied to port security; 

21 (3) describe the steps taken to coordinate with 

22 other agencies within the Department to ensure that 

23 research efforts are coordinated with port security 

24 efforts; 
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1 (4) describe how the results of the Depart2 ment’s research, as well as port security related re3 search of the Department of Defense, will be imple4 mented in the field, including predicted timetables; 

5 (5) lay out the plans for research in the current 

6 fiscal year; and 

7 (6) include a description of the funding levels 

8 for the research in the preceding, current, and next 

9 fiscal years. 

10 SEC. 10. NUCLEAR FACILITIES IN MARITIME AREAS. 

11 (a) WATERWAYS.—Section 70103(b) is amended by 

12 adding at the end thereof the following: 

13 ‘‘(5) WATERWAYS LOCATED NEAR NUCLEAR FACILI14 TIES.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IDENTIFICATION AND SECURITY EVALUA16 TION.—The Secretary shall— 

17 ‘‘(i) identify all nuclear facilities on, adja18 cent to, or in close proximity to navigable wa19 terways that might be damaged by a transpor20 tation security incident; 

21 ‘‘(ii) in coordination with the Secretary of 

22 Energy, evaluate the security plans of each 

23 such nuclear facility for its adequacy to protect 

24 the facility from damage or disruption from a 

25 transportation security incident originating in 
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1 the navigable waterway, including threats posed 

2 by navigation, underwater access, and the intro3 duction of harmful substances into water cool4 ant systems. 

5 ‘‘(B) RECTIFICATION OF DEFICIENCIES.—The 

6 Secretary, in coordination with the Secretary of En7 ergy, shall take such steps as may be necessary or 

8 appropriate to correct any deficiencies in security 

9 identified in the evaluations conducted under sub10 paragraph (A). 

11 ‘‘(C) REPORT.—As soon as practicable after 

12 completion of the evaluation under subparagraph 

13 (A), the Secretary shall transmit a report, in both 

14 classified and redacted format, to the Senate Com15 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, 

16 the House of Representatives Committee on Trans17 portation and Infrastructure, and the House of Rep18 resentatives Select Committee on Homeland Secu19 rity— 

20 ‘‘(i) describing the results of the identifica21 tion and evaluation required by subparagraph 

22 (A); 

23 ‘‘(ii) describing the actions taken under 

24 subparagraph (B); and 
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1 ‘‘(iii) evaluating the technology utilized in 

2 the protection of nuclear facilities (including 

3 any such technology under development).’’. 

4 (b) VESSELS.—Section 70103(c)(3) of title 46, 

5 United States Code, is amended— 

6 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon in 

7 subparagraph (F); 

8 (2) by striking ‘‘facility.’’ in subparagraph (G) 

9 and inserting ‘‘facility; and’’; and 

10 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(H) establish a requirement, coordinated with 

12 the Department of Energy, for criminal background 

13 checks of all United States and foreign seamen em14 ployed on vessels transporting nuclear materials in 

15 the navigable waters of the United States.’’. 

16 SEC. 11. TRANSPORTATION WORKER BACKGROUND INVES17 TIGATION PROGRAMS. 

18 Within 120 days after the date of enactment of this 

19 Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security, after consulta20 tion with the Secretary of Transportation, shall transmit 

21 a report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, 

22 and Transportation and the House of Representatives 

23 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure— 

24 (1) making recommendations (including legisla25 tive recommendations, if appropriate or necessary) 
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1 for harmonizing, combining, or coordinating require2 ments, procedures, and programs for conducting 

3 background checks under section 70105 of title 46, 

4 United States Code, section 5103a(c) of title 49, 

5 United States Code, section 44936 of title 49, 

6 United States Code, and other provisions of Federal 

7 law or regulations requiring background checks for 

8 individuals engaged in transportation or transpor9 tation-related activities; and 

10 (2) setting forth a detailed timeline for imple11 mentation of such harmonization, combination, or 

12 coordination. 

13 SEC. 12. SECURITY SERVICE FEE. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 701 of title 46, United 

15 States Code, as amended by section 2, is further amended 

16 by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘§ 70121. Security service fee 

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

19 ‘‘(1) SECURITY FEE.—Within 90 days after the 

20 date of enactment of the Maritime Transportation 

21 Security Act of 2004, the Secretary of Homeland 

22 Security shall assess and collect an international 

23 port security service fee on commercial maritime 

24 transportation entities that benefit from a secure 

25 system of international maritime transportation to 
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1 pay for the costs of providing port security services. 

2 The amount of the fees assessed and collected under 

3 this paragraph and paragraph (2) shall, in the ag4 gregate, be sufficient to provide the services and lev5 els of funding described in section 70122(c). 

6 ‘‘(2) INTERNATIONAL TRANSSHIPMENT SECU7 RITY FEE.—The Secretary shall also assess and col8 lect an international maritime transshipment secu9 rity user fee for providing security services for ship10 ments of cargo and transportation of passengers en11 tering the United States as part of an international 

12 transportation movement by water through Cana13 dian or Mexican ports at the same rates as the fee 

14 imposed under paragraph (1). The fee authorized by 

15 this paragraph shall not be assessed or collected on 

16 transshipments from— 

17 (A) Canada after the date on which the 

18 Secretary determines that an agreement be19 tween the United States and Canada, or 

20 (B) Mexico after the date on which the 

21 Secretary determines that an agreement be22 tween the United States and Mexico, 

23 has entered into force that will provide equivalent se24 curity regimes and international maritime security 
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1 user fees of the United States and that country for 

2 transshipments between the countries. 

3 ‘‘(b) SCHEDULE OF FEES.—In imposing fees under 

4 subsection (a), the Secretary shall ensure that the fees are 

5 reasonably related to the costs of providing services ren6 dered and the value of the benefit derived from the con7 tinuation of secure international maritime transportation. 

8 ‘‘(c) IMPOSITION OF FEE.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 

10 9701 of title 31 and the procedural requirements of 

11 section 553 of title 5, the Secretary shall impose the 

12 fees under subsection (a) through the publication of 

13 notice in the Federal Register and begin collection of 

14 the fee within 60 days of the date of enactment of 

15 the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2004, 

16 or as soon as possible thereafter. No fee shall be as17 sessed more than once, and no fee shall be assessed 

18 for international ferry voyages. 

19 ‘‘(2) MEANS OF COLLECTION.—The Secretary 

20 shall prescribe procedures to collect fees under this 

21 section. The Secretary may use a department, agen22 cy, or instrumentality of the United States Govern23 ment or of a State or local government to collect the 

24 fee and may reimburse the department, agency, or 

25 instrumentality a reasonable amount for its services. 
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•S 2279 IS 

1 ‘‘(3) SUBSEQUENT MODIFICATION OF FEE.— 

2 After imposing a fee under subsection (a), the Sec3 retary may modify, from time to time through publi4 cation of notice in the Federal Register, the imposi5 tion or collection of such fee, or both. The Secretary 

6 shall evaluate the fee annually to determine whether 

7 it is necessary and appropriate to pay the cost of ac8 tivities and services, and shall adjust the amount of 

9 the fee accordingly. 

10 ‘‘(4) LIMITATION ON COLLECTION.—No fee 

11 may be collected under this section except to the ex12 tent that the expenditure of the fee to pay the costs 

13 of activities and services for which the fee is imposed 

14 is provided for in advance in an appropriations Act. 

15 ‘‘(d) ADMINISTRATION OF FEES.— 

16 ‘‘(1) FEES PAYABLE TO SECRETARY.—All fees 

17 imposed and amounts collected under this section 

18 are payable to the Secretary. 

19 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION.—The Secretary may re20 quire the provision of such information as the Sec21 retary decides is necessary to verify that fees have 

22 been collected and remitted at the proper times and 

23 in the proper amounts. 
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•S 2279 IS 

1 ‘‘(e) RECEIPTS CREDITED AS OFFSETTING COLLEC2 TIONS.—Notwithstanding section 3302 of title 31, any fee 

3 collected under this section— 

4 ‘‘(1) shall be credited as offsetting collections to 

5 the account that finances the activities and services 

6 for which the fee is imposed; 

7 ‘‘(2) shall be available for expenditure only to 

8 pay the costs of activities and services for which the 

9 fee is imposed; and 

10 ‘‘(3) shall remain available until expended. 

11 ‘‘(f) REFUNDS.—The Secretary may refund any fee 

12 paid by mistake or any amount paid in excess of that re13 quired. 

14 ‘‘(g) SUNSET.—The fees authorized by subsection (a) 

15 may not be assessed after September 31, 2009.’’. 

16 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter anal17 ysis for chapter 701 of title 46, United States Code, as 

18 amended by section 2, is amended by adding at the end 

19 the following: 

‘‘70121. Security service fee.’’. 

20 SEC. 13. PORT SECURITY CAPITAL FUND. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 701 of title 46, United 

22 States Code, as amended by section 11, is further amend23 ed by adding at the end the following: 
31 

•S 2279 IS 

1 ‘‘§ 70122. Port security capital fund. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is established within the 

3 Department of Homeland Security a fund to be known 

4 as the Port Security Capital Fund. There are appropriated 

5 to the Fund such sums as may be derived from the fees 

6 authorized by section 70121(a). 

7 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE.—Amounts in the Fund shall be avail8 able to the Secretary of Homeland Security— 

9 ‘‘(1) to provide financial assistance to port au10 thorities, facility operators, and State and local 

11 agencies required to provide security services to de12 fray capital investment in transportation security at 

13 port facilities in accordance with the provisions of 

14 this chapter; 

15 ‘‘(2) to provide financial assistance to those en16 tities required to provide security services to help en17 sure compliance with Federal area maritime security 

18 plans; and 

19 ‘‘(3) to help defray the costs of Federal port se20 curity programs. 

21 ‘‘(c) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) FUNDS DERIVED FROM SECURITY FEES.— 

23 From amounts in the Fund attributable to fees col24 lected under section 70121(a)(1) and (2)— 

25 ‘‘(A) no less than $400,000,000 (or such 

26 amount as may be appropriate to reflect any 
32 

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1 modification of the fees under section 

2 70121(c)(3)) shall be made available each fiscal 

3 year for grants under section 70107 to help en4 sure compliance with facility security plans or 

5 to help implement Area Maritime Transpor6 tation Security Plans; 

7 ‘‘(B) funds shall be made available to the 

8 Coast Guard for the costs of implementing sec9 tions 70114 and 70115 fully by the end of fis10 cal year 2006; 

11 ‘‘(C) funds shall be made available to the 

12 Coast Guard for the costs of establishing com13 mand and control centers at United States 

14 ports to help coordinate port security law en15 forcement activities and implementing Area 

16 Maritime Security Plans, and may be trans17 ferred, as appropriate, to port authorities, facil18 ity operators, and State and local government 

19 agencies to help them defray costs associated 

20 with port security services; 

21 ‘‘(D) funds shall be made available to the 

22 Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Bor23 der and Transportation Security for the costs of 

24 implementing cargo security programs, includ-
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•S 2279 IS 

1 ing the costs of certifying secure systems of 

2 transportation under section 70116; 

3 ‘‘(E) funds shall be made available to the 

4 Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Bor5 der and Transportation Security for the costs of 

6 acquiring and operating nonintrusive screening 

7 equipment at United States ports; and 

8 ‘‘(F) funds shall be made available to the 

9 Transportation Security Administration for the 

10 costs of implementing of section 70113 and the 

11 collection of commercial maritime intelligence 

12 (including the collection of commercial maritime 

13 transportation information from the private sec14 tor), of which a portion shall be made available 

15 to the Coast Guard and the Customs Service 

16 only for the purpose of coordinating the system 

17 of collecting and analyzing information on ves18 sels, crew, passengers, cargo, and intermodal 

19 shipments. 

20 ‘‘(2) TRANSSHIPMENT FEES.—Amounts in the 

21 Fund attributable to fees collected under section 

22 70121(a)(3), shall be made available to the Sec23 retary to defray the costs of providing international 

24 maritime transshipment security at the United 

25 States borders with Canada and Mexico. 
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1 ‘‘(d) UTILIZATION REPORTS.—The Commandant of 

2 the Coast Guard and the Secretary of Homeland Security 

3 shall report annually to the Senate Committee on Com4 merce, Science, and Transportation and the House of Rep5 resentatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc6 ture on utilization of amounts received from the Fund. 

7 ‘‘(e) LETTERS OF INTENT.—The Secretary of Home8 land Security, or his delegate, may execute letters of intent 

9 to commit funding to port sponsors from the Fund.’’. 

10 (f) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter anal11 ysis for chapter 701 of title 46, United States Code, as 

12 amended by section 11, is amended by adding at the end 

13 the following: 

‘‘70122. Port security capital fund.’’. 

Æ