108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2279

AN ACT

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

2 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents

Sec. 2. Enforcement; pier and wharf security costs.

Sec. 3. Security at foreign ports.

Sec. 4. Federal and State commercial maritime transportation training.

Sec. 5. Transportation worker background investigation programs.

Sec. 6. Report on cruise ship security.

Sec. 7. Maritime transportation security plan grants.

Sec. 8. Report on design of maritime security grant programs.

3 SEC. 2. ENFORCEMENT; PIER AND WHARF SECURITY

4 COSTS.

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

6 States Code, is amended—

7 (1) by redesignating the second section 70118

8 (relating to firearms, arrests, and seizure of prop9 erty), as added by section 801(a) of the Coast Guard

10 and Maritime Transportation Act of 2004, as sec11 tion 70119;

12 (2) by redesignating the first section 70119 (re13 lating to enforcement by State and local officers), as

14 added by section 801(a) of the Coast Guard and

15 Maritime Transportation Act of 2004, as section

16 70120;

17 (3) by redesignating the second section 70119

18 (relating to civil penalty), as redesignated by section

19 802(a)(1) of the Coast Guard and Maritime Trans20 portation Act of 2004, as section 70123; and
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1 (4) by inserting after section 70120 the fol2 lowing:

3 ‘‘§ 70121. Enforcement by injunction or withholding

4 of clearance

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

6 shall have jurisdiction to restrain violations of this chapter

7 or of regulations issued hereunder, for cause shown.

8 ‘‘(b) WITHHOLDING OF CLEARANCE.—

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

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

11 or fine under section 70119, or if reasonable cause

12 exists to believe that the owner, agent, master, offi13 cer, or person in charge may be subject to a penalty

14 under section 70119, the Secretary may, with re15 spect to such vessel, refuse or revoke any clearance

16 required by section 4197 of the Revised Statutes of

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

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

19 subsection may be granted upon filing of a bond or

20 other surety satisfactory to the Secretary.

21 ‘‘§ 70122. Security of piers and wharfs

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro23 vision of law, the Secretary shall require any uncleared,

24 imported merchandise remaining on the wharf or pier onto

25 which it was unladen for more than 7 calendar days, not
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1 including any time the imported merchandise was held in

2 federal custody, to be removed from the wharf or pier and

3 deposited in the public stores or a general order ware4 house, where it shall be inspected for determination of con5 tents, and thereafter a permit for its delivery may be

6 granted.

7 ‘‘(b) PENALTY.—The Secretary may impose an ad8 ministrative penalty of $5,000 on the consignee for each

9 bill of lading for general order merchandise remaining on

10 a wharf or pier in violation of subsection (a), except that

11 no penalty shall be imposed if the violation was a result

12 of force majeure.’’.

13 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

14 (1) The chapter analysis for chapter 701 of title

15 46, United States Code, is amended by striking the

16 items following the item relating to section 70116

17 and inserting the following:

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

‘‘70118. Withholding of clearance

‘‘70119. Firearms, arrests, and seizure of property

‘‘70120. Enforcement by State and local officers

‘‘70121. Enforcement by injunction or withholding of clearance

‘‘70122. Security of piers and wharfs

‘‘70123. Civil penalty’’.

18 (2) Section 70117(a) of title 46, United States

19 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘section 70120’’ and

20 inserting ‘‘section 70123’’.
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1 (3) Section 70118(a) of such title is amended

2 by striking ‘‘under section 70120,’’ and inserting

3 ‘‘under that section,’’.

4 SEC. 3. SECURITY AT FOREIGN PORTS.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 70109 of title 46, United

6 States Code, is amended—

7 (1) by striking ‘‘The Secretary,’’ in subsection

8 (b) and inserting ‘‘The Administrator of the Mari9 time Administration,’’; and

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

11 ‘‘(c) FOREIGN ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS.—The Ad12 ministrator of the Maritime Administration, in coordina13 tion with the Secretary of State, shall identify foreign as14 sistance programs that could facilitate implementation of

15 port security antiterrorism measures in foreign countries.

16 The Administrator and the Secretary shall establish a pro17 gram to utilize those programs that are capable of imple18 menting port security antiterrorism measures at ports in

19 foreign countries that the Secretary finds, under section

20 70108, to lack effective antiterrorism measures.’’.

21 (b) REPORT ON SECURITY AT PORTS IN THE CARIB22 BEAN BASIN.—Not later than 60 days after the date of

23 enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security

24 shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and

25 Transportation of the Senate and Committee on Trans-
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1 portation and Infrastructure of the House of Representa2 tives a report on the security of ports in the Caribbean

3 Basin. The report shall include the following:

4 (1) An assessment of the effectiveness of the

5 measures employed to improve security at ports in

6 the Caribbean Basin and recommendations for any

7 additional measures to improve such security.

8 (2) An estimate of the number of ports in the

9 Caribbean Basin that will not be secured by July

10 2004, and an estimate of the financial impact in the

11 United States of any action taken pursuant to sec12 tion 70110 of title 46, United States Code, that af13 fects trade between such ports and the United

14 States.

15 (3) An assessment of the additional resources

16 and program changes that are necessary to maxi17 mize security at ports in the Caribbean Basin.

18 SEC. 4. FEDERAL AND STATE COMMERCIAL MARITIME

19 TRANSPORTATION TRAINING.

20 Section 109 of the Maritime Transportation Security

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

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

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

24 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol25 lowing:
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1 ‘‘(c) FEDERAL AND STATE COMMERCIAL MARITIME

2 TRANSPORTATION TRAINING.—The Secretary of Trans3 portation shall establish a curriculum, to be incorporated

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

5 educate and instruct Federal and State officials on com6 mercial maritime and intermodal transportation. The cur7 riculum shall be designed to familiarize those officials with

8 commercial maritime transportation in order to facilitate

9 performance of their commercial maritime and intermodal

10 transportation security responsibilities. In developing the

11 standards for the curriculum, the Secretary shall consult

12 with each agency in the Department of Homeland Security

13 with maritime security responsibilities to determine areas

14 of educational need. The Secretary shall also coordinate

15 with the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in the

16 development of the curriculum and the provision of train17 ing opportunities for Federal and State law enforcement

18 officials at appropriate law enforcement training facili19 ties.’’.

20 SEC. 5. TRANSPORTATION WORKER BACKGROUND INVES21 TIGATION PROGRAMS.

22 Within 120 days after the date of enactment of this

23 Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security, after consulta24 tion with the Secretary of Transportation, shall transmit

25 a report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science,
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1 and Transportation and the House of Representatives

2 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure—

3 (1) making recommendations (including legisla4 tive recommendations, if appropriate or necessary)

5 for harmonizing, combining, or coordinating require6 ments, procedures, and programs for conducting

7 background checks under section 70105 of title 46,

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

9 United States Code, section 44936 of title 49,

10 United States Code, and other provisions of Federal

11 law or regulations requiring background checks for

12 individuals engaged in transportation or transpor13 tation-related activities;

14 (2) setting forth a detailed timeline for imple15 mentation of such harmonization, combination, or

16 coordination;

17 (3) setting forth a plan with a detailed timeline

18 for the implementation of the Transportation Work19 er Identification Credential in seaports;

20 (4) making recommendations for a waiver and

21 appeals process for issuing a transportation security

22 card to an individual found otherwise ineligible for

23 such a card under section 70105(c)(2) and (3) of

24 title 46, United States Code, along with rec-
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1 ommendations on the appropriate level of funding

2 for such a process; and

3 (5) making recommendations for how informa4 tion collected through the Transportation Worker

5 Identification Credential program may be shared

6 with port officials, terminal operators, and other of7 ficials responsible for maintaining access control

8 while also protecting workers’ privacy.

9 SEC. 6. REPORT ON CRUISE SHIP SECURITY.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days after the

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

12 Security shall submit to the Senate Committee on Com13 merce, Science, and Transportation and the House of Rep14 resentatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc15 ture a report on the security of ships and facilities used

16 in the cruise line industry.

17 (b) CONTENT.—The report required by subsection

18 (a) shall include an assessment of security measures em19 ployed by the cruise line industry, including the following:

20 (1) An assessment of the security of cruise

21 ships that originate at ports in foreign countries.

22 (2) An assessment of the security of ports uti23 lized for cruise ship docking.

24 (3) The costs incurred by the cruise line indus25 try to carry out the measures required by the Mari-
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1 time Transportation Security Act of 2002 (Public

2 Law 107–295; 116 Stat. 2064) and the amendments

3 made by that Act.

4 (4) The costs of employing canine units and

5 hand-held explosive detection wands at ports, includ6 ing the costs of screening passengers and baggage

7 with such methods.

8 (5) An assessment of security measures taken

9 by the Secretary of Homeland Security to increase

10 the security of the cruise line industry and the costs

11 incurred to carry out such security measures.

12 (6) A description of the need for and the feasi13 bility of deploying explosive detection systems and

14 canine units at ports used by cruise ships and an as15 sessment of the cost of such deployment.

16 (7) A summary of the fees paid by passengers

17 of cruise ships that are used for inspections and the

18 feasibility of creating a dedicated passenger vessel

19 security fund from such fees.

20 (8) The recommendations of the Secretary, if

21 any, for measures that should be carried out to im22 prove security of cruise ships that originate at ports

23 in foreign countries.

24 (9) The recommendations of the Secretary, if

25 any, on the deployment of further measures to im-
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1 prove the security of cruise ships, including explosive

2 detection systems, canine units, and the use of tech3 nology to improve baggage screening, and an assess4 ment of the cost of implementing such measures.

5 SEC. 7. MARITIME TRANSPORTATION SECURITY PLAN

6 GRANTS.

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

8 amended to read as follows:

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary of Home10 land Security for Border and Transportation Security

11 shall establish a grant program for making a fair and eq12 uitable allocation of funds to implement Area Maritime

13 Transportation Security Plans and to help fund compli14 ance with Federal security plans among port authorities,

15 facility operators, and State and local agencies required

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

17 basis of threat-based risk assessments subject to review

18 and comment by the appropriate Federal Maritime Secu19 rity Coordinators and the Maritime Administration. The

20 grant program shall take into account national security

21 priorities, national economic, and strategic defense con22 cerns and shall be coordinated with the Director of the

23 Office of Domestic Preparedness to ensure that the grant

24 process is consistent with other Department of Homeland

25 Security grant programs.’’.
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1 SEC. 8. REPORT ON DESIGN OF MARITIME SECURITY

2 GRANT PROGRAMS.

3 Within 90 days after the date of enactment of this

4 Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall transmit

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

6 and Transportation and the House of Representatives

7 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on the

8 design of maritime security grant programs that includes

9 recommendations on—

10 (1) whether the grant programs should be dis11 cretionary or formula based and why;

12 (2) requirements for ensuring that Federal

13 funds will not be substituted for grantee funds;

14 (3) targeting requirements to ensure that fund15 ing is directed in a manner that reflects a national,

16 risk-based perspective on priority needs, the fiscal

17 capacity of recipients to fund the improvements

18 without grant funds, and an explicit analysis of the

19 impact of minimum funding to small ports that

20 could affect funding available for the most strategic

21 or economically important ports; and

22 (4) matching requirements to ensure that Fed23 eral funds provide an incentive to grantees for the
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1 investment of their own funds in the improvements

2 financed in part by Federal funds.

Passed the Senate September 21, 2004.

Attest:

Secretary.
108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2279

AN ACT

To amend title 46, United States Code, with refor other purposes. spect to maritime transportation security, and