II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 638 

To extend the authorization for the ferry boat discretionary program, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 16, 2005 

Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Ms. COLLINS, Mrs. BOXER, Ms. CANTWELL, Mrs. 

CLINTON, Mr. CORZINE, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. SCHUMER, 

Ms. SNOWE, and Mr. STEVENS) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public 

Works 

A BILL 

To extend the authorization for the ferry boat discretionary 

program, 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 ‘‘Ferry Transportation 

5 Enhancement Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF FUNDING FOR CONSTRUCTION 

2 OF FERRY BOATS AND FERRY TERMINAL FA3 CILITIES. 

4 (a) FUNDING.—Section 1064(c) of the Intermodal 

5 Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (23 U.S.C. 

6 129 note) is amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘(c) FUNDING.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be available, 

9 out of the Highway Trust Fund (other than the 

10 Mass Transit Account), to the Secretary for obliga11 tion at the discretion of the Secretary $150,000,000 

12 for each of the fiscal years 2004 through 2009. 

13 Sums made available to carry out this section shall 

14 remain available until expended. 

15 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—The Secretary 

16 shall give priority in the allocation of funds under 

17 this section to those ferry systems, and public enti18 ties responsible for developing facilities for ferries, 

19 that carry the greatest number of passengers and 

20 vehicles, carry the greatest number of passengers in 

21 passenger-only service, or provide critical access to 

22 areas that are not well-served by other modes of sur23 face transportation.’’. 
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1 SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY OF FERRY MAINTENANCE FACILITIES 

2 FOR FEDERAL FUNDING. 

3 (a) MAINTENANCE FACILITIES.—Section 129(c) of 

4 title 23, United States Code, is amended— 

5 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

6 inserting ‘‘and maintenance’’ after ‘‘terminal’’; and 

7 (2) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘or mainte8 nance’’ after ‘‘terminal’’ each place it appears. 

9 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 1064 of 

10 the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 

11 1991 (23 U.S.C. 129 note) is amended by inserting ‘‘and 

12 maintenance’’ after ‘‘terminal’’ each place it appears. 

13 SEC. 4. ELIGIBILITY OF FERRIES FOR CLEAN FUELS PRO14 GRAM. 

15 Section 5308 of title 49, United States Code, is 

16 amended— 

17 (1) in clauses (i) and (iii) of subsection 

18 (a)(3)(A) and in subsection (e), by inserting ‘‘or fer19 ries’’ after ‘‘buses’’ each place it appears; 

20 (2) in subsection (e), by inserting ‘‘or ferry’’ 

21 after ‘‘bus’’ each place it appears; 

22 (3) in the heading for subsection (e)(2), by in23 serting ‘‘OR FERRIES’’ after ‘‘BUSES’’; and 

24 (4) in the heading for subsection (e)(3), by in25 serting ‘‘OR FERRY’’ after ‘‘BUS’’. 
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1 SEC. 5. FERRY JOINT PROGRAM OFFICE. 

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Transpor3 tation shall establish a Ferry Joint Program Office (in 

4 this section, referred to as the ‘‘Office’’) to coordinate 

5 Federal programs affecting ferry boat and ferry facility 

6 construction, maintenance, and operations and to promote 

7 ferry service as a component of the Nation’s transpor8 tation system. The Ferry Joint Program Office shall co9 ordinate ferry and ferry-related programs within the De10 partment of Transportation (including the Federal High11 way Administration, the Federal Transit Administration, 

12 the Maritime Administration, and the Bureau of Trans13 portation Statistics) and with the Department of Home14 land Security and other Federal and State agencies, as 

15 appropriate. 

16 (b) FUNCTIONS.—The functions of the Office shall 

17 include— 

18 (1) ensuring resource accountability; 

19 (2) coordinating policy relating to ferry trans20 portation among the various agencies of the Depart21 ment of Transportation and other departments of 

22 the United States Government; 

23 (3) providing strategic leadership for ferry re24 search, development, testing, and deployment; and 
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1 (4) promoting ferry transportation as a means 

2 to reduce social, economic, and environmental costs 

3 associated with traffic congestion. 

4 SEC. 6. NATIONAL FERRY DATA BASE. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transportation 

6 shall maintain a national ferry database, which shall con7 tain current information regarding ferry systems, routes, 

8 vessels, passengers and vehicles carried, funding sources, 

9 and any other information that the Secretary determines 

10 to be useful. The Secretary shall utilize data from the 

11 study conducted under section 1207(c) of the Transpor12 tation Equity Act for the 21st Century (23 U.S.C. 129 

13 note), and make modifications to that data, as appro14 priate. 

15 (b) UPDATED DATABASE.—The Secretary shall 

16 produce the first updated version of the national ferry 

17 database not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

18 of this Act and shall update such database every 2 years 

19 after such date. 

20 (c) PUBLIC ACCESSIBILITY.—The Secretary shall en21 sure that the national ferry database is easily accessible 

22 to the public. 

23 SEC. 7. NATIONAL FERRY TRANSPORTATION INSTITUTE. 

24 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year after 

25 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Trans-
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1 portation shall award grants to an institution of higher 

2 education to establish a National Ferry Transportation 

3 Institute (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Institute’’). 

4 (b) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary shall develop 

5 and administer the Institute in cooperation with the De6 partment of Transportation, State transportation depart7 ments, public ferry transportation authorities, private 

8 ferry operators, ferry boat builders, ferry employees, and 

9 other institutions of higher education and research insti10 tutes. 

11 (c) FUNCTIONS.—The Institute shall— 

12 (1) conduct research and recommend develop13 ment activities on methods of improving ferry trans14 portation programs in the United States, including 

15 methods of reducing wake and providing alternative 

16 propulsion; 

17 (2) develop and conduct training programs for 

18 ferry system employees, Federal Government em19 ployees, and other individuals, as appropriate, on re20 cent developments, techniques, and procedures per21 taining to the construction and operation of ferries; 

22 (3) encourage and assist collaborative efforts by 

23 public and private entities to preserve, improve, and 

24 expand the use of ferries as a mode of transpor25 tation; and 
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1 (4) preserve, utilize, and display historical in2 formation about the use of ferries in the United 

3 States and in foreign countries. 

4 (d) LOCATION.—In selecting the location for the In5 stitute, the Secretary shall consider— 

6 (1) the importance of public and private ferries 

7 to the region’s transportation system, including both 

8 regional travel and long-range travel and service to 

9 isolated communities; 

10 (2) the historical importance of ferry transpor11 tation to the region; 

12 (3) the history and diversity of the region’s 

13 maritime community, including ferry construction 

14 and repair and other shipbuilding activities; 

15 (4) the anticipated growth of ferry service and 

16 ferry boat building in the region; 

17 (5) the availability of public-private collabora18 tion in the region; and 

19 (6) the presence of nationally recognized re20 search universities in the region. 

21 (e) FUNDING.—There are authorized to be appro22 priated to the Secretary of Transportation $2,000,000 for 

23 each of the fiscal years 2004 through 2009, to carry out 

24 the provisions of this section. The Secretary may authorize 
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1 the acceptance and expenditure of funding provided to the 

2 Institute by public and private entities. 

3 (f) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

4 of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Sec5 retary shall submit a report to Congress describing the 

6 activities of the Institute and the progress in carrying out 

7 this section. 

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