II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1031 

To implement recommendations related to the safety of amphibious passenger 

vessels, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 4, 2019 

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

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To implement recommendations related to the safety of 

amphibious passenger vessels, 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 ‘‘Duck Boat Safety En5 hancement Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SAFETY REQUIREMENTS FOR AMPHIBIOUS PAS7 SENGER VESSELS. 

8 (a) REMAINING AFLOAT AND UPRIGHT IN THE

9 EVENT OF FLOODING.— 


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1 (1) REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—Not later than 

2 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

3 the Commandant of the Coast Guard shall prescribe 

4 in regulations that operators of amphibious pas5 senger vessels provide reserve buoyancy for such ves6 sels through passive means, including watertight 

7 compartmentalization, built-in flotation, or such 

8 other means as the Commandant shall specify in the 

9 regulations, in order to ensure that such vessels re10 main afloat and upright in the event of flooding, in11 cluding when carrying a full complement of pas12 sengers and crew. 

13 (2) INTERIM REQUIREMENTS.—Commencing as 

14 of the date the regulations required by paragraph 

15 (1) are prescribed, the Commandant of the Coast 

16 Guard shall require that operators of amphibious 

17 passenger vessels that are not in compliance with 

18 the requirements in the regulations do the following: 

19 (A) Remove the canopies of such vessels 

20 for waterborne operations, or install in such 

21 vessels a Coast Guard-approved canopy that 

22 does not restrict either horizontal or vertical es23 cape by passengers in the event of flooding or 

24 sinking. 


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1 (B) If the canopy is removed from any 

2 such vessel pursuant to subparagraph (A), re3 quire that all passengers don a Coast Guard 

4 type-approved personal flotation device before 

5 the onset of waterborne operations of such ves6 sel. 

7 (C) Reengineer such vessels to perma8 nently close all unnecessary access plugs and to 

9 reduce all through-hull penetrations to the min10 imum number and size necessary for operation. 

11 (D) Install in such vessels independently 

12 powered electric bilge pumps that are capable of 

13 dewatering such vessels at the volume of the 

14 largest remaining penetration in order to sup15 plement either an operable Higgins pump or a 

16 dewatering pump of equivalent or greater ca17 pacity. 

18 (E) Install in such vessels not fewer than 

19 four independently powered bilge alarms. 

20 (F) Inspect any such vessel in water after 

21 each time a through-hull penetration of such 

22 vessel has been removed or uncovered. 

23 (G) Verify the watertight integrity of any 

24 such vessel in the water at the outset of each 

25 waterborne departure of such vessel. 


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1 (3) PROHIBITION ON OPERATION OF NON2 COMPLIANT VESSELS.—The following amphibious 

3 passenger vessels may not operate on United States 

4 waterways: 

5 (A) Commencing as of the date the regula6 tions required by paragraph (1) are prescribed, 

7 any amphibious passenger vessel whose configu8 ration or operation does not comply with the re9 quirements in paragraph (2). 

10 (B) Commencing as of the date specified 

11 by the Commandant of the Coast Guard pursu12 ant to subsection (d), any amphibious passenger 

13 vessel whose configuration or operation does not 

14 comply with the requirements in the regulations 

15 under paragraph (1). 

16 (b) SEVERE WEATHER EMERGENCY PREPARED17 NESS.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the en18 actment of this Act, the Commandant of the Coast Guard 

19 shall prescribe in regulations— 

20 (1) the limiting environmental conditions, such 

21 as weather, in which amphibious passenger vessels 

22 may safely operate, and a requirement that such 

23 limiting conditions be described in the certificate of 

24 inspection of each amphibious passenger vessel; 


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1 (2) that an operator of an amphibious pas2 senger vessel— 

3 (A) check the National Weather Service 

4 forecast before getting underway and periodi5 cally while underway; and 

6 (B) in the case of a watch or warning 

7 issued for wind speeds exceeding the wind speed 

8 equivalent used to certify the stability of an am9 phibious passenger vessel, proceed to the near10 est harbor or safe refuge; and 

11 (3) that an amphibious passenger vessel cer12 tified to operate on partially protected waters have 

13 a weather monitor radio receiver at the operator sta14 tion that may be automatically activated by the 

15 warning alarm device of the National Weather Serv16 ice. 

17 (c) ADDITIONAL SAFETY MEASURES.—Not later 

18 than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

19 the Commandant of the Coast Guard shall prescribe in 

20 regulations that— 

21 (1) operators of amphibious passenger vessels 

22 inform passengers that seat belts may not be worn 

23 during waterborne operations; and 


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1 (2) before the commencement of waterborne op2 erations, a crew member visually check that each 

3 passenger has unbuckled his or her seatbelt. 

4 (d) DEADLINE FOR COMPLIANCE.—The regulations 

5 required by subsections (a) through (c) shall require com6 pliance with the requirements in the regulations by opera7 tors of amphibious passenger vessels by such date, not 

8 later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this 

9 Act, as the Commandant shall specify in the regulations. 

Æ 


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