116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1031 

AN ACT 

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, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Duck Boat Safety En3 hancement Act of 2020’’. 

4 SEC. 2. SAFETY REQUIREMENTS FOR AMPHIBIOUS PAS5 SENGER VESSELS. 

6 (a) SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS.— 

7 (1) BUOYANCY REQUIREMENTS.—Not later 

8 than 1 year after the date of completion of a Coast 

9 Guard contracted assessment by the National Acad10 emies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine of the 

11 technical feasibility, practicality, and safety benefits 

12 of providing reserve buoyancy through passive means 

13 on amphibious passenger vessels, the Secretary of 

14 the department in which the Coast Guard is oper15 ating may initiate a rulemaking to prescribe in regu16 lations that operators of amphibious passenger ves17 sels provide reserve buoyancy for such vessels 

18 through passive means, including watertight 

19 compartmentalization, built-in flotation, or such 

20 other means as the Secretary may specify in the reg21 ulations, in order to ensure that such vessels remain 

22 afloat and upright in the event of flooding, including 

23 when carrying a full complement of passengers and 

24 crew. 

25 (2) INTERIM REQUIREMENTS.—Not later than 

26 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
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1 Secretary of the department in which the Coast 

2 Guard is operating shall initiate a rulemaking to im3 plement interim safety policies or other measures to 

4 require that operators of amphibious passenger ves5 sels operating in waters subject to the jurisdiction of 

6 the United States, as defined in section 2.38 of title 

7 33, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor reg8 ulation) comply with the following: 

9 (A) Remove the canopies of such vessels 

10 for waterborne operations, or install in such 

11 vessels a canopy that does not restrict either 

12 horizontal or vertical escape by passengers in 

13 the event of flooding or sinking. 

14 (B) If the canopy is removed from such 

15 vessel pursuant to subparagraph (A), require 

16 that all passengers don a Coast Guard type-ap17 proved personal flotation device before the onset 

18 of waterborne operations of such vessel. 

19 (C) Install in such vessels at least one 

20 independently powered electric bilge pump that 

21 is capable of dewatering such vessels at the vol22 ume of the largest remaining penetration in 

23 order to supplement the vessel’s existing bilge 

24 pump required under section 182.520 of title 
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1 46, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor 

2 regulation). 

3 (D) Verify the watertight integrity of such 

4 vessel in the water at the outset of each water5 borne departure of such vessel. 

6 (b) REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—Not later than 2 

7 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec8 retary of the department in which the Coast Guard is op9 erating shall initiate a rulemaking for amphibious pas10 senger vessels operating in waters subject to the jurisdic11 tion of the United States, as defined in section 2.38 of 

12 title 33, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor regu13 lation). The regulations shall include, at a minimum, the 

14 following: 

15 (1) SEVERE WEATHER EMERGENCY PREPARED16 NESS.—Requirements that an operator of an am17 phibious passenger vessel— 

18 (A) check and notate in the vessel’s log19 book the National Weather Service forecast be20 fore getting underway and periodically while 

21 underway; 

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

23 issued for wind speeds exceeding the wind speed 

24 equivalent used to certify the stability of an am-
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1 phibious passenger vessel, proceed to the near2 est harbor or safe refuge; and 

3 (C) maintain and monitor a weather mon4 itor radio receiver at the operator station that 

5 may be automatically activated by the warning 

6 alarm device of the National Weather Service. 

7 (2) PASSENGER SAFETY.—Requirements— 

8 (A) concerning whether personal flotation 

9 devices should be required for the duration of 

10 an amphibious passenger vessel’s waterborne 

11 transit, which shall be considered and deter12 mined by the Secretary; 

13 (B) that operators of amphibious pas14 senger vessels inform passengers that seat belts 

15 may not be worn during waterborne operations; 

16 (C) that before the commencement of wa17 terborne operations, a crew member visually 

18 check that each passenger has unbuckled the 

19 passenger’s seatbelt; and 

20 (D) that operators or crew maintain a log 

21 recording the actions described in subpara22 graphs (B) and (C). 

23 (3) TRAINING.—Requirement for annual train24 ing for operators and crew of amphibious passengers 

25 vessels, including— 
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1 (A) training for personal flotation and seat 

2 belt requirements, verifying the integrity of the 

3 vessel at the onset of each waterborne depar4 ture, identification of weather hazards, and use 

5 of National Weather Service resources prior to 

6 operation; and 

7 (B) training for crewmembers to respond 

8 to emergency situations, including flooding, en9 gine compartment fires, man overboard situa10 tions, and in water emergency egress proce11 dures. 

12 (4) RECOMMENDATIONS FROM REPORTS.—Re13 quirements to address recommendations from the 

14 following reports, as practicable and to the extent 

15 that such recommendations are under the jurisdic16 tion of the Coast Guard: 

17 (A) The National Transportation Safety 

18 Board’s Safety Recommendation Reports on the 

19 Amphibious Passenger Vessel incidents in Table 

20 Rock, Missouri, Hot Springs, Arkansas, and Se21 attle, Washington. 

22 (B) The Coast Guard’s Marine Investiga23 tion Board reports on the Stretch Duck 7 

24 sinkings at Table Rock, Missouri, and the Miss 

25 Majestic sinking near Hot Springs, Arkansas. 
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1 (5) INTERIM REQUIREMENTS.—The interim re2 quirements described in subsection (a)(2), as appro3 priate. 

4 (c) PROHIBITION ON OPERATION OF NONCOMPLIANT

5 VESSELS.—Commencing as of the date specified by the 

6 Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is 

7 operating pursuant to subsection (d), any amphibious pas8 senger vessel whose configuration or operation does not 

9 comply with the requirements under subsection (a)(2) (or 

10 subsection (a)(1), if prescribed) may not operate in waters 

11 subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, as defined 

12 in section 2.38 of title 33, Code of Federal Regulations 

13 (or a successor regulation). 

14 (d) DEADLINE FOR COMPLIANCE.—The regulations 

15 and interim requirements described in subsections (a) and 

16 (b) shall require compliance with the requirements in the 

17 regulations not later than 2 years after the date of the 

18 enactment of this Act, as the Secretary of the department 

19 in which the Coast Guard is operating may specify in the 

20 regulations. 

21 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the pro22 mulgation of the regulations required under subsection 

23 (a), the Commandant of the Coast Guard shall provide 

24 a report to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

25 Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on 
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1 Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Rep2 resentatives regarding the status of the implementation of 

3 the requirements included in such regulations. 

Passed the Senate December 10, 2020. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1031 

AN ACT 

To implement recommendations related to the safepurposes. ty of amphibious passenger vessels, and for other