IIB 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 958

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 24, 2004

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

and Transportation 

AN ACT

To authorize certain hydrographic services programs, to 

name a cove in Alaska in honor of the late Able Bodied 

Seaman Eric Steiner Koss, 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 ‘‘Hydrographic Services 

3 Amendments of 2004’’. 

4 TITLE I—NOAA HYDROGRAPHIC 

5 SERVICES IMPROVEMENT 

6 SEC. 101. REFERENCES. 

7 Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in 

8 this title an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 

9 of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provi10 sion, the reference shall be considered to be made to a 

11 section or other provision of the Hydrographic Services 

12 Improvement Act of 1998 (33 U.S.C. 892 et seq.). 

13 SEC. 102. FUNCTIONS OF ADMINISTRATOR. 

14 (a) REGIONAL NAVIGATION RESPONSE TEAMS.—

15 Section 303(a) (33 U.S.C. 892a(a)) is amended by strik16 ing paragraphs (7) and (8) and inserting the following: 

17 ‘‘(7) establish, equip, and maintain up to 4 Re18 gional Navigation Response teams in priority coastal 

19 areas identified by the Secretary, in consultation 

20 with the Commandant of the Coast Guard, to con21 duct activities related to navigational safety and the 

22 validation of hydrographic data; 

23 ‘‘(8) to the greatest extent practicable and cost24 effective, fulfill the requirements of paragraphs (1) 

25 and (7) through contracts or other agreements with 

26 private sector entities; and 
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1 ‘‘(9) participate in the development of, and im2 plement for the United States in cooperation with 

3 other appropriate Federal agencies, international 

4 standards for hydrographic data and hydrographic 

5 services.’’. 

6 (b) AUTHORITY TO ACCEPT VOLUNTEER SERV7 ICES.—Section 303 (33 U.S.C. 892a) is amended by add8 ing at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(d) AUTHORITY TO ACCEPT VOLUNTEER SERV10 ICES.—

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To help fulfill the duties of 

12 the Administrator, including authorities under the 

13 Act of 1947 (33 U.S.C. 883a et seq.), this Act, or 

14 in response to a maritime emergency, the Adminis15 trator may—

16 ‘‘(A) establish a volunteer program; and 

17 ‘‘(B) enter into special agreements with 

18 qualified organizations to assist in the imple19 mentation of a volunteer program. 

20 ‘‘(2) LEGAL STATUS OF VOLUNTEERS.—

21 ‘‘(A) Paragraphs (1) through (5) of section 

22 7(c) of the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 (16 

23 U.S.C. 742f(c)) shall apply to volunteers who 

24 provide services to the Administrator under a 
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1 volunteer program established under paragraph 

2 (1). 

3 ‘‘(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), 

4 any reference in section 7(c) of the Fish and 

5 Wildlife Act of 1956 (16 U.S.C. 742f(c)) to the 

6 Secretary of Interior or the Secretary of Com7 merce is deemed to refer to the Administrator. 

8 ‘‘(3) QUALIFIED ORGANIZATION.—In this sub9 section, the term ‘qualified organization’ means a 

10 nongovernmental, not-for-profit organization, deter11 mined by the Administrator to have demonstrated 

12 expertise in boating safety and a commitment to im13 proving the quality of hydrographic services and re14 lated oceanographic and meteorological information 

15 that is made available to mariners. 

16 ‘‘(e) PARTICIPATION IN JOINT INSTITUTE.—The Sec17 retary may participate in a joint institute that develops 

18 new hydrographic technology and conducts academic, edu19 cational, and outreach activities that assist the Adminis20 trator in fulfilling the functions of the Administrator 

21 under this section.’’. 

22 SEC. 103. KOSS COVE. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi24 sion of law or existing policy, the cove described in sub25 section (b) shall be known and designated as ‘‘Koss Cove’’, 
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1 in honor of the late Able Bodied Seaman Eric Steiner 

2 Koss of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis3 tration vessel RAINIER who died in the performance of 

4 a nautical charting mission off the Alaskan coast. 

5 (b) COVE DESCRIBED.—The cove referred to in sub6 section (a) is—

7 (1) adjacent to and southeast of Point 

8 Elrington, Alaska, and forms a portion of the south9 ern coast of Elrington Island; 

(2) 3 10 ⁄4 mile across the mouth; 

11 (3) centered at 59 degrees 56.1 minutes North, 

12 148 degrees 14 minutes West; and 

13 (4) 45 miles of Seward, Alaska. 

14 (c) REFERENCES.—Any reference in any law, regula15 tion, document, record, map, or other paper of the United 

16 States to the cove described in subsection (b) is deemed 

17 to be a reference to Koss Cove. 

18 SEC. 104. DEPICTION OF SAME SHORELINES ON CHARTS 

19 AND MAPPING PRODUCTS. 

20 Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment 

21 of the Act, the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary 

22 of the Interior, in consultation with the Federal Emer23 gency Management Agency, shall provide to the Com24 mittee on Resources of the House of Representatives and 

25 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 
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1 of the Senate a plan to depict the same shorelines on Na2 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration nautical 

3 charts and United States Geological Survey mapping 

4 products. 

5 SEC. 105. AMENDMENTS TO THE HYDROGRAPHIC SERVICES 

6 PANEL. 

7 Section 305 of the Hydrographic Services Improve8 ment Act of 1998 (33 U.S.C. 892c) is amended—

9 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘Secretary’’ 

10 and inserting ‘‘Secretary of Commerce’’; and 

11 (2) in subsection (c)(3), subsection (d), and 

12 subsection (e), by striking ‘‘Secretary’’ each place it 

13 appears and inserting ‘‘Administrator’’. 

14 SEC. 106. GREAT LAKES WATER LEVEL MEASUREMENTS. 

15 Section 306(5) of the Hydrographic Services Im16 provement Act of 1998 (33 U.S.C. 892d(5)) is amended—

17 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) through 

18 (E) as clauses (i) through (v), respectively; 

19 (2) by striking ‘‘(5)’’ and inserting ‘‘(5)(A)’’; 

20 and 

21 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub22 paragraph: 

23 ‘‘(B) Of the amounts authorized under subpara24 graph (A), $2,000,000 in each fiscal year is author-
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1 ized for the Great Lakes Water Level Observation 

2 Network.’’. 

3 TITLE II—FISHERY SURVEY 

4 VESSELS 

5 SEC. 201. FISHERY SURVEY VESSELS. 

6 Section 302(c) of the Fisheries Survey Vessel Author7 ization Act of 2000 (33 U.S.C. 891b note) is amended 

8 by striking ‘‘$60,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2002 and 

9 2003’’ and inserting ‘‘$51,000,000 for fiscal year 2005 

10 and $39,000,000 for fiscal year 2006. 

11 SEC. 202. ACQUISITION OF HYDROGRAPHIC SURVEY VES12 SEL. 

13 No later than 6 months after the date of the enact14 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall submit 

15 to the Committee on Resources of the House of Represent16 atives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

17 Transportation of the Senate—

18 (1) a detailed requirements package and cost 

19 estimate for the construction and equipping of a hy20 drographic survey vessel that is capable of—

21 (A) staying at sea continuously for at least 

22 30 days; 

23 (B) carrying at least 4 hydrographic sur24 vey launches; 

25 (C) conducting hydrographic surveys; and 
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1 (D) conducting other work necessary to 

2 provide mariners with the accurate and timely 

3 data needed to conduct safe and efficient mari4 time commerce; 

5 (2) an explanation of what vessel or vessels 

6 would be retired if a vessel described in paragraph 

7 (1) were to become operational; and 

8 (3) a comparison of the 10-year estimated costs 

9 of operation and maintenance of a new vessel de10 scribed in paragraph (1) versus such costs for a ves11 sel or vessels proposed for retirement under para12 graph (2).

Passed the House of Representatives March 23, 

2004. 

Attest: JEFF TRANDAHL, 

Clerk. 

By GERASIMOS C. VANS, 

Deputy Clerk.