IB 

Union Calendar No. 229

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 958

[Report No. 108–400] 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 27, 2003

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Resources 

NOVEMBER 21, 2003 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on February 27, 2003] 

A BILL

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 2003’’. 

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 of 

9 an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, 

10 the reference shall be considered to be made to a section or 

11 other provision of the Hydrographic Services Improvement 

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

13 SEC. 102. FUNCTIONS OF ADMINISTRATOR. 

14 (a) REGIONAL NAVIGATION RESPONSE TEAMS.—Sec15 tion 303(a) (33 U.S.C. 892a(a)) is amended by striking 

16 paragraphs (7) and (8) and inserting the following: 

17 ‘‘(7) establish, equip, and maintain up to 10 Re18 gional Navigation Response teams in priority coastal 

19 areas identified by the Secretary, in consultation with 

20 the Commandant of the Coast Guard, to conduct ac21 tivities related to navigational safety and the valida22 tion 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 SERVICES.—

7 Section 303 (33 U.S.C. 892a) is amended by adding at the 

8 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 in 

14 response to a maritime emergency, the Administrator 

15 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 the Interior or the Secretary of 

7 Commerce is deemed to refer to the Adminis8 trator. 

9 ‘‘(3) QUALIFIED ORGANIZATION.—In this sub10 section, the term ‘qualified organization’ means a 

11 nongovernmental, not-for-profit organization, deter12 mined by the Administrator to have demonstrated ex13 pertise in boating safety and a commitment to im14 proving the quality of hydrographic services and re15 lated oceanographic and meteorological information 

16 that is made available to mariners. 

17 ‘‘(e) PARTICIPATION IN JOINT INSTITUTE.—The Sec18 retary may participate in a joint institute that develops 

19 new hydrographic technology and conducts academic, edu20 cational, and outreach activities that assist the Adminis21 trator in fulfilling the functions of the Administrator under 

22 this section.’’. 
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1 SEC. 103. QUALITY ASSURANCE PROGRAM. 

2 (a) ACCEPTANCE AND RECOGNITION OF CERTIFI3 CATIONS.—Section 304(b) (33 U.S.C. 892b(b)) is amended 

4 by adding at the end the following:

5 ‘‘(3) ACCEPTANCE AND RECOGNITION OF CER6 TIFICATIONS.—The Administrator shall, to the max7 imum extent practicable, assure that any inter8 national organizations and agreements to which the 

9 United States is a party that affect hydrographic 

10 products and nautical charts accept or recognize, re11 spectively, hydrographic products certified by the Ad12 ministrator under this subsection.’’. 

13 (b) IMPLEMENTATION OF EXECUTIVE ORDER AND

14 OMB CIRCULAR.—Section 304 (33 U.S.C. 892b) is amend15 ed by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(f) ANNUAL STUDY AND REPORT REGARDING IMPLE17 MENTATION OF EXECUTIVE ORDER AND OMB CIRCULAR.—

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall an19 nually conduct a study of, and report to the panel es20 tablished under section 305 regarding, steps taken to 

21 comply with section 3(d) of Executive Order 12906 

22 and Office of Management and Budget Circular A–16 

23 with respect to the collection and production of new 

24 hydrographic data and products by the Administra25 tion. 
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1 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out the study 

2 and report, the Administrator shall consult with the 

3 Federal Geographic Data Committee.’’. 

4 SEC. 104. ACQUISITION OF HYDROGRAPHIC SURVEY VES5 SEL. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce may, 

7 in accordance with this section, acquire, by purchase, lease, 

8 lease-purchase, or charter, and equip one hydrographic sur9 vey vessel. 

10 (b) VESSEL REQUIREMENTS.—Any vessel acquired 

11 and equipped under this section must be capable of—

12 (1) staying at sea continuously for at least 30 

13 days; 

14 (2) carrying at least 4 hydrographic survey 

15 launches; 

16 (3) conducting hydrographic surveys; and 

17 (4) conducting other work necessary to provide 

18 mariners with the accurate and timely data needed to 

19 conduct safe and efficient maritime commerce. 

20 (c) PLAN.—No later than 6 months after the enactment 

21 of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall submit to the 

22 Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives 

23 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor24 tation of the Senate a detailed plan for implementing this 

25 section, including—
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1 (1) a timetable and cost estimates for the acqui2 sition and equipping of the vessel under subsection 

3 (a); 

4 (2) an explanation of what vessel or vessels 

5 would be retired when the vessel described in sub6 section (a) becomes operational; and 

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

8 of operation and maintenance of a new vessel versus 

9 the 2 vessels proposed for retirement. 

10 (d) AUTHORIZATION.—To prepare the plan required 

11 under subsection (c), there is authorized to be appropriated 

12 to the Secretary of Commerce $1,000,000 for fiscal year 

13 2004. 

14 SEC. 105. KOSS COVE. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi16 sion of law or existing policy, the cove described in sub17 section (b) shall be known and designated as ‘‘Koss Cove’’, 

18 in honor of the late Able Bodied Seaman Eric Steiner Koss 

19 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

20 vessel RAINIER who died in the performance of a nautical 

21 charting mission off the Alaskan coast. 

22 (b) COVE DESCRIBED.—The cove referred to in sub23 section (a) is—
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1 (1) adjacent to and southeast of Point Elrington, 

2 Alaska, and forms a portion of the southern coast of 

3 Elrington Island; 

(2) 3 4 ⁄4 mile across the mouth; 

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

6 148 degrees 14 minutes West; and 

7 (4) 45 miles of Seward, Alaska. 

8 (c) REFERENCES.—Any reference in any law, regula9 tion, document, record, map, or other paper of the United 

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

11 be a reference to Koss Cove. 

12 SEC. 106. DEPICTION OF SAME SHORELINES ON CHARTS 

13 AND MAPPING PRODUCTS. 

14 Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment 

15 of the Act, the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary 

16 of the Interior, in consultation with the Federal Emergency 

17 Management Agency, shall provide to the Committee on Re18 sources of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

19 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 

20 a plan to depict the same shorelines on National Oceanic 

21 and Atmospheric Administration nautical charts and 

22 United States Geological Survey mapping products. 
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1 SEC. 107. AMENDMENTS TO THE HYDROGRAPHIC SERVICES 

2 PANEL. 

3 Section 305 of the Hydrographic Services Improve4 ment Act of 1998 (33 U.S.C. 892c) is amended—

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

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

7 (2) in subsection (c)(3), subsection (d), and sub8 section (e), by striking ‘‘Secretary’’ each place it ap9 pears and inserting ‘‘Administrator’’. 

10 SEC. 108. GREAT LAKES WATER LEVEL MEASUREMENTS. 

11 Section 306(5) of the Hydrographic Services Improve12 ment Act of 1998 (33 U.S.C. 892d(5)) is amended—

13 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) through 

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

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

16 and 

17 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub18 paragraph: 

19 ‘‘(B) Of the amounts authorized under subpara20 graph (A), $2,000,000 in each fiscal year is author21 ized for the Great Lakes Water Level Observation Net22 work.’’. 
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1 TITLE II—FISHERY SURVEY 

2 VESSELS 

3 SEC. 201. FISHERY SURVEY VESSELS. 

4 Section 302(c) of the Fisheries Survey Vessel Author5 ization Act of 2000 (33 U.S.C. 891b note) is amended by 

6 striking ‘‘2002 and 2003’’ and inserting ‘‘2004, 2005, and 

7 2006’’.

Union Calendar No. 229

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 958

[Report No. 108–400] 

A BILL

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. 

NOVEMBER 21, 2003

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 

and ordered to be printed