I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1099
To make changes in laws governing Coast Guard personnel, increase marine
safety, renew certain groups that advise the Coast Guard on safety
issues, make miscellaneous improvements to Coast Guard operations and
policies, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 20, 2001
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska (for himself, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. LOBIONDO, and Ms.
BROWN of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
A BILL
To make changes in laws governing Coast Guard personnel,
increase marine safety, renew certain groups that advise
the Coast Guard on safety issues, make miscellaneous
improvements to Coast Guard operations and policies,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Coast Guard Personnel
and Maritime Safety Act of 2001’’.
SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.
The table of contents for this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title.
Sec. 2. Table of contents.
TITLE I—PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT
Sec. 101. Coast Guard band director rank.
Sec. 102. Compensatory absence for isolated duty.
Sec. 103. Accelerated promotion of certain Coast Guard officers.
TITLE II—MARINE SAFETY
Sec. 201. Extension of Territorial Sea for Vessel Bridge-to-Bridge Radio-
telephone Act.
Sec. 202. Preservation of certain reporting requirements.
Sec. 203. Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund; emergency fund borrowing authority.
Sec. 204. Merchant mariner documentation requirements.
Sec. 205. Penalties for negligent operations and interfering with safe operation.
TITLE III—RENEWAL OF ADVISORY GROUPS
Sec. 301. Commercial Fishing Industry Vessel Advisory Committee.
Sec. 302. Houston-Galveston Navigation Safety Advisory Committee.
Sec. 303. Lower Mississippi River Waterway Advisory Committee.
Sec. 304. Navigation Safety Advisory Council.
Sec. 305. National boating safety advisory council.
Sec. 306. Towing Safety Advisory Committee.
TITLE IV—MISCELLANEOUS
Sec. 401. Patrol craft.
Sec. 402. Clarification of Coast Guard authority to control vessels in territorial
waters of the United States.
Sec. 403. Caribbean support tender.
Sec. 404. Prohibition of new maritime user fees.
Sec. 405. Great Lakes lighthouses.
Sec. 406. Coast Guard report on implementation of NTSB recommendations.
Sec. 407. Conveyance of Coast Guard property in Portland, Maine.
Sec. 408. Harbor safety committees.
Sec. 409. Miscellaneous conveyances.
Sec. 410. Partnerships for performance of work at Coast Guard Yard.
Sec. 411. Boating safety.
TITLE I—PERSONNEL
MANAGEMENT
SEC. 101. COAST GUARD BAND DIRECTOR RANK.
Section 336(d) of title 14, United States Code, is
amended by striking ‘‘commander’’ and inserting ‘‘cap-
tain’’.
SEC. 102. COMPENSATORY ABSENCE FOR ISOLATED DUTY.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 511 of title 14, United
States Code, is amended to read as follows:
‘‘§ 511. Compensatory absence from duty for military
personnel at isolated duty stations
‘‘The Secretary may grant compensatory absence
from duty to military personnel of the Coast Guard serv-
ing at isolated duty stations of the Coast Guard when con-
ditions of duty result in confinement because of isolation
or in long periods of continuous duty.’’.
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The chapter analysis
for chapter 13 of title 14, United States Code, is amended
by striking the item relating to section 511 and inserting
the following:
‘‘511. Compensatory absence from duty for military personnel at isolated duty
stations.’’.
SEC. 103. ACCELERATED PROMOTION OF CERTAIN COAST
GUARD OFFICERS.
Title 14, United States Code, is amended—
(1) in section 259, by adding at the end a new
subsection (c) to read as follows:
‘‘(c)(1) After selecting the officers to be rec-
ommended for promotion, a selection board may rec-
ommend officers of particular merit, from among those of-
ficers chosen for promotion, to be placed at the top of the
list of selectees promulgated by the Secretary under sec-
tion 271(a) of this title. The number of officers that a
board may recommend to be placed at the top of the list
of selectees may not exceed the percentages set forth in
subsection (b) unless such a percentage is a number less
than one, in which case the board may recommend one
officer for such placement. No officer may be rec-
ommended to be placed at the top of the list of selectees
unless he or she receives the recommendation of at least
a majority of the members of a board composed of five
members, or at least two-thirds of the members of a board
composed of more than five members.
‘‘(2) The Secretary shall conduct a survey of the
Coast Guard officer corps to determine if implementation
of this subsection will improve Coast Guard officer reten-
tion. A selection board may not make any recommendation
under this subsection before the date on which the Sec-
retary publishes a finding, based upon the results of the
survey, that implementation of this subsection will im-
prove Coast Guard officer retention.
‘‘(3) The Secretary shall submit any finding made by
the Secretary pursuant to paragraph (2) to the Committee
on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation of the Senate.’’;
(2) in section 260(a), by inserting ‘‘and the
names of those officers recommended to be advanced
to the top of the list of selectees established by the
Secretary under section 271(a) of this title’’ after
‘‘promotion’’; and
(3) in section 271(a), by inserting at the end
thereof the following: ‘‘The names of all officers ap-
proved by the President and recommended by the
board to be placed at the top of the list of selectees
shall be placed at the top of the list of selectees in
the order of seniority on the active duty promotion
list.’’.
TITLE II—MARINE SAFETY
SEC. 201. EXTENSION OF TERRITORIAL SEA FOR VESSEL
BRIDGE-TO-BRIDGE RADIOTELEPHONE ACT.
Section 4(b) of the Vessel Bridge-to-Bridge Radio-
telephone Act (33 U.S.C. 1203(b)), is amended by striking
‘‘United States inside the lines established pursuant to
section 2 of the Act of February 19, 1895 (28 Stat. 672),
as amended.’’ and inserting ‘‘United States, which in-
cludes all waters of the territorial sea of the United States
as described in Presidential Proclamation 5928 of Decem-
ber 27, 1988.’’.
SEC. 202. PRESERVATION OF CERTAIN REPORTING RE-
QUIREMENTS.
Section 3003(a)(1) of the Federal Reports Elimi-
nation and Sunset Act of 1995 (31 U.S.C. 1113 note)
does not apply to any report required to be submitted
under any of the following provisions of law:
(1) COAST GUARD OPERATIONS AND EXPENDI-
TURES.—Section 651 of title 14, United States
Code.
(2) SUMMARY
OF
MARINE
CASUALTIES
RE-
PORTED
DURING
PRIOR
FISCAL
YEAR.—Section
6307(c) of title 46, United States Code.
(3) USER
FEE
ACTIVITIES
AND
AMOUNTS.—
Section 664 of title 46, United States Code.
(4) CONDITIONS
OF
PUBLIC
PORTS
OF
THE
UNITED STATES.—Section 308(c) of title 49, United
States Code.
(5) ACTIVITIES OF FEDERAL MARITIME COM-
MISSION.—Section 208 of the Merchant Marine Act,
1936 (46 App. U.S.C. 1118).
(6) ACTIVITIES
OF
INTERAGENCY
COORDI-
NATING
COMMITTEE
ON
OIL
POLLUTION
RE-
SEARCH.—Section 7001(e) of the Oil Pollution Act
of 1990 (33 U.S.C. 2761(e)).
SEC. 203. OIL SPILL LIABILITY TRUST FUND; EMERGENCY
FUND BORROWING AUTHORITY.
Section 6002(b) of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33
U.S.C. 2752(b)) is amended after the first sentence by
inserting ‘‘To the extent that such amount is not adequate
for removal of a discharge or the mitigation or prevention
of a substantial threat of a discharge, the Coast Guard
may borrow from the Fund such sums as may be nec-
essary, up to a maximum of $100,000,000, and within 30
days shall notify Congress of the amount borrowed and
the facts and circumstances necessitating the loan.
Amounts borrowed shall be repaid to the Fund when, and
to the extent that removal costs are recovered by the Coast
Guard from responsible parties for the discharge or sub-
stantial threat of discharge.’’.
SEC. 204. MERCHANT MARINER DOCUMENTATION RE-
QUIREMENTS.
(a) INTERIM MERCHANT MARINERS’ DOCUMENTS.—
Section 7302 of title 46, United States Code, is amend-
ed—
(1) by striking ‘‘A’’ in subsection (f) and insert-
ing ‘‘Except as provided in subsection (g), a’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(g)(1) The Secretary may, pending receipt and re-
view of information required under subsections (c) and
(d), immediately issue an interim merchant mariner’s doc-
ument valid for a period not to exceed 120 days, to—
‘‘(A) an individual to be employed as gaming
personnel, entertainment personnel, wait staff, or
other service personnel on board a passenger vessel
not engaged in foreign service, with no duties, in-
cluding emergency duties, related to the navigation
of the vessel or the safety of the vessel, its crew,
cargo or passengers; or
‘‘(B) an individual seeking renewal of, or quali-
fying for a supplemental endorsement to, a valid
merchant mariner’s document issued under this sec-
tion.
‘‘(2) No more than one interim document may be
issued to an individual under paragraph (1)(A) of this
subsection.’’.
(b) EXCEPTION.—Section 8701(a) of title 46, United
States Code, is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon in
paragraph (8);
(2) by redesignating paragraph (9) as para-
graph (10); and
(3) by inserting after paragraph (8) the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(9) a passenger vessel not engaged in a for-
eign voyage with respect to individuals on board em-
ployed for a period of not more than 30 service days
within a 12 month period as entertainment per-
sonnel, with no duties, including emergency duties,
related to the navigation of the vessel or the safety
of the vessel, its crew, cargo or passengers; and’’.
SEC. 205. PENALTIES FOR NEGLIGENT OPERATIONS AND
INTERFERING WITH SAFE OPERATION.
Section 2302(a) of title 46, United States Code, is
amended by striking ‘‘$1,000.’’ and inserting ‘‘$5,000 in
the case of a recreational vessel, or $25,000 in the case
of any other vessel.’’.
TITLE III—RENEWAL OF
ADVISORY GROUPS
SEC. 301. COMMERCIAL FISHING INDUSTRY VESSEL ADVI-
SORY COMMITTEE.
(a) COMMERCIAL FISHING INDUSTRY VESSEL ADVI-
SORY COMMITTEE.—Section 4508 of title 46, United
States Code, is amended—
(1) by inserting ‘‘Safety’’ in the heading after
‘‘Vessel’’;
(2) by inserting ‘‘Safety’’ in subsection (a) after
‘‘Vessel’’;
(3) by striking ‘‘(5 U.S.C App. 1 et seq.)’’ in
subsection (e)(1)(I) and inserting ‘‘(5 U.S.C.
App.)’’; and
(4) by striking ‘‘of September 30, 2000’’ and
inserting ‘‘on September 30, 2005’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter anal-
ysis for chapter 45 of title 46, United States Code, is
amended by striking the item relating to section 4508 and
inserting the following:
‘‘4508. Commercial Fishing Industry Vessel Safety Advisory Committee.’’.
SEC. 302. HOUSTON-GALVESTON NAVIGATION SAFETY AD-
VISORY COMMITTEE.
Section 18(h) of the Coast Guard Authorization Act
of 1991 (Public Law 102–241) is amended by striking
‘‘September 30, 2000.’’ and inserting ‘‘September 30,
2005.’’.
SEC. 303. LOWER MISSISSIPPI RIVER WATERWAY ADVISORY
COMMITTEE.
Section 19 of the Coast Guard Authorization Act of
1991 (Public Law 102–241) is amended by striking ‘‘Sep-
tember 30, 2000’’ in subsection (g) and inserting ‘‘Sep-
tember 30, 2005’’.
SEC. 304. NAVIGATION SAFETY ADVISORY COUNCIL.
Section 5 of the Inland Navigational Rules Act of
1980 (33 U.S.C. 2073) is amended by striking ‘‘Sep-
tember 30, 2000’’ in subsection (d) and inserting ‘‘Sep-
tember 30, 2005’’.
SEC. 305. NATIONAL BOATING SAFETY ADVISORY COUNCIL.
Section 13110 of title 46, United States Code, is
amended by striking ‘‘September 30, 2000’’ in subsection
(e) and inserting ‘‘September 30, 2005’’.
SEC. 306. TOWING SAFETY ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
The Act entitled ‘‘An Act to Establish a Towing Safe-
ty Advisory Committee in the Department of Transpor-
tation’’ (33 U.S.C. 1231a) is amended by striking ‘‘Sep-
tember 30, 2000.’’ in subsection (e) and inserting ‘‘Sep-
tember 30, 2005.’’.
TITLE IV—MISCELLANEOUS
SEC. 401. PATROL CRAFT.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Sec-
retary of Transportation may accept, by direct transfer
without cost, for use by the Coast Guard primarily for ex-
panded drug interdiction activities required to meet na-
tional supply reduction performance goals, up to 7 PC–
170 patrol craft from the Department of Defense if it of-
fers to transfer such craft.
SEC. 402. CLARIFICATION OF COAST GUARD AUTHORITY TO
CONTROL VESSELS IN TERRITORIAL WATERS
OF THE UNITED STATES.
The Ports and Waterways Safety Act (33 U.S.C.
1221 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing:
‘‘SEC. 15. ENTRY OF VESSELS INTO TERRITORIAL SEA; DI-
RECTION OF VESSELS BY COAST GUARD.
‘‘(a) NOTIFICATION OF COAST GUARD.—Under regu-
lations prescribed by the Secretary, a commercial vessel
entering the territorial sea of the United States shall no-
tify the Secretary not later than 24 hours before that
entry and provide the following information regarding the
vessel:
‘‘(1) The name of the vessel.
‘‘(2) The route and port or place of destination
in the United States.
‘‘(3) The time of entry into the territorial sea.
‘‘(4) Any information requested by the Sec-
retary to demonstrate compliance with applicable
international agreements to which the United States
is a party.
‘‘(5) If the vessel is carrying dangerous cargo,
a description of that cargo.
‘‘(6) A description of any hazardous conditions
on the vessel.
(2) organizational models that can be applied to
new or existing harbor safety committees or to pro-
totype harbor safety committees established under
subsection (b);
(3) technological assistance that will help har-
bor safety committees overcome local impediments to
safety, mobility, environmental protection, and port
security; and
(4) recurring resources necessary to ensure the
success of harbor safety committees.
(b) PROTOTYPE COMMITTEES.—The Coast Guard
shall test the feasibility of expanding the harbor safety
committee concept to small and medium-sized ports that
are not generally served by a harbor safety committee by
establishing 1 or more prototype harbor safety commit-
tees. In selecting a location or locations for the establish-
ment of a prototype harbor safety committee, the Coast
Guard shall—
(1) consider the results of the study conducted
under subsection (a);
(2) consider identified safety issues for a par-
ticular port;
(3) compare the potential benefits of estab-
lishing such a committee with the burdens the estab-