IIB
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1099
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH 22, 2001
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science,
and Transportation
AN ACT
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.
HR 1099 RFS
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.
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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—
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(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
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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