I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3842 
To amend title 46, United States Code, to include the replacement or pur-
chase of additional cargo handling equipment as an eligible purpose 
for Capital Construction Funds, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 9, 2025 
Mr. EZELL (for himself and Mr. CARTER of Louisiana) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To amend title 46, United States Code, to include the re-
placement or purchase of additional cargo handling 
equipment as an eligible purpose for Capital Construction 
Funds, 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. DEFINITIONS OF CARGO HANDLING EQUIP-
MENT AND MARINE TERMINAL. 
Section 53501 of title 46, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) by redesignating— 
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(A) subsections (2) and (3), as subsections 
(3) and (4), respectively; and 
(B) subsections (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), and 
(9), as subsections (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), and 
(11), respectively; 
(2) by inserting after subsection (1), the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(2) CARGO HANDLING EQUIPMENT.—The term 
‘cargo handling equipment’ means any vehicle or 
land-based equipment, and the associated marine 
terminal or port landside infrastructure, used at a 
marine terminal to lift or move cargo— 
‘‘(A) manufactured in the United States; 
or 
‘‘(B) manufactured outside of the United 
States, if such equipment is not produced in the 
United States in sufficient and reasonably 
available quantities or of a satisfactory quality 
as determined by the marine terminal oper-
ator.’’; and 
(3) by inserting after subsection (4), as redesig-
nated by paragraph (1), the following: 
‘‘(5) MARINE
TERMINAL.—The term ‘marine 
terminal’ means wharves, bulkheads, quays, piers, 
docks and other berthing locations and adjacent 
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storage or adjacent areas and structures associated 
with the primary movement of cargo or materials 
from vessel to shore, or from shore to vessel, includ-
ing structures which are devoted to receiving, han-
dling, holding, consolidating, loading, or delivery of 
waterborne shipments, including areas devoted to 
the maintenance of the terminal or equipment.’’. 
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHING A CAPITAL CONSTRUCTION FUND. 
Section 53503 of title 46, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 
‘‘(1) A citizen of the United States owning or 
leasing an eligible vessel may make an agreement 
with the Secretary under this chapter to establish a 
capital construction fund for the vessel. 
‘‘(2) An operator of a United States marine ter-
minal may make an agreement with the Secretary 
under this chapter to establish a capital construction 
fund for the marine terminal.’’; and 
(2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(b) ALLOWABLE PURPOSE.—The purpose of the 
agreement shall be to provide— 
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‘‘(1) replacement vessels, additional vessels, or 
reconstructed vessels, built in the United States and 
documented under the laws of the United States, for 
operation in the foreign or domestic trade of the 
United States; or 
‘‘(2) replacement cargo handling equipment, ad-
ditional cargo handling equipment, or reconstructed 
cargo handling equipment for operation at marine 
terminals in the United States.’’. 
SEC. 3. DEPOSITS AND WITHDRAWALS. 
Section 53504(b) of title 46, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting ‘‘or United States marine terminal’’ 
after ‘‘agreement vessel’’. 
SEC. 4. CEILING ON DEPOSITS. 
Section 53505(a) of title 46, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (1) by inserting ‘‘, or the 
operation of a marine terminal in the United States’’ 
after ‘‘in the fisheries of the United States’’; 
(2) in subparagraph (2) by inserting ‘‘or cargo 
handling equipment’’ after ‘‘agreement vessels’’; and 
(3) in subparagraph (3) by inserting ‘‘or cargo 
handling equipment’’ after both instances of ‘‘agree-
ment vessel’’. 
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SEC. 5. QUALIFIED WITHDRAWALS. 
Section 53509 of the title 46, United States Code, 
is amended— 
(1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsections (b) and 
(c), a withdrawal from a capital construction fund is a 
qualified withdrawal if it is made under the terms of the 
agreement and is for— 
‘‘(1) the acquisition, construction, or recon-
struction of— 
‘‘(A) a qualified vessel or a barge or con-
tainer that is part of the complement of a quali-
fied vessel; or 
‘‘(B) cargo handling equipment; or 
‘‘(2) the payment of the principal on indebted-
ness incurred in the acquisition, construction, or re-
construction of— 
‘‘(A) a qualified vessel or a barge or con-
tainer that is part of the complement of a quali-
fied vessel; or 
‘‘(B) cargo handling equipment.’’; 
(2) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub-
section (e); and 
(3) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol-
lowing: 
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