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(B) An inventory of satellite vessel track-
ing technologies, and a discussion of the poten-
tial mission effectiveness of such technologies, 
including any benefits or risks or negative as-
pects of such usage. 
(C) A prioritized list of Coast Guard mis-
sion requirements that could be met with addi-
tional unmanned maritime systems, or with sat-
ellite vessel tracking technologies, and the esti-
mated costs of accessing, acquiring, or oper-
ating such systems. 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) UNMANNED MARITIME SYSTEMS.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘unmanned 
maritime systems’’ means remotely operated or 
autonomous vehicles produced by the commer-
cial sector designed to travel in the air, on or 
under the ocean surface, on land, or any com-
bination thereof, and that function without an 
on-board human presence. 
(B) EXAMPLES.—Such term includes the 
following: 
(i) Unmanned undersea vehicles. 
(ii) Unmanned surface vehicles. 
(iii) Unmanned aerial vehicles. 
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(iv) Autonomous underwater vehicles. 
(v) Autonomous surface vehicles. 
(vi) Autonomous aerial vehicles. 
(2) AVAILABLE
UNMANNED
MARITIME
SYS-
TEMS.—The term ‘‘available unmanned maritime 
systems’’ includes systems that can be purchased 
commercially or are in use by the Department of 
Defense or other Federal agencies. 
(3) 
SATELLITE
VESSEL
TRACKING
TECH-
NOLOGIES.—The term ‘‘satellite vessel tracking tech-
nologies’’ means shipboard broadcast systems that 
use satellites and terrestrial receivers to continually 
track vessels. 
SEC. 403. EXPEDITED TRANSFER IN CASES OF SEXUAL AS-
SAULT; DEPENDENTS OF MEMBERS OF THE 
COAST GUARD. 
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Commandant of the Coast Guard 
shall establish a policy to allow the transfer of a member 
of the Coast Guard whose dependent is the victim of sex-
ual assault perpetrated by a member of the Armed Forces 
who is not related to the victim. 
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SEC. 404. TOWING VESSELS; OPERATION OUTSIDE THE 
BOUNDARY LINE. 
(a) INTERIM EXEMPTION.—A towing vessel to which 
this section applies is exempt from any additional require-
ments of subtitle II of title 46, United States Code, and 
chapter I of title 33 and chapter I of title 46, Code of 
Federal Regulations, that would result solely from such 
vessel operating outside the Boundary Line (as such term 
is defined in section 103 of title 46, United States Code) 
if such vessel— 
(1) is listed as a response vessel on a vessel re-
sponse plan and is operating outside the Boundary 
Line solely to perform duties of a response vessel; or 
(2) is operating outside the Boundary Line 
solely to perform operations necessary to escort a 
vessel with limited maneuverability. 
(b) APPLICABILITY.—This section applies to a towing 
vessel— 
(1) that is subject to inspection under chapter 
33 of title 46, United States Code, and subchapter 
M of title 46, Code of Federal Regulations; 
(2) with only ‘‘Lakes, Bays, and Sounds’’ or 
‘‘Rivers’’ routes recorded on such vessel’s certificate 
of inspection under section 136.230 of title 46, Code 
of Federal Regulations; and 
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(3)(A) that, with respect to a vessel that is de-
scribed in subsection (a)(1), is listed— 
(i) on a vessel response plan under part 
155 of title 33, Code of Federal Regulations, on 
the date of approval of the vessel response plan; 
or 
(ii) by name or reference in the vessel re-
sponse plan’s geographic-specific appendix on 
the date of approval of the vessel response plan; 
or 
(B) that, with respect to a vessel described in 
subsection (a)(2), is regularly engaged in harbor as-
sist operations, including the docking, undocking, 
mooring, unmooring, and escorting of vessels with 
limited maneuverability. 
(c) LIMITATIONS.—A vessel exempted under sub-
section (a) is subject to the following operating limitations: 
(1) RESPONSE VESSELS.—The voyage of a ves-
sel exempted under subsection (a)(1) shall— 
(A) be less than 12 hours, or in the case 
of a voyage in the territorial waters of Alaska, 
Guam, Hawaii, and American Samoa, have suf-
ficient manning as determined by the Secretary; 
and 
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(B) originate and end in the inspection 
zone of a single Officer In-Charge, Marine In-
spection, as defined in section 3305(d)(4) of 
title 46, United States Code. 
(2) ESCORT VESSELS.—The voyage of a vessel 
exempted under subsection (a)(2) shall— 
(A) be less than 12 hours in total duration; 
(B) originate and end in the inspection 
zone of a single Officer In-Charge, Marine In-
spection, as such term is defined in section 
3305(d)(4) of title 46, United States Code; and 
(C) occur no further than 10 nautical 
miles from the Boundary Line. 
(d) TERMINATION.—The interim exemption provided 
under subsection (a) shall terminate on July 22, 2023. 
(e) RESTRICTION.—The Officer In-Charge, Marine 
Inspection, as defined in section 3305(d)(4) of title 46, 
United States Code, for an inspection zone may restrict 
operations under the exemptions provided under sub-
section (a) for safety purposes. 
(f) BRIEFING.—Not later than July 22, 2022, the 
Commandant of the Coast Guard shall brief the Com-
mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House 
of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 
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Science, and Transportation of the Senate regarding the 
following: 
(1) The impacts of the interim exemptions pro-
vided under this section. 
(2) Any safety concerns regarding the expira-
tion of such interim exemptions. 
(3) Whether such interim exemptions should be 
extended or made permanent in the interests of safe-
ty. 
SEC. 405. COAST GUARD AUTHORITIES STUDY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the department 
in which the Coast Guard is operating shall seek to enter 
into an arrangement with the National Academy of 
Sciences not later than 60 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act under which the Academy shall prepare 
an assessment of Coast Guard authorities. 
(b) ASSESSMENT.—The assessment under subsection 
(a) shall provide— 
(1) an examination of emerging issues that may 
require Coast Guard oversight, regulation, or action; 
(2) a description of potential limitations and 
shortcomings of relying on current Coast Guard au-
thorities to address emerging issues; and 
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(3) an overview of adjustments and additions 
that could be made to existing Coast Guard authori-
ties to fully address emerging issues. 
(c) REPORT TO THE CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 
year after entering into an arrangement with the Sec-
retary under subsection (a), the National Academy of 
Sciences shall submit the assessment under this section 
to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate. 
(d) EMERGING ISSUES.—In this section, the term 
‘‘emerging issues’’ means changes in the maritime indus-
try and environment that in the determination of the Na-
tional Academy of Sciences are reasonably likely to occur 
within 10 years after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, including— 
(1) the introduction of new technologies in the 
maritime domain; 
(2) the advent of new processes or operational 
activities in the maritime domain; and 
(3) changes in the use of navigable waterways. 
SEC. 406. CLOUD COMPUTING STRATEGY. 
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Commandant of the Coast Guard 
shall submit to the Committee on Transportation and In-
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frastructure of the House of Representatives and the Com-
mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 
Senate a detailed description of the Coast Guard’s strat-
egy to implement cloud computing for the entire Coast 
Guard, including— 
(1) the goals and acquisition strategies for all 
proposed enterprise-wide cloud computing service 
procurements; 
(2) a strategy to sustain competition and inno-
vation throughout the period of performance of each 
contract for procurement of cloud-computing goods 
and services for the Coast Guard, including defining 
opportunities for multiple cloud-service providers 
and insertion of new technologies; 
(3) an assessment of potential threats and secu-
rity vulnerabilities of the strategy, and plans to miti-
gate such risks; and 
(4) an estimate of the cost and timeline to im-
plement cloud computing service for all Coast Guard 
computing. 
SEC. 407. REPORT ON EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON 
COAST GUARD. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Commandant of 
the Coast Guard shall submit to the Committee on Trans-
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portation and Infrastructure of the House of Representa-
tives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation of the Senate a report on vulnerabilities 
of Coast Guard installations and requirements resulting 
from climate change over the next 20 years. 
(b) ELEMENTS.—The report under subsection (a) 
shall include the following: 
(1) A list of the 10 most vulnerable Coast 
Guard installations based on the effects of climate 
change, including rising sea tides, increased flooding, 
drought, desertification, wildfires, thawing perma-
frost, or any other categories the Commandant de-
termines necessary. 
(2) An overview of— 
(A) mitigations that may be necessary to 
ensure the continued operational viability and 
to increase the resiliency of the identified vul-
nerable installations; and 
(B) the cost of such mitigations. 
(3) A discussion of the climate-change-related 
effects on the Coast Guard, including— 
(A) the increase in the frequency of hu-
manitarian assistance and disaster relief mis-
sions; and 
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(B) campaign plans, contingency plans, 
and operational posture of the Coast Guard. 
(4) An overview of mitigations that may be nec-
essary to ensure mission resiliency and the cost of 
such mitigations. 
(c) FORM.—The report required under subsection (a) 
shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may contain 
a classified annex. 
SEC. 408. SHORE INFRASTRUCTURE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Commandant of 
the Coast Guard shall— 
(1) develop a plan to standardize Coast Guard 
facility condition assessments; 
(2) establish shore infrastructure performance 
goals, measures, and baselines to track the effective-
ness of maintenance and repair investments and pro-
vide feedback on progress made; 
(3) develop a process to routinely align the 
Coast Guard shore infrastructure portfolio with mis-
sion needs, including disposing of unneeded assets; 
(4) establish guidance for planning boards to 
document 
inputs, 
deliberations, 
and 
project 
prioritization decisions for infrastructure mainte-
nance projects; 
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(5) employ models for Coast Guard infrastruc-
ture asset lines for— 
(A) predicting the outcome of investments 
in shore infrastructure; 
(B) analyzing tradeoffs; and 
(C) optimizing decisions among competing 
investments; 
(6) include supporting details about competing 
project alternatives and report tradeoffs in congres-
sional budget requests and related reports; and 
(7) explore the development of real property 
management expertise within the Coast Guard work-
force, including members of the Senior Executive 
Service. 
(b) BRIEFING.—Not later than December 31, 2020, 
the Commandant of the Coast Guard shall brief the Com-
mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House 
of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation of the Senate on the status 
of the actions required under subsection (a). 
SEC. 409. PHYSICAL ACCESS CONTROL SYSTEM REPORT. 
Not later 180 days after the date of the enactment 
of this Act and annually for each of the 4 years thereafter, 
the Commandant of the Coast Guard shall submit to the 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the 
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