I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5885 
To establish an interagency task force to address the backlog of cargo ships 
at the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach and in the 
coastal waters of Orange County, California, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 4, 2021 
Mrs. STEEL (for herself, Mr. HARDER of California, and Mrs. KIM of Cali-
fornia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To establish an interagency task force to address the backlog 
of cargo ships at the Port of Los Angeles and the Port 
of Long Beach and in the coastal waters of Orange 
County, California, 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. INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Commandant of the 
Coast Guard shall establish an interagency task force (in 
this section referred to as the ‘‘task force’’) to address 
the vessel backlogs at the Port of Los Angeles and the 
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Port of Long Beach and in the coastal waters of Orange 
County, California. 
(b) MEMBERSHIP.— 
(1) CHAIR.—The Commandant of the Coast 
Guard shall serve as the Chair of the task force. 
(2) COMPOSITION.—The task force shall be 
composed of at least 1 representative from the fol-
lowing agencies, to be appointed by the head of each 
respective agency: 
(A) The Environmental Protection Agency. 
(B) The Department of Agriculture. 
(C) The Department of Commerce. 
(D) The Department of Defense. 
(E) The Department of Energy. 
(F) The Department of Health and 
Human Services. 
(G) The Department of the Interior. 
(H) The Department of Justice. 
(I) The Department of Labor. 
(J) The Department of State. 
(K) The Department of Transportation. 
(L) The Federal Emergency Management 
Agency. 
(M) The Federal Maritime Commission. 
(N) The General Services Administration. 
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(3) ADDITIONAL MEMBERS.—The Chair of the 
task force may appoint a representative from any of 
the following entities to serve on the task force: 
(A) The government of Orange County, 
California. 
(B) The Port Authority of Los Angeles. 
(C) The Port Authority of Long Beach. 
(D) The State of California. 
(c) DUTIES.—The task force shall— 
(1) evaluate and quantify the impact of the ves-
sel backlogs at the Port of Los Angeles and the Port 
of Long Beach; 
(2) evaluate and quantify the costs incurred by 
other Federal, State, and local governments due to 
such vessel backlogs; 
(3) evaluate the responses of Federal agencies 
to such vessel backlogs and the extent to which ves-
sels are complying with the requirements of chapter 
700 of title 46, United States Code; 
(4) investigate the cause of the oil spill that oc-
curred in October 2021 in the coastal waters of Or-
ange County, California, including the impact of, 
and events that led to, an oil pipeline being dragged 
more than 100 feet in such coastal waters; and 
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(5) not later than 90 days after the date of en-
actment of this Act— 
(A) develop a plan to solve the vessel back-
log and oil spill crises along the coast of south-
ern California, including a plan to address— 
(i) safety concerns with ongoing idling 
of waiting ships; 
(ii) the environmental impacts of wait-
ing ships; and 
(iii) delays withing the ports; and 
(B) submit to Congress a report containing 
such plan. 
(d) AUTHORITY.—The task force may obtain from a 
Federal agency any information the task force determines 
is necessary to carry out this Act. 
Æ 
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