Duck Boat Safety Enhancement Act of 2021
Bill: S.62 | Sponsor: Sen. Hawley, Josh (R-MO)
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works

Summary:
Duck Boat Safety Enhancement Act of 2021
This bill sets forth requirements related to the safety of amphibious passenger vessels.
The U.S. Coast Guard must implement regulations related to the safety of amphibious passenger vessels, including during severe weather emergencies.
The Coast Guard may require operators of amphibious passenger vessels to provide reserve buoyancy for such vessels through passive means, including watertight compartmentalization, built-in flotation, or other means, to ensure that such vessels remain afloat and upright in the event of flooding, including when carrying a full complement of passengers and crew.
Additionally, the Coast Guard must implement interim safety policies or other measures to require operators of amphibious passenger vessels operating in U.S. waters comply with certain requirements, including to remove the canopies of such vessels for waterborne operations, or to install in such vessels canopies that do not restrict either horizontal or vertical escape by passengers in the event of flooding or sinking.
The bill also sets forth requirements for vessels that are not in compliance with the regulations and interim safety policies.

To implement recommendations related to the safety of amphibious 
               passenger vessels, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Duck Boat Safety Enhancement Act of 
2021''.

SEC. 2. SAFETY REQUIREMENTS FOR AMPHIBIOUS PASSENGER VESSELS.

    (a) Safety Improvements.--
            (1) Buoyancy requirements.--Not later than 1 year after the 
        date of completion of a Coast Guard contracted assessment by 
        the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 
        of the technical feasibility, practicality, and safety benefits 
        of providing reserve buoyancy through passive means on 
        amphibious passenger vessels, the Secretary of the department 
        in which the Coast Guard is operating may initiate a rulemaking 
        to prescribe in regulations that operators of amphibious 
        passenger vessels provide reserve buoyancy for such vessels 
        through passive means, including watertight 
        compartmentalization, built-in flotation, or such other means 
        as the Secretary may specify in the regulations, in order to 
        ensure that such vessels remain afloat and upright in the event 
        of flooding, including when carrying a full complement of 
        passengers and crew.
            (2) Interim requirements.--Not later than 90 days after the 
        date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the department 
        in which the Coast Guard is operating shall initiate a 
        rulemaking to implement interim safety policies or other 
        measures to require that operators of amphibious passenger 
        vessels operating in waters subject to the jurisdiction of the 
        United States, as defined in section 2.38 of title 33, Code of 
        Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation) comply with the 
        following:
                    (A) Remove the canopies of such vessels for 
                waterborne operations, or install in such vessels a 
                canopy that does not restrict either horizontal or 
                vertical escape by passengers in the event of flooding 
                or sinking.
                    (B) If the canopy is removed from such vessel 
                pursuant to subparagraph (A), require that all 
                passengers don a Coast Guard type-approved personal 
                flotation device before the onset of waterborne 
                operations of such vessel.
                    (C) Install in such vessels at least one 
                independently powered electric bilge pump that is 
                capable of dewatering such vessels at the volume of the 
                largest remaining penetration in order to supplement 
                the vessel's existing bilge pump required under section 
                182.520 of title 46, Code of Federal Regulations (or a 
                successor regulation).
                    (D) Verify the watertight integrity of such vessel 
                in the water at the outset of each waterborne departure 
                of such vessel.
    (b) Regulations Required.--Not later than 2 years after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the department in which the 
Coast Guard is operating shall initiate a rulemaking for amphibious 
passenger vessels operating in waters subject to the jurisdiction of 
the United States, as defined in section 2.38 of title 33, Code of 
Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation). The regulations shall 
include, at a minimum, the following:
            (1) Severe weather emergency preparedness.--Requirements 
        that an operator of an amphibious passenger vessel--
                    (A) check and notate in the vessel's logbook the 
                National Weather Service forecast before getting 
                underway and periodically while underway;
                    (B) in the case of a watch or warning issued for 
                wind speeds exceeding the wind speed equivalent used to 
                certify the stability of an amphibious passenger 
                vessel, proceed to the nearest harbor or safe refuge; 
                and
                    (C) maintain and monitor a weather monitor radio 
                receiver at the operator station that may be 
                automatically activated by the warning alarm device of 
                the National Weather Service.
            (2) Passenger safety.--Requirements--
                    (A) concerning whether personal flotation devices 
                should be required for the duration of an amphibious 
                passenger vessel's waterborne transit, which shall be 
                considered and determined by the Secretary;
                    (B) that operators of amphibious passenger vessels 
                inform passengers that seat belts may not be worn 
                during waterborne operations;
                    (C) that before the commencement of waterborne 
                operations, a crew member visually check that each 
                passenger has unbuckled the passenger's seatbelt; and
                    (D) that operators or crew maintain a log recording 
                the actions described in subparagraphs (B) and (C).
            (3) Training.--Requirement for annual training for 
        operators and crew of amphibious passengers vessels, 
        including--
                    (A) training for personal flotation and seat belt 
                requirements, verifying the integrity of the vessel at 
                the onset of each waterborne departure, identification 
                of weather hazards, and use of National Weather Service 
                resources prior to operation; and
                    (B) training for crewmembers to respond to 
                emergency situations, including flooding, engine 
                compartment fires, man overboard situations, and in 
                water emergency egress procedures.
            (4) Recommendations from reports.--Requirements to address 
        recommendations from the following reports, as practicable and 
        to the extent that such recommendations are under the 
        jurisdiction of the Coast Guard:
                    (A) The National Transportation Safety Board's 
                Safety Recommendation Reports on the Amphibious 
                Passenger Vessel incidents in Table Rock, Missouri, Hot 
                Springs, Arkansas, and Seattle, Washington.
                    (B) The Coast Guard's Marine Investigation Board 
                reports on the Stretch Duck 7 sinkings at Table Rock, 
                Missouri, and the Miss Majestic sinking near Hot 
                Springs, Arkansas.
            (5) Interim requirements.--The interim requirements 
        described in subsection (a)(2), as appropriate.
    (c) Prohibition on Operation of Noncompliant Vessels.--Commencing 
as of the date specified by the Secretary of the department in which 
the Coast Guard is operating pursuant to subsection (d), any amphibious 
passenger vessel whose configuration or operation does not comply with 
the requirements under subsection (a)(2) (or subsection (a)(1), if 
prescribed) may not operate in waters subject to the jurisdiction of 
the United States, as defined in section 2.38 of title 33, Code of 
Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation).
    (d) Deadline for Compliance.--The regulations and interim 
requirements described in subsections (a) and (b) shall require 
compliance with the requirements in the regulations not later than 2 
years after the date of enactment of this Act, as the Secretary of the 
department in which the Coast Guard is operating may specify in the 
regulations.
    (e) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the promulgation of the 
regulations required under subsection (a), the Commandant of the Coast 
Guard shall provide a report to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure of the House of Representatives regarding the status of 
the implementation of the requirements included in such regulations.
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