Protecting Access to American Products Act
Bill: S.1640 | Sponsor: Sen. Lee, Mike (R-UT)
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works

Summary:
Protecting Access to American Products Act
This bill revises coastwise laws, commonly known as the Jones Act, that govern domestic transportation of merchandise or passengers by vessels. The Jones Act requires vessels transporting merchandise or passengers between Puerto Rico and other U.S. ports to be built in the Unites States, at least 75% owned by U.S. citizens, and mostly crewed by U.S. citizens.
Specifically, the bill requires the head of a federal agency to

To establish a process for waiver of coastwise endorsement 
                             requirements.

    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 ``Protecting Access to American 
Products Act''.

SEC. 2. WAIVER OF COASTWISE ENDORSEMENT REQUIREMENTS.

    Section 12112 of title 46, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following:
    ``(c) Waivers In Cases of Product Carrier Scarcity or 
Unavailability.--
            ``(1) In general.--The head of an agency shall, upon 
        request, temporarily waive the requirements of subsection (a), 
        including the requirement to satisfy section 12103, if the 
        person requesting that waiver reasonably demonstrates to the 
        head of an agency that--
                    ``(A) there is no product carrier, with respect to 
                a specified good, that meets such requirements, exists, 
                and is available to carry such good; and
                    ``(B) the person made a good faith effort to locate 
                a product carrier that complies with such requirements.
            ``(2) Duration.--Any waiver issued under paragraph (1) 
        shall be limited in duration, and shall expire by a specified 
        date that is not less than 30 days after the date on which the 
        waiver is issued.
            ``(3) Extension.--Upon request, if the circumstances under 
        which a waiver was issued under paragraph (1) have not 
        substantially changed, the head of an agency shall, without 
        delay, grant one or more extensions to a waiver issued under 
        paragraph (1), for periods of not less than 15 days each.
            ``(4) Deadline for waiver response.--
                    ``(A) Response deadline.--Not later than 60 days 
                after receiving a request for a waiver under paragraph 
                (1), the head of an agency shall approve or deny such 
                request.
                    ``(B) Findings in support of denied waiver.--If the 
                head of an agency denies such a request, the head of an 
                agency shall, not later than 14 days after denying the 
                request, submit to the requester a report that includes 
                the findings that served as the basis for denying the 
                request.
                    ``(C) Request deemed granted.--If the head of an 
                agency has neither granted nor denied the request 
                before the response deadline described in subparagraph 
                (A), the request shall be deemed granted on the date 
                that is 61 days after the date on which the head of an 
                agency received the request. A waiver that is deemed 
                granted under this subparagraph shall be valid for a 
                period of 30 days.
            ``(5) Notice to congress.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The head of an agency shall 
                notify Congress--
                            ``(i) of any request for a temporary waiver 
                        under this subsection, not later than 48 hours 
                        after receiving such request; and
                            ``(ii) of the issuance of any such waiver, 
                        not later than 48 hours after such issuance.
                    ``(B) Contents.--The head of an agency shall 
                include in each notification under subparagraph (A)(ii) 
                a detailed explanation of the reasons the waiver is 
                necessary.
            ``(6) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Product carrier.--The term `product carrier', 
                with respect to a good, means a vessel constructed or 
                adapted primarily to carry such good in bulk in the 
                cargo spaces.
                    ``(B) Head of an agency.--The term `head of an 
                agency' means an individual, or such individual acting 
                in that capacity, who is responsible for the 
                administration of the navigation or vessel inspection 
                laws.''.
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