Title: Noncontiguous Shipping Relief Act of 2019
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works

Summary:
Noncontiguous Shipping Relief Act of 2019
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 that vessels transporting merchandise or passengers between Puerto Rico and other U.S. ports be built in the United States, be at least 75% owned by U.S. citizens, and be mostly crewed by U.S. citizens.
The bill exempts foreign-flag vessels transporting merchandise on a route in noncontiguous trade from Jones Act requirements.
The bill sets forth other requirements, including (1) labor standards, (2) minimum requirements for vessels engaging in the transportation of cargo or merchandise in domestic coastwise trade, (3) environmental standards, and (4) requirements for certain non-citizens that irregularly engage in domestic coastwise trade.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5498 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5498

   To amend title 46, United States Code, to allow transportation of 
  merchandise in noncontiguous trade on foreign-flag vessels, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 19, 2019

   Mr. Case introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the 
   Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 46, United States Code, to allow transportation of 
  merchandise in noncontiguous trade on foreign-flag 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 ``Noncontiguous Shipping Relief Act of 
2019''.

SEC. 2. TRANSPORTATION OF CERTAIN MERCHANDISE.

    (a) In General.--Section 55102 of title 46, United States Code, is 
amended by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (d) and by 
inserting after subsection (b) the following:
    ``(c) Noncontiguous Trade Exemption.--
            ``(1) In general.--Subsection (b) shall not apply with 
        respect to transportation in noncontiguous trade of merchandise 
        on a foreign qualified freight vessel for which the Secretary 
        of Transportation has issued a certificate of documentation 
        under chapter 121.
            ``(2) Definitions.--For purposes of paragraph (1):
                    ``(A) Foreign qualified freight vessel.--The term 
                `foreign qualified freight vessel' means a freight 
                vessel (as that term is defined in section 2101) of not 
                less than 1,000 gross tons that--
                            ``(i) was not built in the United States 
                        (or if rebuilt, not rebuilt in the United 
                        States);
                            ``(ii) is registered in a foreign country; 
                        and
                            ``(iii) employs United States citizens to 
                        the extent required of vessels registered under 
                        section 12102.
                    ``(B) Noncontiguous trade.--The term `noncontiguous 
                trade' has the meaning given to such term in section 
                53501.''.
    (b) Coastwise Endorsements.--Section 12112(a)(2)(B) of title 46, 
United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in clause (ii), by striking ``or'';
            (2) in clause (iii), by striking ``and'' and inserting 
        ``or''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(iv) is a foreign qualified freight vessel (as 
                defined in section 55102(c)) used for transportation 
                referred to in section 55102(c) for which the Secretary 
                of Transportation has issued a certificate of 
                documentation.''.
    (c) Foreign Transfer.--Section 56101(a)(2) of title 46, United 
States Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``Paragraph (1)(A)'' and inserting:
                    ``(A) Paragraph (1)(A)''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(B) Paragraph (1) does not apply with respect to 
                a foreign qualified freight vessel (as defined in 
                section 55102(c)) for which the Secretary has issued a 
                certificate of documentation after the date of 
                enactment of this Act and that is used solely for 
                transportation referred to in section 55102(c) may be 
                placed under foreign registry without the approval of 
                the Secretary at any time after that vessel is issued a 
                certificate of documentation. At such time as that 
                vessel is placed under foreign registry, the Secretary 
                shall revoke the certificate of documentation issued by 
                the Secretary.''.

SEC. 3. CITIZENSHIP AND TRANSFER PROVISIONS.

    (a) Citizenship of Corporations, Partnerships, and Associations.--
Section 50501 of title 46, United States Code, is amended by adding at 
the end the following:
    ``(e)(1) Exceptions.--The following provisions of this section 
shall not apply to a foreign qualified freight vessel used for 
transportation referred to in section 55102(c)(2)(B):
                    ``(A) Paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection (b).
                    ``(B) Subsection (c).
            ``(2) In paragraph (1) the term `foreign qualified freight 
        vessel' has the meaning given that term in section 55102(c).''.
    (b) Approval of Transfer of Registry or Operation Under Authority 
of a Foreign Country or for Scrapping in a Foreign Country; 
Penalties.--Section 56101 of title 46, United States Code, is amended 
by adding at the end the following:
    ``(f) Transfer of Foreign Vessels.--To promote the transfer of 
foreign vessels to be documented under chapter 121 of this title for 
use for transportation referred to in section 55102(c)(2)(B) of this 
title, the Secretary may grant approval under subsection (a) with 
respect to such a vessel before the date the vessel is documented.
    ``(g) Foreign Qualified Freight Vessel.--In subsections (f) and 
(g), the term `foreign qualified freight vessel' has the meaning given 
that term in section 55102(c) of this title.''.

SEC. 4. LABOR PROVISIONS.

    (a) Liability for Injury or Death of Master or Crew Member.--
Section 30104 of title 46, United States Code, is amended by adding at 
the end the following: ``In an action brought under this section 
against a defendant employer that does not reside or maintain an office 
in the United States (including any territory or possession of the 
United States) and that engages in any enterprise that makes use of one 
or more ports in the United States (as defined in section 2101 of this 
title) jurisdiction shall be under the district court most proximate to 
the place of the occurrence of the personal injury or death that is the 
subject of the action.''.
    (b) Election to Under Participate Longshore and Harbor Workers' 
Compensation Act.--Section 30104 of title 46, United States Code, as 
amended by subsection (a), is amended--
            (1) by striking ``A seaman'' and inserting ``(a) In 
        General.-- A seaman''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b)(1) Participation in an Authorized Compensation Plan.--The 
employer of a master or member of the crew of a vessel may participate 
in an authorized compensation plan under the Longshore and Harbor 
Workers' Compensation Act (33 U.S.C. 901 et seq.). An employer that 
participates in such a plan is subject to such Act.
    ``(2) If an employer participates in an authorized compensation 
plan under such Act under paragraph (1)--
            ``(A) a master or crew member employed by that employer 
        shall be considered to be an employee for the purposes of that 
        Act; and
            ``(B) the liability of that employer under that Act to the 
        master or crew member, or to any person otherwise entitled to 
        recover damages from the employer based on the injury, 
        disability, or death of the master or crew member, shall be 
        exclusive and in lieu of all other liability.''.
    (c) Minimum Requirements.--All vessels, whether documented in the 
United States or not, operating in the coastwise trade of the United 
States shall be subject to minimum international labor standards for 
seafarers under international agreements in force for the United 
States, as determined by the Secretary of Transportation on the advice 
of the Secretaries of Labor and Defense.

SEC. 5. REGULATIONS REGARDING VESSELS.

    (a) Applicable Minimum Requirements.--Except as provided in 
subsection (b), the minimum requirements for vessels engaging in the 
transportation of cargo or merchandise in the United States coastwise 
trade shall be the recognized international standards in force for the 
United States (as determined by the Secretary of the department in 
which the Coast Guard is operating, in consultation with any other 
official of the Federal Government that the Secretary determines to be 
appropriate).
    (b) Consistency in Application of Standards.--In any case in which 
any minimum requirement for vessels referred to in subsection (a) 
establishes a lower standard than a minimum that is applicable to 
vessels that are documented in a foreign country and that are admitted 
to engage in the transportation of cargo and merchandise in the United 
States coastwise trade, the standard applicable to such vessels that 
are documented in a foreign country shall be the standard to be applied 
to United States documented vessels.

SEC. 6. ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS.

    All vessels, whether documented under the laws of the United States 
or not, engaging in the United States coastwise trade shall comply with 
all applicable United States and international environmental standards 
in force for the United States.

SEC. 7. REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN NONCITIZENS IRREGULARLY ENGAGING IN 
              DOMESTIC COASTWISE TRADE.

    (a) In General.--Each person or entity that is not a citizen of the 
United States, as defined in section 104 of title 46, United States 
Code, that owns or operates vessels that irregularly engage in the 
United States domestic coastwise trade shall--
            (1) name an agent upon whom process may be served;
            (2) abide by all applicable laws of the United States, 
        including applicable environmental and tax laws; and
            (3) post evidence of documentation and endorsements aboard 
        such vessel indicating the owner or owners of such vessel, 
        including any person controlling vessels and the number of port 
        calls and coastwise trips made during that calendar year.
    (b) Persons Treated as Single Employer.--For purposes of paragraph 
(3), all persons treated as a single employer under subsection (a) or 
(b) of section 52 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 shall be treated 
as 1 person.
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