Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010

Bill: 111-hr-3619
Sponsor: Rep. Oberstar, James L. [D-MN-8]
Introduced: 2009-09-22 in the House
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works
Subjects: Accidents
Advisory bodies
Air quality
Alaska
Animal protection and human-animal relationships
Arctic and polar regions
Armed Forces Retirement Home
Bermuda
Border security and unlawful immigration
Business records
Canada
Caribbean area
Child care and development
Civil actions and liability
Coast guard
Commemorative events and holidays
Congressional oversight
Crimes against property
Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation
Criminal justice information and records
Denmark
Department of Homeland Security
Disaster relief and insurance
Drug trafficking and controlled substances
Education programs funding
Employment and training programs
Environmental assessment, monitoring, research
Environmental health
Environmental technology
Europe
Executive agency funding and structure
Florida
Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
Government information and archives
Government lending and loan guarantees
Government studies and investigations
Government trust funds
Great Lakes
Guam
Haiti
Hazardous wastes and toxic substances
Health care costs and insurance
Higher education
Homeland security
Housing supply and affordability
Iceland
Immigration status and procedures
International organizations and cooperation
Judges
Judicial review and appeals
Lakes and rivers
Land transfers
Latin America
Licensing and registrations
Maine
Marine and coastal resources, fisheries
Marine and inland water transportation
Marine pollution
Mexico
Michigan
Military assistance, sales, and agreements
Military education and training
Military medicine
Military personnel and dependents
Minority education
Mississippi
Motor fuels
National Guard and reserves
Navigation, waterways, harbors
New York City
New York State
Norway
Oil and gas
Oklahoma
Outdoor recreation
Pollution liability
Public contracts and procurement
Religion
Research administration and funding
Research and development
Russia
Sex offenses
Smuggling and trafficking
Specialized courts
State and local taxation
Student aid and college costs
Terrorism
Texas
Transportation costs
Transportation employees
Transportation programs funding
Transportation safety and security
Travel and tourism
U.S. territories and protectorates
Veterans' loans, housing, homeless programs
Virgin Islands
Vocational and technical education
Wages and earnings
Water quality
Worker safety and health

Summary:
action_date: 2009-09-22
text: 
Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010 - Authorizes appropriations for FY 2010 for the Coast Guard.
 
Authorizes FY2010 levels of Coast Guard active duty military personnel and average military training student loads.
 
Sets forth various provisions relating to Coast Guard personnel matters.
 
Authorizes grants to international maritime organizations.
 
Establishes the Merchant Mariner Medical Advisory Committee.
 

 
Requires the Coast Guard Commandant to establish certain programs involving minority serving institutions and their students. 
 
Sets forth various provisions, including provisions related to shipping and navigation, law enforcement (including with respect to drug law enforcement), liability limits for natural gas deepwater ports, claims against the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, ship emission reduction technology, vessels supporting oil and gas development, Arctic marine shipping, and the enhanced Loran (eLORAN) supplemental positioning system.
 
Great Lakes Icebreaker Replacement Act - Authorizes appropriations for the design, acquisition, and construction of a combined buoy tender-icebreaker to replace icebreaking capacity on the Great Lakes.
 
Coast Guard Acquisition Reform Act of 2009 - Revises Coast Guard acquisition requirements.
 
Maritime Workforce Development Act - Requires maritime career training loans to students and authorizes competitive grants to maritime training institutions. 
 
Coast Guard Modernization Act of 2009 - Revises provisions concerning the organization of the Coast Guard and takes a variety of steps regarding maritime safety.
 
Maritime Safety Act of 2009 - Regulates vessel size limits, the rebuilding or replacing of vessels, fishery management in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area or the Gulf of Alaska, maritime safety, oil fuel tank protection, merchant mariners' documents, vessel staffing requirements, and the Navigation Safety Advisory Council.
 
Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2009 - Establishes passenger vessel requirements for security and safety and for crew crime scene preservation training.
 
United States Mariner and Vessel Protection Act of 2009 - Shields an owner, operator, time charterer, master, or mariner who uses force to defend a vessel of the United States against piracy from liability for any related injury or death.

action_date: 2009-10-16
text: 
Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010 - 
Title I: Authorization - 
(Sec. 101) Authorizes appropriations for FY 2010 for the Coast Guard, including for: (1) operation and maintenance; (2) acquisition, construction, rebuilding, and improvement of aids to navigation, shore and offshore facilities, vessels, and aircraft; (3) research, development, test, evaluation, aids to navigation, marine safety, marine environmental protection, enforcement of laws and treaties, ice operations, oceanographic research, and defense readiness; (4) retired pay, payments under the Retired Serviceman's Family Protection and Survivor Benefit Plans, and payments for medical care of retired personnel and their dependents; (5) alteration or removal of bridges over navigable waters of the United States constituting obstructions to navigation; (6) environmental compliance and restoration at Coast Guard facilities; and (7) the Coast Guard Reserve program.
 
(Sec. 102) Authorizes the Coast Guard active duty personnel end-of-year strength and average military training student loads.
 

Title II: Coast Guard -
 (Sec. 201) Authorizes the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating (Secretary) to appoint civilian employees of that department as appellate military judges, available for assignment to the Coast Guard Court of Criminal Appeals.
 
(Sec. 202) Allows Coast Guard industrial activities to accept orders from and enter into reimbursable agreements with establishments, agencies, and departments of the Department of Defense.
 
(Sec. 203) Requires reimbursement for medical-related travel expenses for certain persons residing on islands in the continental United States.
 
(Sec. 204) Revises requirements regarding the number and distribution of commissioned officers on the active duty promotion list.
 
(Sec. 205) Removes provisions excluding the Coast Guard from provisions relating to Armed Forces Retirement homes. (Authorizes Coast Guard participation in the Armed Forces Retirement Home system.)
 
(Sec. 206) Authorizes grants to, or cooperative agreements, contracts, or other agreements with, international maritime organizations to acquire information about merchant vessel inspections, security, safety, classification, and port state or flag state law enforcement or oversight.
 
(Sec. 207) Allows a Coast Guard member who serves on active duty in support of a declaration of a major disaster or emergency by the President under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to retain accumulated leave that otherwise would be forfeited at the end of a fiscal year.
 
(Sec. 208) Allows Coast Guard members, in their official duties, to carry a firearm and, while at a facility: (1) to make an arrest without a warrant for any offense against the United States committed in their presence; and (2) as otherwise provided by law, to seize property.
 
(Sec. 209) Repeals a provision requiring that the initial appointment of the Director of the Boating Safety Office be in the grade of captain. 
 
(Sec. 210) Establishes the Merchant Mariner Medical Advisory Committee to advise the Secretary regarding medical certification determinations for issuance of merchant mariner credentials, medical standards and guidelines for the physical qualifications of operators of commercial vessels, medical examiner education, and medical research.
 
(Sec. 211) Authorizes the appointment of temporary commissioned officers in: (1) the Regular Coast Guard from among holders of merchant seamen licenses (under current law, from among licensed officers of the U.S. merchant marine); and (2) the Coast Guard Reserve from among Coast Guard Reserve commissioned warrant officers.
 
(Sec. 212) Modifies requirements regarding selection boards.
 
(Sec. 213) Directs the Secretary to test and report on an integrated laser engagement system for training Coast Guard members assigned to small vessels in the use of individual weapons and machine guns on those vessels.
 
(Sec. 214) Allows firing at or into a vessel that fails to stop on being ordered to do so if the firing vessel or aircraft is on government noncommercial service and is under Coast Guard tactical control and at least one Coast Guard member is assigned and conducting a Coast Guard mission on the vessel or aircraft. (Under current law, Coast Guard personnel are indemnified from any penalties or actions for damages for that firing.)
 
Requires that vessels and aircraft designated by the Secretary (under current law, that Coast Guard vessels and aircraft) be distinguished by an identifying insignia.
 
(Sec. 215) Requires the Coast Guard Commandant to appoint a Coast Guard employee as an ombudsman in each Coast Guard district to serve as a liaison between the Coast Guard and ports, terminal operators, shipowners, and labor representatives, including examining complaints by a petitioner operating in a port or by Coast Guard personnel.
 
(Sec. 216) Raises from 62 to 64 the mandatory retirement age for flag officers serving in a grade of rear admiral (lower half) or above. Allows deferral of the mandatory retirement age of any regular commissioned officer serving in a flag officer grade position (under current law, 62): (1) by the Secretary until age 66; and (2) by the President until age 68.
 
(Sec. 217) Authorizes the Coast Guard to enforce provisions of shipping law relating to the coastwise trade, including regarding vessels that support the exploration, development, and production of oil, gas, or mineral resources in the Gulf of Mexico. Requires a related report.
 
(Sec. 218) Modifies requirements regarding the number and nomination of Coast Guard Academy cadets.
 
Directs the Secretary to establish a minority recruiting program for prospective cadets.
 
(Sec. 219) Requires the Commandant to report annually on sexual assaults involving members of the Coast Guard.
 
(Sec. 220) Prohibits a Coast Guard vessel with its home port in a state of the United States or Guam from being overhauled, repaired, or maintained in a shipyard outside the United States or Guam, other than in the case of voyage repairs. (Current law makes no reference to Guam.)
 
(Sec. 221) Requires the Commandant to establish: (1) a two part management internship program for students at minority serving institutions (MSIs) to develop a cadre of civilian, career mid-level and senior Coast Guard managers; (2) an MSI component of the College Student Pre-Commissioning Initiative; and (3) Coast Guard Laboratory of Excellence-MSI Cooperative Technology Program at three MSIs to focus on priority security areas for the Coast Guard such as global maritime surveillance, resilience, and recovery. Authorizes appropriations.
 

Title III: Shipping and Navigation - 
(Sec. 301) Amends the Act commonly known as the Rivers and Harbors Appropriations Act of 1884 to authorize the levy of nonfederal sales taxes on goods and services provided to or by vessels or watercraft (other than vessels or watercraft primarily engaged in foreign commerce) that operate on U.S. navigable waters.
 
(Sec. 302) Amends the Rivers and Harbors Appropriations Act of 1915 to: (1) increase the civil penalty for an owner of a vessel that violates regulations establishing anchorage grounds for safe navigation in U.S. waters; and (2) extend the Coast Guard's authority to establish anchorage grounds for vessels from three nautical miles to 12 nautical miles.
 
(Sec. 303) Subjects to a civil penalty any person who knowingly or intentionally possesses a controlled substance on a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.
 
(Sec. 304) Revises various provisions regarding the measurement of vessels, including changing the definition of &quot;vessel engaged on a foreign voyage&quot; and modifying international tonnage certificate provisions.
 
(Sec. 305) Authorizes the Secretary to establish a liability limit for a deepwater port used only in connection with natural gas transportation.
 
(Sec. 306) Amends the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to require a claim to be presented for recovery of removal costs for an incident within three (under current law, six) years after the date of completion of all removal actions for that incident.
 
(Sec. 307) Directs the Secretary to submit to Congress: (1) a plan to ensure that the process for an application (by an individual who has, or has applied for, a transportation security card under specified provisions) for a merchant mariner document can be completed entirely by mail; and (2) a report on the redesign of the merchant mariner document.
 
(Sec. 308) Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to report on: (1) the loss of U.S. shipyard jobs and industrial base expertise as a result of the performance in foreign shipyards of rebuilding, conversion, and double-hull work on U.S.-flag vessels eligible to engage in the coastwise trade; (2) enforcement of the Coast Guard's foreign rebuild determination regulations; and (3) recommendations for improving the transparency in the Coast Guard's foreign rebuild determination process.
 
(Sec. 309) Requires the Commandant to report on exhaust emissions reduction technology on cargo or passenger ships in U.S. waters and ports and federal, state, and local requirements that affect the ability to demonstrate onboard technology for the reduction of contaminated emissions from ships.
 
(Sec. 310) Allows foreign-flag vessels, notwithstanding specified provisions and if insufficient vessels documented under U.S. law are reasonably available and suitable, to be chartered for a limited time for the setting, relocation, or recovery of anchors or other mooring equipment of a mobile offshore drilling unit over the Outer Continental Shelf for operations in support of exploration, or flow-testing and stimulation of wells, for offshore mineral or energy resources in the Beaufort Sea or the Chukchi Sea adjacent to Alaska.
 
(Sec. 311) Directs the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to work through the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to establish agreements to promote coordinated action among the United States, Russia, Canada, Iceland, Norway, and Denmark and other seafaring and Arctic nations to ensure, in the Arctic: (1) placement and maintenance of aids to navigation; (2) appropriate icebreaking escort, tug, and salvage capabilities; (3) oil spill prevention and response capability; (4) maritime domain awareness, including long-range vessel tracking; and (5) search and rescue. Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation, subject to appropriations, to enter into cooperative agreements, contracts, or other agreements with, or make grants to, individuals to conduct demonstration projects to reduce emissions or discharges from vessels operating in the Arctic. Authorizes appropriations.
 
Requires the Commandant to conduct a comparative cost-benefit analysis of: (1) rebuilding, renovating, or improving the existing fleet of Coast Guard icebreakers; (2) constructing new Coast Guard icebreakers; and (3) any combination of those activities. Requires the Commandant to conduct an analysis of the impact on mission capacity and the ability of the United States to maintain a presence in the Arctic regions through the year 2020 if recapitalization of the icebreaker fleet, either by constructing new icebreakers or rebuilding, renovating, or improving the existing fleet of icebreakers, is not fully funded. Requires related reports.
 
(Sec. 312) Directs the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to establish eLORAN as the supplemental navigation system for the United States and submit a related report. Prohibits the Secretary from terminating or decommissioning the LORAN-C program until 30 days after certifying to Congress that the eLORAN system is operational.
 
(Sec. 313) Amends the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to require that double hulled bulk oil tankers over 5,000 gross tons be accompanied by at least two towing vessels (or other vessels the Secretary considers appropriate) in Prince William Sound, Alaska.
 

Title IV: Great Lakes Icebreaker - 
Great Lakes Icebreaker Replacement Act - (Sec. 403) Authorizes appropriations for the Coast Guard for the design, acquisition, and construction of a combined buoy tender-icebreaker to replace icebreaking capacity on the Great Lakes.
 

Title V: Acquisition Reform - 
Coast Guard Acquisition Reform Act of 2009 - 
Subtitle A: 

Restrictions on the Use of Lead Systems Integrators - 
(Sec. 511) Prohibits the Commandant from using a private sector entity as a lead systems integrator for acquisition contracts, delivery orders, or task orders issued after the end of the 180 day period beginning on the date of enactment, except for: (1) the National Distress and Response System Modernization Program (also known as the &quot;Rescue 21&quot; program) and National Security Cutters 2 and 3; (2) completing a delivery order or task order, including the exercise of previously established options on a delivery order or task order that was issued to a lead systems integrator on or before the date that is 180 days after the date of enactment without any change in the quantity of capabilities or assets or the specific type of capabilities or assets covered by the order; and (3) subject to requirements, orders for certain aircraft.
 
Requires the Commandant to notify Congress and provide a written, detailed rationale, if the Commandant determines that the Coast Guard will use a private sector lead systems integrator for an acquisition.
 
Prohibits financial interests between certain lead systems integrators and subcontractors.
 
Requires full and open competition for any acquisition contract unless otherwise excepted under federal acquisition laws and regulations.
 
Terminates, except as provided above, the authority to use a private entity as a lead systems integrator after the earlier of: (1) September 30, 2011; or (2) the date on which the Commandant certifies to Congress that the Coast Guard has sufficient acquisition workforce personnel and expertise to perform the functions and responsibilities of the lead systems integrator in an efficient and cost-effective way.
 

Subtitle B: 

Coast Guard Acquisition Policy - 
(Sec. 521) Prohibits the Coast Guard from initiating an acquisition program at Level 1 (life cycle costs over $1 billion, acquisition costs over $300 million, or having special interest as determined by the Coast Guard's Chief Acquisition Officer) or Level 2 (life cycle costs between $300 million and $1 billion or acquisition costs between $100 million and $300 million) unless the Commandant has approved an operational requirement for such acquisition.
 
(Sec. 522) Requires certain contract terms for an acquisition of a capability or an asset with an expected service life of 10 years and with a total acquisition cost at or above $10 million, including regarding: (1) the conducting by the Commandant or an independent third party of all certifications for an end-state capability or asset; (2) measurements of contractor and subcontractor performance; (3) TEMPEST certification; and (4) Offshore Patrol Cutters. Prohibits any provision for equitable adjustment that differs from the Federal Acquisition Regulations. Regulates program extensions.
 
(Sec. 523) Requires the Commandant to ensure the development and regular updating of life-cycle cost estimates for each acquisition with a total acquisition cost that equals or exceeds $10 million and with an expected service life of 10 years and, for each Level 1 or Level 2 acquisition program or project, development of an independent life cycle estimate.
 
(Sec. 524) Requires the Chief Acquisition Officer, for any Level 1 or Level 2 program or project, to approve a Test and Evaluation Master Plan (TEMP). Regulates testing and evaluation.
 
(Sec. 525) Requires each cutter, other than a National Security Cutter, acquired by the Coast Guard and delivered after enactment of this Act to be classed by the American Bureau of Shipping before final acceptance. Requires testing in accordance with TEMPEST and communication security (COMSEC) standards by an independent third party of all electronics on all aircraft, surface, and shore capabilities and assets that require TEMPEST certification.
 
Requires a report before the Coast Guard awards any contract or issues any delivery order or task order to strengthen the hull of either of National Security Cutter 1 or 2 to resolve certain structural design and performance issues.
 
Requires that an independent third party assess: (1) the design and construction of each National Security Cutter, other than National Security Cutters 1, 2, and 3; and (2) before final acceptance, the airworthiness of all Coast Guard aircraft and aircraft engines.
 
(Sec. 526) Requires a report before any Level 1 or Level 2 program or project may begin to obtain any capability or asset or proceed beyond the phase of its development that entails approving the supporting acquisition.
 
(Sec. 527) Prohibits entering into an undefinitized contractual action unless such action is directly approved by the Coast Guard's Head of Contracting Activity. Defines &quot;undefinitized contractual action,&quot; subject to exception, as a new procurement action for which the contractual terms, specifications, or price are not agreed on before performance is begun under the action. Regulates such actions.
 
(Sec. 528) Requires the Commandant to issue guidance to ensure that pass-through charges on contracts, subcontracts, delivery orders, and task orders entered into with a private entity acting as a lead systems integrator are not excessive in relation to the cost of the work performed.
 
(Sec. 529) Prohibits the Coast Guard from acquiring an experimental or technically immature capability or asset or implementing a Level 1 or Level 2 acquisition unless it has conducted an alternatives analysis in the concept and technology development phase.
 
(Sec. 530) Requires the Commandant to report in the event of the breach of an acquisition program baseline for any Level 1 or Level 2 acquisition program by: (1) a likely cost overrun greater than a specified percentage; (2) a likely delay more than a specified period; or (3) an anticipated failure for any individual or class of capabilities or assets to satisfy any key performance threshold or parameter.
 
(Sec. 531) Requires the Comptroller General of the United States to report on the employment during the preceding year by Coast Guard contractors of individuals who were Coast Guard officials in the previous five year period.
 
(Sec. 532) Requires the Commandant to: (1) make arrangements with the Secretary of Defense for support in the contracting and management of Coast Guard acquisition programs; and (2) seek to make use of contracts of the Department of Defense (DOD) and other appropriate agencies to obtain the best possible price. Requires a related report by the Comptroller General.
 

Subtitle C: 

Coast Guard Personnel - 
(Sec. 541) Establishes in the Coast Guard a Chief Acquisition Officer.
 
(Sec. 542) Prohibits assigning an individual as the program manager for a Level 1 or Level 2 acquisition unless the individual holds a Level III acquisition certification as a program manager.
 
Requires that integrated product teams, and all teams that oversee integrated product teams, be chaired by officers, members, or employees of the Coast Guard.
 
Requires the Commandant to: (1) establish a management information system capability to improve acquisition workforce management and reporting; and (2) report annually on the adequacy of the current acquisition workforce to meet the next year's anticipated workload.
 
Regulates a variety of personnel matters, including regarding: (1) preference for officers or members for acquisition positions; (2) establishment of acquisition management as a core competency; (3) promotion parity; and (4) a balanced workforce with regard to women and members of racial and ethnic minority groups.
 
Requires the Commandant to: (1) issue guidance on the qualifications, resources, responsibilities, tenure, and accountability of acquisition program managers; and (2) develop a comprehensive strategy for enhancing the role of Coast Guard program managers in developing and carrying out acquisition programs.
 
(Sec. 543) Requires implementation of a program to recognize excellent performance by individuals and teams comprised of officers, members, and employees of the Coast Guard that contributed to the long-term success of a Coast Guard acquisition program or project. Allows, subject to appropriations, a related cash bonus.
 
(Sec. 544) Authorizes the Commandant to designate any category of acquisition positions as shortage category positions and to use the authorities in specified existing provisions to recruit and appoint highly qualified persons directly to such positions.
 

Title VI: Maritime Workforce Development - 
Maritime Workforce Development Act - (Sec. 602) Directs the Secretary of Transportation to establish a maritime career training loan program.
 
Requires making maritime career training loans available to eligible students at federal, state, and commercial maritime training institutions, including state maritime academies, and nonprofit training organizations. Makes undergraduate students at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy ineligible for such loans.
 
Allows loans to a student of up to $15,000 in a calendar year or $60,000 in the aggregate.
 
Establishes certain student eligibility and loan requirements.
 
Establishes a revolving loan fund consisting of receipts from the repayment of loans to cover the administrative costs of the program.
 
Requires a related annual report.
 
Authorizes appropriations for this loan program for FY2010-FY2015.
 
Requires publication every three years in the Federal Register, and transmission to Congress, of a plan that describes the demonstration, research, and multistate project priorities of the Department of Transportation (DOT) regarding merchant mariner recruitment, training, and retention for the three-year period following the publication of the plan.
 
Authorizes the awarding of competitive grants to maritime training institutions to carry out demonstration projects and other eligible projects that implement DOT priorities in a way to address merchant mariner recruitment, training, and retention issues.
 
Establishes certain grant and project eligibility requirements.
 
Authorizes appropriations for this grant program for FY2010-FY2015.
 

Title VII: Coast Guard Modernization - 
Coast Guard Modernization Act of 2009 - 
Subtitle A: Coast Guard Leadership - 
 (Sec. 711) Revises provisions concerning the leadership of the Coast Guard, including: (1) allowing more than one admiral; (2) requiring that the Coast Guard Vice Commandant, while so serving, have the rank of admiral; and (3) replacing the current area commanders with vice admirals and revising their responsibilities.
 

Subtitle B: Marine Safety Administration - 
 (Sec. 721) Requires the Commandant to promote maritime safety according to specified priorities.
 
(Sec. 722) Requires the Commandant to: (1) designate Coast Guard positions constituting the marine safety workforce; (2) report annually on the adequacy of the current marine safety workforce to meet the anticipated workload; and (3) establish a management information system for that workforce.
 
Requires there to be a chief of marine safety in each Coast Guard sector.
 
Authorizes the Commandant to establish and operate one or more Centers of Expertise for Marine Safety.
 
Requires the Commandant, by policy, to establish a program under which a Coast Guard officer, member, or employee may be assigned to a private entity to further Coast Guard interests regarding marine safety, including to train the person. Requires a related annual report.
 
(Sec. 723) Directs the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to develop a long-term strategy for improving vessel safety and the safety of individuals on vessels, including annual issuance of a plan and schedule for achieving specified goals.
 
(Sec. 724) Provides for a principal advisor to the Commandant regarding marine safety.
 
(Sec. 725) Requires, except for the Commandant, that any individual adjudicating an appeal or waiver of a marine safety decision either have certain training, experience, and qualifications or be advised by a senior staff member who meets those requirements and concurs in the decision on appeal.
 
(Sec. 726) Requires a marine safety curriculum at the Coast Guard Academy and during other officer accession programs.
 
(Sec. 727) Requires the Commandant to report on the Coast Guard's efforts to recruit and retain civilian marine inspectors and investigators and the impact of such recruitment and retention efforts on Coast Guard organizational performance.
 
 
Title VIII: Marine Safety - 
Maritime Safety Act of 2009 - (Sec. 802) Amends the American Fisheries Act to allow the owner of an eligible vessel, in order to improve vessel safety and operational efficiencies (including fuel efficiency), to rebuild or replace that vessel with a vessel documented with a fishery endorsement.
 
Authorizes the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to recommend for approval by the Secretary of Commerce conservation and management measures, including size limits and measures to control fishing capacity, to ensure that the effectiveness of fishery management plans of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area or the Gulf of Alaska is not diminished. Establishes special rules, including rules pertaining to vessel size limits, certain catcher vessels, fishery endorsement limitations, and replacement vessels in the Gulf of Alaska.
 
(Sec. 803) Directs the Commandant to report on the efficacy of the Coast Guard's cold weather survival training.
 
(Sec. 804) Revises safety requirements for uninspected commercial fishing industry vessels, including requiring that such vessels be equipped with equipment to minimize the risk of crew injury during vessel operations. Requires that the individual in charge of a vessel pass a training program that: (1) is based on professional knowledge and skill obtained through sea service and hands-on training; (2) requires an individual to demonstrate the ability to communicate in an emergency situation and understand information found in navigation publications; and (3) recognizes and gives credit for recent past experience in fishing vessel operation. Directs the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to establish a publicly accessible database listing individuals who have successfully completed a training program.
 
Requires the Secretary to establish: (1) a competitive Fishing Safety Training Grants Program; and (2) a competitive Fishing Safety Research Grant Program. Authorizes appropriations. 
 
Changes the name of the Commercial Fishing Industry Vessel Safety Advisory Committee to the Commercial Fishing Safety Advisory Committee. Extends the Committee's termination date from September 30, 2010, to September 30, 2020.
 
Applies existing load line provisions to fishing vessels that are built or undergo major conversion completed after July 1, 2010.
 
Requires fishing, fish tender, and fish processing vessels, when they meet certain length and other criteria, to meet all survey and classification requirements prescribed by the American Bureau of Shipping or another similarly qualified organization approved by the Secretary. (Under current law, only fish processing vessels are required to meet those requirements.) Directs the Secretary, by 2017, to prescribe an alternative safety compliance program.
 
(Sec. 805) Authorizes the Secretary to issue regulations requiring a vessel owner or managing operator of a commercial vessel, or the employer of a seaman on that vessel, to maintain records of each individual engaged on the vessel on matters of engagement, discharge, and service, and to make these records available to the individual and the Coast Guard on request. Imposes a civil monetary penalty for violations.
 
(Sec. 806) Ends the exemption of certain vessels from towing vessel manning requirements. (Under current law, the exemption applies to vessels that are under 200 gross tons, that are engaged in the offshore mineral and oil industry, and that have offshore mineral and oil industry sites or equipment as their ultimate destination or place of departure.)
 
(Sec. 807) Requires U.S. vessels (except those on a voyage from the United States to Canada) that are subject to inspection to have an official logbook with specified entries.
 
(Sec. 808) Allows any individual who is authorized to enforce federal shipping law to: (1) remove a vessel's certificate if the vessel is operating in a condition that does not comply with the provisions of the certificate; (2) order the individual in charge of a vessel without a certificate on board to return the vessel to a mooring; and (3) direct an individual in charge of a vessel operated in an unsafe condition to take steps necessary for the safety of individuals on board.
 
Requires the Secretary to establish vessel equipment standards that are: (1) based on performance using the best available technology economically achievable; and (2) operationally practical. Authorizes the Secretary to certify lifesaving equipment that is not required to be carried on vessels to ensure that such equipment is suitable for its intended purpose.
 
(Sec. 809) Prohibits the Secretary from approving a survival craft as a safety device unless it ensures that no part of an individual is immersed in water.
 
(Sec. 810) Applies certain vessel management requirements to a passenger vessel or small passenger vessel that transports more passengers than a number prescribed by the Secretary based on the number of individuals on the vessel that could be killed or injured in a marine casualty.
 
(Sec. 811) Adds to the list of acts related to marine safety for which a seaman may not be discharged or discriminated against, including that the seaman testified in a maritime safety law enforcement proceeding or cooperated with a safety investigation. Replaces provisions permitting civil actions by a seaman alleging discharge or discrimination with provisions allowing the seaman to use the Department of Labor complaint process used by commercial drivers, railroad workers, and aviation workers.
 
(Sec. 812) Requires certain new U.S. vessels with a construction contract date after enactment of this Act, or delivered after January 1, 2011, to comply with specified oil fuel tank protection standards.
 
(Sec. 813) Repeals the requirement of oaths for applicants for a merchant seaman license or certificate of registry and holders of merchant mariners' documents.
 
(Sec. 814) Allows eight-month advance renewals of merchant mariners' documents, merchant seamen's licenses, and merchant seaman certificates of registry.
 
(Sec. 815) Prohibits the Secretary from requiring the fingerprinting of an individual for the issuance or renewal of a license, a certificate of registry, or a merchant mariner's document if the individual was fingerprinted on applying for a transportation security card.
 
(Sec. 816) Authorizes the Secretary to extend the duration of expiring licenses, certificates of registry, and merchant mariner documents for up to one year to enable the Coast Guard to eliminate an applications backlog or in response to a national emergency or natural disaster.
 
(Sec. 817) Directs the Secretary to develop an interim clearance process for issuance of a merchant mariner document to enable a newly hired seaman to begin working on an offshore supply vessel or towing vessel, provided the seaman does not pose a safety and security risk.
 
(Sec. 818) Directs the Commandant to report regarding the feasibility of: (1) expanding to all Coast Guard processing centers the streamlined evaluation process program that was affiliated with the Coast Guard's Houston Regional Examination Center; (2) simplifying the application process for a license as an officer, staff officer, or operator and for a merchant mariner's document; (3) providing notice to an applicant of the status of the pending application; and (4) ensuring that all information collected regarding applications for new or renewed licenses, merchant mariner documents, and certificates of registry is retained in a secure electronic format.
 
(Sec. 819) Eliminates the tonnage cap applicable to offshore supply vessels.
 
(Sec. 820) Authorizes the Coast Guard to require recreational vessels to be equipped with emergency locator beacons. 
 
 
(Sec. 821) Directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations to require the installation, maintenance, and use of life preservers and other lifesaving devices for individuals on board uninspected vessels.
 
(Sec. 822) Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security, acting through the Commandant, to study, and report on, the use, safety, and performance of blended fuels in marine applications. Authorizes appropriations.
 
(Sec. 823) Extends through FY2020 the termination date of the Great Lakes Pilotage Advisory Committee, the National Boating Safety Advisory Council, the Houston-Galveston Navigation Safety Advisory Committee, the Lower Mississippi River Waterway Safety Advisory Committee, the Towing Safety Advisory Committee, and the Navigation Safety Advisory Council.
 
Revises other requirements for the National Boating Safety Advisory Council, the Lower Mississippi River Waterway Safety Advisory Committee, the Towing Safety Advisory Committee, and the Navigation Safety Advisory Council.
 

Title IX: Cruise Vessel Safety - 
Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2009 - (Sec. 903) Delineates passenger vessel security and safety requirements concerning: (1) vessel design, equipment, construction, and retrofitting; (2) video surveillance to monitor crime; (3) posting of U.S. embassy locations; (4) maintenance of equipment and medical personnel for sexual assaults on board; (5) confidentiality of sexual assault information; (6) crew access to passenger staterooms; and (7) log book entry and reporting of homicides, suspicious deaths, missing U.S. nationals, kidnapping, assault with serious bodily injury, thefts, and other crimes.
 
Requires the Secretary of Transportation to maintain on an Internet site a statistical compilation of missing persons and alleged crimes. Requires aggregating by cruise line, with each cruise line identified by name. Requires each cruise line to include on its Internet site a link, available to the public, to the site maintained by the Secretary of Transportation.
 
Prescribes civil and criminal penalties for violations of the Act.
 
Requires development of training standards and curricula for the certification of passenger vessel security personnel, crew members, and law enforcement officials on methods for the prevention, detection, evidence preservation, and reporting of criminal activities in the international maritime environment. Prohibits a vessel carrying U.S. citizens from entering a U.S. port unless there is at least one crew member on board who has met such training and certification requirements. Subjects persons who violate such requirements to civil monetary penalties.
 
(Sec. 904) Directs the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to study and report on the security needs of a passenger vessel depending on the number of passengers on the vessel, with recommendations for security improvements.
 

Title X: United States Mariner Protection - 
United States Mariner and Vessel Protection Act of 2009 - (Sec. 1002) Shields an owner, operator, time charterer, master, or mariner who uses, or authorizes the use of, force to defend a vessel of the United States against piracy from liability for any resulting injury to or death of any person participating in the piracy.
 
(Sec. 1003) Directs the Secretary to work through the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to establish agreements to promote coordinated action among flag states and port states to deter, protect against, and rapidly respond to acts of piracy against the vessels of, and in the waters under the jurisdiction of, those nations, and to ensure limitations on liability similar to those established by this Act.
 

Title XI: Port Security - 
(Sec. 1101) Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a program to help prevent acts of terrorism and other activities that jeopardize maritime homeland security by seeking the cooperation of the commercial and recreational boating industries and the public to improve awareness of activity in the maritime domain and report suspicious or unusual activity.
 
(Sec. 1102) Requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to report to Congress and to the Comptroller General after completion of the pilot program (required by existing law) to test the business processes, technology, and operational impacts required to deploy transportation security card readers at secure areas of the marine transportation system. Requires an assessment of that report by the Comptroller General.
 
(Sec. 1103) Requires the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security to report on the establishment of Interagency Operational Centers for Port Security required by specified provisions of the SAFE Port Act.
 
(Sec. 1104) Requires the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to establish at least two maritime security response teams to act as the Coast Guard's rapidly deployable counterterrorism and law enforcement response units that can apply advanced interdiction skills in response to threats of maritime terrorism.
 
(Sec. 1105) Requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to begin to increase the number of detection canine teams certified by the Coast Guard for maritime-related security by at least 10 canine teams annually through fiscal year 2012 and to encourage owners and operators of port facilities, passenger cruise liners, oceangoing cargo vessels, and other vessels to strengthen security through the use of highly trained detection canine teams. Authorizes appropriations.
 
(Sec. 1106) Authorizes the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to lend, lease, donate, or otherwise provide equipment, and provide technical training and support, to the owner or operator of a foreign port or facility to assist: (1) in bringing the port or facility into (or exceeding) compliance with applicable International Ship and Port Facility Code standards; and (2) the port or facility in meeting (or exceeding) specified standards.
 
Modifies requirements regarding port security antiterrorism efforts in ports and facilities in foreign countries and U.S. territories.
 
(Sec. 1107) Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security, through the Commandant, to conduct, in the maritime environment, a program for the mobile biometric identification (fingerprint and digital photography images) of suspected individuals, including terrorists, to enhance border security and for other purposes.
 
Requires a report regarding the cost of expanding the Coast Guard's biometric identification capabilities for use by the Coast Guard's Deployable Operations Group, cutters, stations, and other deployable maritime teams and any other appropriate Department of Homeland Security maritime vessels and units.
 
(Sec. 1108) Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to report regarding the threat, vulnerability, and consequence of a terrorist attack on gasoline and chemical cargo shipments in port activity areas in the United States.
 
(Sec. 1109) Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a pilot program to test and deploy preventive radiological or nuclear detection equipment on Coast Guard vessels and other locations. Requires that the pilot program leverage existing federal grant funding.
 
(Sec. 1110) Requires the Comptroller General to report on the effects that the Transportation Worker Identification Card (TWIC) has on companies that employ seasonal employees.
 
(Sec. 1111) Requires an independent assessment and report comparing the safety and security risk associated with vessel-based and facility-based liquefied natural gas regasification processes conducted within three miles from land versus such processes conducted more than three miles from land. 
 
(Sec. 1112) Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish procedures providing for an individual who is required to be fingerprinted for purposes of obtaining a transportation security card under specified provisions to be fingerprinted at any facility operated by or under contract with an agency of the Department of Homeland Security that fingerprints the public. Terminates the directive on December 31, 2012.
 
(Sec. 1113) Requires issuance of a biometric transportation security card to an individual issued a license, certificate of registry, or merchant mariners document, and to an an individual engaged on a towing vessel that pushes, pulls, or hauls alongside a tank vessel, if those individuals are allowed unescorted access to a secure area designated in a vessel security plan, unless an individual poses a security risk. (Current law requires issuance, but makes no reference to unescorted access to a secure area.)
 
(Sec. 1114) Requires the Comptroller General to report regarding methods to conduct a background security investigation of an individual who possesses a biometric identification card that complies with International Labor Convention number 185 that are equivalent to the investigation conducted on individuals applying for a U.S. visa.
 
(Sec. 1115) Modifies the composition of the National Maritime Security Advisory Committee and extends its termination date to September 30, 2010. Repeals provisions requiring each committee submit to Congress the committee's recommendation regarding whether the committee should be continued beyond the termination date.
 
(Sec. 1116) Requires each facility security plan approved under specified provisions to provide a system for seamen assigned to a vessel at that facility, pilots, and representatives of seamen's welfare and labor organizations to board and depart the vessel through the facility in a timely manner at no cost to the individual.
 
(Sec. 1117) Requires the Coast Guard, consistent with other provisions of law, to enforce any security zone established by the Coast Guard around a tanker containing especially hazardous material.
 
Prohibits any security arrangement approved as part of a facility security plan approved after the date of enactment of this Act to assist in the enforcement of any security zone established by the Coast Guard around a tanker containing an especially hazardous material, or around an especially hazardous material terminal on or adjacent to the navigable waters of the United States and served by tankers carrying especially hazardous materials, from being based on the provision of security by a state or local government unless the state or local government has entered into an arrangement with the terminal operator to provide such services and the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating ensures that the waterborne patrols operated as part of that security arrangement by a state or local government have the training, resources, personnel, equipment, and experience necessary to deter to the maximum extent practicable a transportation security incident.
 
Prohibits the Secretary from approving a facility security plan for a new especially hazardous material terminal the construction of which is begun after enactment of this Act unless the Coast Guard has available to the sector in which the terminal is located the resources, including state and local government resources, to carry out the navigation and maritime security risk management measures identified by the Coast Guard under the Ports and Waterways Safety Act.
 
(Sec. 1118) Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security, consistent with other provisions of law, to notify the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) whether the waterway to a proposed waterside liquefied natural gas facility is suitable for associated marine traffic. Requires FERC to reply by informing the Secretary of Homeland Security of FERC's action under the Natural Gas Act regarding the proposed facility.
 
(Sec. 1119) Authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to use a secondary authentication system for individuals applying for transportation security cards when fingerprints are not able to be taken or read to enhance transportation security.
 
(Sec. 1120) Directs the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to report on the extent to which state and local law enforcement entities are augmenting Coast Guard resources by enforcing Coast Guard-imposed security zones around vessels transiting to, through, or from United States ports and conducting port security patrols.
 
(Sec. 1121) Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to: (1) prepare an assessment of the enrollment sites for transportation security cards, including the feasibility of keeping those enrollment sites open after September 23, 2009, and customer service quality; and (2) develop timelines and benchmarks for implementing the assessment's findings.
 

Title XII: Alien Smuggling - 
Alien Smuggling and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2009 - (Sec. 1203) Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to check against all available terrorist watchlists persons suspected of alien smuggling and smuggled individuals who are interdicted at U.S. land, air, and sea borders.
 
(Sec. 1204) Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to specify the following criminal penalties for individuals convicted of smuggling unlawful aliens into the United States (applicable to each alien for whom the offense applies): (1) fine and/or up to five years incarceration for smuggling; (2) fine and/or up to one year incarceration for transit of the defendant's spouse, child, sibling, parent, grandparent, or niece or nephew; (3) fine and/or up to 10 years incarceration for recruiting to enter, or harboring or transporting in the United States for profit, commercial advantage, or private financial gain; (4) fine and/or incarceration for 3 to 10 years for a first or second offense of knowingly bringing an illegal alien into the United States for profit, commercial advantage, or private financial gain, or if the offense was committed with the intent or reason to believe that the individual will commit a federal or state offense punishable by more than one year's incarceration, and 5 to 15 years incarceration for any subsequent violation; (5) fine and/or up to 20 years incarceration if the offense results in serious bodily injury or jeopardizes a person's life; (6) fine and/or up to 30 years incarceration if the defendant knew the individual was a terrorist or intended to engage in terrorist activity; (7) fine and/or incarceration for any term of years/or life if the offense involves kidnaping or attempt to kidnap, the conduct required for aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill; and (8) fine and subject to the death penalty or incarceration for any term of years/or life if the offense results in the death of any person.
 
Grants extraterritorial jurisdiction over such offenses.
 
Limits a defense of necessity for knowingly bringing an illegal alien into the United States from the high seas.
 
Exempts from certain of such violations (transporting or harboring in the United States, or recruiting or encouraging to reside in the United States) a bona fide nonprofit, religious organization in the United States (or its agents or officers) that encourages, invites, or enables an alien who is present in the United States to serve as a volunteer minister or missionary for such organization in the United States, provided the minister or missionary has been a member of the denomination for at least one year.
 
(Sec. 1205) Amends federal criminal law to specify the following maritime penalties (in addition to the current fine/five-year incarceration): (1) fine and/or up to 10 years incarceration for offenses committed in the course of smuggling, trafficking, shipping, stolen property, drug, and other offenses; (2) fine and/or up to 15 years incarceration for offenses resulting in serious bodily injury or transportation under inhumane conditions; or (3) fine and/or incarceration for any term of years or life if the offense results in death or involves kidnaping or attempt to kidnap, the conduct required for aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit such abuse, or an attempt to kill.
 
Limits a defense of necessity with respect to such maritime enforcement.
 
Defines &quot;transportation under inhumane conditions&quot; as the transportation of persons in an engine compartment, storage compartment, or other confined space, transportation at an excessive speed, transportation of a number of persons in excess of the rated capacity of the means of transportation, or intentionally grounding a vessel in which persons are being transported.
 
(Sec. 1206) Directs the United States Sentencing Commission to review and amend as appropriate sentencing guidelines and policy statements applicable to persons convicted of alien smuggling offenses and criminal failure to heave to or obstruction of boarding.
 
Directs the Commission to consider sentencing enhancements for offenses that: (1) involve a pattern of continued and flagrant violations; (2) are part of an ongoing commercial organization or enterprise; (3) involve aliens who were transported in groups of 10 or more; (4) involve the transportation or abandonment of aliens in a manner that endangered their lives; or (5) involve the facilitation of terrorist activity.
 

Title XIII: Miscellaneous Provisions - 
(Sec. 1301) Modifies specifications related to the issuance of a certificate of documentation with a coastwise endorsement for the vessel GALLANT LADY.
 
(Sec. 1302) Authorizes the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating, notwithstanding specified provisions, to issue a certificate of documentation with a coastwise endorsement for five named and numbered vessels.
 
(Sec. 1303) Amends the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2004 to require the National Maritime Enhancement Institute for the Great Lakes region (under current law, the Secretary) to conduct maritime transportation studies of the Great Lakes region. Increases the specific studies included. Authorizes appropriations for FY2010-FY2013.
 
(Sec. 1304) Directs the Secretary to convey to Nantucket, Massachusetts, the Station Brant Point Boat House located at Coast Guard Station Brant Point, Nantucket, Massachusetts, for use for a public purpose, and to enter into a lease authorizing Nantucket to occupy the land on which the buildings are located.
 
(Sec. 1305) Caps the total delayed payment of wages (at ten times the unpaid wages that are subject to the claim) in a class action suit by seamen on a passenger vessel capable of carrying over 500 passengers on foreign, intercoastal, and coastwise voyages when payment of wages is not made by specified deadlines without sufficient cause. Regulates other aspects of seamen's wages regarding such vessels.
 
(Sec. 1306) Modifies provisions relating to vessel manning requirements for fish tender vessels in the Aleutian trade.
 
(Sec. 1307) Requires the Commandant, on the decommissioning of the Coast Guard Cutter STORIS, to convey the vessel to the USCG Cutter STORIS Museum and Maritime Education Center, LLC, in the state of Alaska, provided certain conditions are met.
 
(Sec. 1308) Authorizes the Commandant, notwithstanding any other law, to convey to Elizabeth City State University in the state of North Carolina an HU-25 Falcon Jet aircraft under the administrative jurisdiction of the Coast Guard if the Commandant makes specified determinations.
 
(Sec. 1309) Requires the Commandant, notwithstanding any other law, on the scheduled decommissioning of any Coast Guard 41-foot patrol boat, to give the government of Haiti a right of first refusal for conveyance of that vessel, subject to conditions, including that Haiti use the boat for the Coast Guard of Haiti and make the vessel available to the U.S. government if needed in time of war or national emergency.
 
(Sec. 1310) Allows foreign-flag vessels, notwithstanding specified provisions and if insufficient vessels documented under U.S. law are reasonably available and suitable, to be chartered for a limited time for the setting, relocation, or recovery of anchors or other mooring equipment of a mobile offshore drilling unit over the Outer Continental Shelf for operations in support of exploration, or flow-testing and stimulation of wells, for offshore mineral or energy resources in the Beaufort Sea or the Chukchi Sea adjacent to Alaska.
 
(Sec. 1311) Requires the Commandant, through the appropriate Area Committee under specified provisions of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, to prepare a vessel traffic risk assessment for Cook Inlet, Alaska, within one year after enactment of this Act. Authorizes appropriations.
 
(Sec. 1312) Requires the Commandant to study an area commonly identified as Coast Guard Sector Buffalo, located in Buffalo, New York, and report on the most cost-effective method for providing shore facilities and the feasibility of consolidating and relocating shore facilities on a portion of the existing site while meeting and expanding Sector Buffalo operational requirements. Requires that the report contain a preliminary plan for the design, engineering, and construction of the proposed project.
 
(Sec. 1313) Authorizes the Commandant, notwithstanding the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, to convey to the Sheriff's Departments of Coahoma, Warren, and Washington Counties, Mississippi, Coast Guard trailerable boats and any equipment or parts from other Coast Guard vessels that the Commandant determines are excess to the needs of the Coast Guard and the Department of Homeland Security.
 
(Sec. 1314) Authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to station additional Coast Guard assets in the United States Virgin Islands for port security and other associated purposes. Authorizes appropriations for FY2010.
 
(Sec. 1315) Authorizes a purse seine tuna fishing vessel fishing exclusively for highly migratory species under a fishing license issued under the 1987 Treaty on Fisheries Between the Governments of Certain Pacific Islands States and the Government of the United States of America in the treaty area to engage a non-U.S. citizen as a chief engineer, radio officer, or officer in charge of a deck watch or engineering watch if no U.S. citizens are readily available. Applies that authorization only to vessels that are homeported in American Samoa, Guam, or the Northern Mariana Islands and imposes other restrictions.
 
(Sec. 1316) Directs the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to report on the need for additional Coast Guard prevention and response capability in the high latitude regions, including search and rescue, marine pollution response and prevention, fisheries enforcement, and maritime commerce.
 
(Sec. 1317) Directs the Secretary to study, through the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), the need for regional response vessel and salvage capability for the state of Washington Olympic Peninsula coast.
 
(Sec. 1318) Directs the Secretary of Transportation to report regarding the proposed construction or alteration of any bridge, drawbridge, or causeway over navigable waters with a channel depth of 25 feet or greater that may impede or obstruct future navigation to or from port facilities.
 
(Sec. 1319) Prohibits the employer of a seaman from withholding state or local taxes, except by voluntary agreement, if the seaman performs regularly-assigned duties while engaged as a master, officer, or crewman on a vessel operating on navigable waters in two or more states (under current law, the navigable waters of more than one state).
 
(Sec. 1320) Requires the Commandant, notwithstanding any other law and after the government of Haiti has exercised all of their options under specified provisions of this Act, on the scheduled decommissioning of any Coast Guard 41-foot patrol boat, to give the government of Bermuda a right of first refusal for conveyance of that vessel, subject to conditions, including that Bermuda use the boat for the Coast Guard of Bermuda and make the vessel available to the U.S. government if needed in time of war or national emergency.
 
(Sec. 1321) Authorizes the Commandant, notwithstanding the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, to convey to the Police Department of Nassau County, New York, two Coast Guard 41-foot patrol boats.
 
(Sec. 1322) Requires the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to report on the public health, safety, and environmental concerns related to the underground petroleum spill on the Brooklyn shoreline of Newtown Creek, New York City, New York, in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York. Authorizes appropriations.
 
(Sec. 1323) Authorizes the Commandant to convey as federal surplus property real property commonly identified as Coast Guard Station Marquette and Lighthouse Point to the city of Marquette, Michigan. Requires the Coast Guard to perform and bear the cost of environmental remediation required under federal law unless the city agrees to do so.
 
(Sec. 1324) Directs the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to prepare a mission requirement analysis for the navigable portions of the Rio Grande River, Texas, international water boundary.
 
(Sec. 1325) Authorizes the Commandant, notwithstanding any other law, to convey, at fair market value, a parcel of about three acres of real property that is under the Coast Guard's administrative control in Cheboygan, Michigan.

action_date: 2009-10-23
text: 
Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010 - 
Title I: Authorization - 
(Sec. 101) Authorizes appropriations for FY 2010 for the Coast Guard, including for: (1) operation and maintenance; (2) acquisition, construction, rebuilding, and improvement of aids to navigation, shore and offshore facilities, vessels, and aircraft; (3) research, development, test, evaluation, aids to navigation, marine safety, marine environmental protection, enforcement of laws and treaties, ice operations, oceanographic research, and defense readiness; (4) retired pay, payments under the Retired Serviceman's Family Protection and Survivor Benefit Plans, and payments for medical care of retired personnel and their dependents; (5) alteration or removal of bridges over navigable waters of the United States constituting obstructions to navigation; (6) environmental compliance and restoration at Coast Guard facilities; and (7) the Coast Guard Reserve program.
 
(Sec. 102) Authorizes the Coast Guard active duty personnel end-of-year strength and average military training student loads.
 

Title II: Coast Guard -
 (Sec. 201) Authorizes the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating (Secretary) to appoint civilian employees of that department as appellate military judges, available for assignment to the Coast Guard Court of Criminal Appeals.
 
(Sec. 202) Allows Coast Guard industrial activities to accept orders from and enter into reimbursable agreements with establishments, agencies, and departments of the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security.
 
(Sec. 203) Requires reimbursement for medical-related travel expenses for certain persons residing on islands in the continental United States.
 
(Sec. 204) Revises requirements regarding the number and distribution of commissioned officers on the active duty promotion list.
 
(Sec. 205) Removes provisions excluding the Coast Guard from provisions relating to Armed Forces Retirement homes. (Authorizes Coast Guard participation in the Armed Forces Retirement Home system.)
 
(Sec. 206) Authorizes grants to, or cooperative agreements, contracts, or other agreements with, international maritime organizations to acquire information about merchant vessel inspections, security, safety, classification, and port state or flag state law enforcement or oversight.
 
(Sec. 207) Allows a Coast Guard member who serves on active duty in support of a declaration of a major disaster or emergency by the President under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to retain accumulated leave that otherwise would be forfeited at the end of a fiscal year.
 
(Sec. 208) Allows Coast Guard members, in their official duties, to carry a firearm and, while at a facility: (1) to make an arrest without a warrant for any offense against the United States committed in their presence; and (2) as otherwise provided by law, to seize property.
 
(Sec. 209) Repeals a provision requiring that the initial appointment of the Director of the Boating Safety Office be in the grade of captain. 
 
(Sec. 210) Establishes the Merchant Mariner Medical Advisory Committee to advise the Secretary regarding medical certification determinations for issuance of merchant mariner credentials, medical standards and guidelines for the physical qualifications of operators of commercial vessels, medical examiner education, and medical research.
 
(Sec. 211) Authorizes the appointment of temporary commissioned officers in: (1) the Regular Coast Guard from among holders of merchant seamen licenses (current law authorizes this to be from among licensed officers of the U.S. merchant marine); and (2) the Coast Guard Reserve from among Coast Guard Reserve commissioned warrant officers.
 
(Sec. 212) Modifies requirements regarding selection boards.
 
(Sec. 213) Directs the Secretary to test and report on an integrated laser engagement system for training Coast Guard members assigned to small vessels in the use of individual weapons and machine guns on those vessels.
 
(Sec. 214) Allows firing at or into a vessel that fails to stop on being ordered to do so if the firing vessel or aircraft is on government noncommercial service and is under Coast Guard tactical control and at least one Coast Guard member is assigned and conducting a Coast Guard mission on the vessel or aircraft. (Current law indemnifies Coast Guard personnel from any penalties or actions for damages for that firing.)
 
Requires that vessels and aircraft designated by the Secretary be distinguished by an identifying insignia. (Current law requires that Coast Guard vessels and aircraft be so distinguished.)
 
(Sec. 215) Requires the Coast Guard Commandant to appoint a Coast Guard employee as an ombudsman in each Coast Guard district to serve as a liaison between the Coast Guard and ports, terminal operators, shipowners, and labor representatives, including examining complaints by a petitioner operating in a port or by Coast Guard personnel.
 
(Sec. 216) Raises from 62 to 64 the mandatory retirement age for flag officers serving in a grade of rear admiral (lower half) or above. Allows deferral of the mandatory retirement age of any regular commissioned officer serving in a flag officer grade position: (1) by the Secretary until age 66; and (2) by the President until age 68. (Current law allows deferral for flag officers until age 62.)
 
(Sec. 217) Authorizes the Coast Guard to enforce provisions of shipping law relating to the coastwise trade, including regarding vessels that support the exploration, development, and production of oil, gas, or mineral resources in the Gulf of Mexico. Requires a related report.
 
(Sec. 218) Modifies requirements regarding the number and nomination of Coast Guard Academy cadets.
 
Directs the Secretary to establish a minority recruiting program for prospective cadets. Requires a related report by the Comptroller General of the United States.
 
(Sec. 219) Requires the Commandant to report annually on sexual assaults involving members of the Coast Guard.
 
(Sec. 220) Prohibits a Coast Guard vessel with its home port in a state of the United States or Guam from being overhauled, repaired, or maintained in a shipyard outside the United States or Guam, other than in the case of voyage repairs. (Current law makes no reference to Guam.)
 
(Sec. 221) Requires the Commandant to establish: (1) a two part management internship program for students at minority serving institutions (MSIs) to develop a cadre of civilian, career mid-level and senior Coast Guard managers; (2) an MSI component of the College Student Pre-Commissioning Initiative; and (3) Coast Guard Laboratory of Excellence-MSI Cooperative Technology Program at three MSIs to focus on priority security areas for the Coast Guard such as global maritime surveillance, resilience, and recovery. Authorizes appropriations.
 
(Sec. 222) Directs the Secretary to study and report on whether there is a continued need for a supplemental air and maritime navigation system as a backup to the Global Positioning System.
 

Title III: Shipping and Navigation - 
(Sec. 301) Amends the Act commonly known as the Rivers and Harbors Appropriations Act of 1884 to authorize the levy of nonfederal sales taxes on goods and services provided to or by vessels or watercraft (other than vessels or watercraft primarily engaged in foreign commerce) that operate on U.S. navigable waters.
 
(Sec. 302) Amends the Rivers and Harbors Appropriations Act of 1915 to: (1) increase the civil penalty for an owner of a vessel that violates regulations establishing anchorage grounds for safe navigation in U.S. waters; and (2) extend the Coast Guard's authority to establish anchorage grounds for vessels from three nautical miles to 12 nautical miles.
 
(Sec. 303) Subjects to a civil penalty any person who knowingly or intentionally possesses a controlled substance on a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.
 
(Sec. 304) Revises various provisions regarding the measurement of vessels, including changing the definition of &quot;vessel engaged on a foreign voyage&quot; and modifying international tonnage certificate provisions.
 
(Sec. 305) Authorizes the Secretary to establish a liability limit for a deepwater port used only in connection with natural gas transportation.
 
(Sec. 306) Amends the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to require a claim to be presented for recovery of removal costs for an incident within three years after the date of completion of all removal actions for that incident. (Current law requires such presentation within six years.)
 
(Sec. 307) Directs the Secretary to submit to Congress: (1) a plan to ensure that the process for an application (by an individual who has, or has applied for, a transportation security card under specified provisions) for a merchant mariner document can be completed entirely by mail; and (2) a report on the redesign of the merchant mariner document.
 
(Sec. 308) Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to report on: (1) the loss of U.S. shipyard jobs and industrial base expertise as a result of the performance in foreign shipyards of rebuilding, conversion, and double-hull work on U.S.-flag vessels eligible to engage in the coastwise trade; (2) enforcement of the Coast Guard's foreign rebuild determination regulations; and (3) recommendations for improving the transparency in the Coast Guard's foreign rebuild determination process.
 
(Sec. 309) Requires the Commandant, in conjunction with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) , to report on new and existing technology for reducing air emissions from cargo or passenger ships in U.S. waters and ports and impediments to demonstrating that technology.
 
(Sec. 310) Allows foreign-flag vessels, notwithstanding specified provisions and if insufficient vessels documented under U.S. law are reasonably available and suitable, to be chartered for a limited time for the setting, relocation, or recovery of anchors or other mooring equipment of a mobile offshore drilling unit over the Outer Continental Shelf for operations in support of exploration, or flow-testing and stimulation of wells, for offshore mineral or energy resources in the Beaufort Sea or the Chukchi Sea adjacent to Alaska.
 
(Sec. 311) Directs the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to work through the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to establish agreements to promote coordinated action among the United States, Russia, Canada, Iceland, Norway, and Denmark and other seafaring and Arctic nations to ensure, in the Arctic: (1) placement and maintenance of aids to navigation; (2) appropriate icebreaking escort, tug, and salvage capabilities; (3) oil spill prevention and response capability; (4) maritime domain awareness, including long-range vessel tracking; and (5) search and rescue. Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation, subject to appropriations, to enter into cooperative agreements, contracts, or other agreements with, or make grants to, individuals to conduct demonstration projects to reduce emissions or discharges from vessels operating in the Arctic. Authorizes appropriations.
 
Requires the Commandant to conduct a comparative cost-benefit analysis of: (1) rebuilding, renovating, or improving the existing fleet of Coast Guard icebreakers; (2) constructing new Coast Guard icebreakers; and (3) any combination of those activities. Requires the Commandant to conduct an analysis of the impact on mission capacity and the ability of the United States to maintain a presence in the Arctic regions through the year 2020 if recapitalization of the icebreaker fleet, either by constructing new icebreakers or rebuilding, renovating, or improving the existing fleet of icebreakers, is not fully funded. Requires related reports.
 
(Sec. 312) Directs the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to establish eLORAN as the supplemental navigation system for the United States and submit a related report. Prohibits the Secretary from terminating or decommissioning the LORAN-C program until 30 days after certifying to Congress that the eLORAN system is operational.
 
(Sec. 313) Amends the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to require that double hulled bulk oil tankers over 5,000 gross tons be accompanied by at least two towing vessels (or other vessels the Secretary considers appropriate) in Prince William Sound, Alaska.
 

Title IV: Great Lakes Icebreaker - 
Great Lakes Icebreaker Replacement Act - (Sec. 403) Authorizes appropriations for the Coast Guard for the design, acquisition, and construction of a combined buoy tender-icebreaker to replace icebreaking capacity on the Great Lakes.
 

Title V: Acquisition Reform - 
Coast Guard Acquisition Reform Act of 2009 - 
Subtitle A: 

Restrictions on the Use of Lead Systems Integrators - 
(Sec. 511) Prohibits the Commandant from using a private sector entity as a lead systems integrator for acquisition contracts, delivery orders, or task orders issued after the end of the 180 day period beginning on the date of enactment, except for: (1) the National Distress and Response System Modernization Program (also known as the &quot;Rescue 21&quot; program) and National Security Cutters 2 and 3; (2) completing a delivery order or task order, including the exercise of previously established options on a delivery order or task order that was issued to a lead systems integrator on or before the date that is 180 days after the date of enactment without any change in the quantity of capabilities or assets or the specific type of capabilities or assets covered by the order; and (3) subject to requirements, orders for certain aircraft.
 
Requires the Commandant to notify Congress and provide a written, detailed rationale, if the Commandant determines that the Coast Guard will use a private sector lead systems integrator for an acquisition.
 
Prohibits financial interests between certain lead systems integrators and subcontractors.
 
Requires full and open competition for any acquisition contract unless otherwise excepted under federal acquisition laws and regulations.
 
Terminates, except as provided above, the authority to use a private entity as a lead systems integrator after the earlier of: (1) September 30, 2011; or (2) the date on which the Commandant certifies to Congress that the Coast Guard has sufficient acquisition workforce personnel and expertise to perform the functions and responsibilities of the lead systems integrator in an efficient and cost-effective way.
 

Subtitle B: 

Coast Guard Acquisition Policy - 
(Sec. 521) Prohibits the Coast Guard from initiating an acquisition program at Level 1 (life cycle costs over $1 billion, acquisition costs over $300 million, or having special interest as determined by the Coast Guard's Chief Acquisition Officer) or Level 2 (life cycle costs between $300 million and $1 billion or acquisition costs between $100 million and $300 million) unless the Commandant has approved an operational requirement for such acquisition.
 
(Sec. 522) Requires certain contract terms for an acquisition of a capability or an asset with an expected service life of 10 or more years and with a total acquisition cost at or above $10 million, including regarding: (1) the conducting by the Commandant or an independent third party of all certifications for an end-state capability or asset; (2) measurements of contractor and subcontractor performance; (3) TEMPEST certification; and (4) Offshore Patrol Cutters. Prohibits any provision for equitable adjustment that differs from the Federal Acquisition Regulations. Regulates program extensions.
 
(Sec. 523) Requires the Commandant to ensure the development and regular updating of life-cycle cost estimates for each acquisition with a total acquisition cost that equals or exceeds $10 million and with an expected service life of 10 or more years and, for each Level 1 or Level 2 acquisition program or project, development of an independent life cycle estimate.
 
(Sec. 524) Requires the Chief Acquisition Officer, for any Level 1 or Level 2 program or project, to approve a Test and Evaluation Master Plan (TEMP). Regulates testing and evaluation.
 
(Sec. 525) Requires each cutter, other than a National Security Cutter, acquired by the Coast Guard and delivered after enactment of this Act to be classed by the American Bureau of Shipping before final acceptance. Requires testing in accordance with TEMPEST and communication security (COMSEC) standards by an independent third party of all electronics on all aircraft, surface, and shore capabilities and assets that require TEMPEST certification.
 
Requires a report before the Coast Guard awards any contract or issues any delivery order or task order to strengthen the hull of either of National Security Cutter 1 or 2 to resolve certain structural design and performance issues.
 
Requires that an independent third party assess: (1) the design and construction of each National Security Cutter, other than National Security Cutters 1, 2, and 3; and (2) before final acceptance, the airworthiness of all Coast Guard aircraft and aircraft engines.
 
(Sec. 526) Requires a report before any Level 1 or Level 2 program or project may begin to obtain any capability or asset or proceed beyond the phase of its development that entails approving the supporting acquisition.
 
(Sec. 527) Prohibits entering into an undefinitized contractual action unless such action is directly approved by the Coast Guard's Head of Contracting Activity. Defines &quot;undefinitized contractual action,&quot; subject to exception, as a new procurement action for which the contractual terms, specifications, or price are not agreed on before performance is begun under the action. Regulates such actions.
 
(Sec. 528) Requires the Commandant to issue guidance to ensure that pass-through charges on contracts, subcontracts, delivery orders, and task orders entered into with a private entity acting as a lead systems integrator are not excessive in relation to the cost of the work performed.
 
(Sec. 529) Prohibits the Coast Guard from acquiring an experimental or technically immature capability or asset or implementing a Level 1 or Level 2 acquisition unless it has conducted an alternatives analysis in the concept and technology development phase.
 
(Sec. 530) Requires the Commandant to report in the event of the breach of an acquisition program baseline for any Level 1 or Level 2 acquisition program by: (1) a likely cost overrun greater than a specified percentage; (2) a likely delay more than a specified period; or (3) an anticipated failure for any individual or class of capabilities or assets to satisfy any key performance threshold or parameter.
 
(Sec. 531) Requires the Comptroller General of the United States to report on the employment during the preceding year by Coast Guard contractors of individuals who were Coast Guard officials in the previous five year period.
 
(Sec. 532) Requires the Commandant to: (1) make arrangements with the Secretary of Defense for support in the contracting and management of Coast Guard acquisition programs; and (2) seek to make use of contracts of the Department of Defense (DOD) and other appropriate agencies to obtain the best possible price. Requires a related report by the Comptroller General.
 

Subtitle C: 

Coast Guard Personnel - 
(Sec. 541) Establishes in the Coast Guard a Chief Acquisition Officer.
 
(Sec. 542) Prohibits assigning an individual as the program manager for a Level 1 acquisition unless the individual holds a Level III acquisition certification as a program manager.
 
Requires that integrated product teams, and all teams that oversee integrated product teams, be chaired by officers, members, or employees of the Coast Guard.
 
Requires the Commandant to: (1) establish a management information system capability to improve acquisition workforce management and reporting; and (2) report annually on the adequacy of the current acquisition workforce to meet the next year's anticipated workload.
 
Regulates a variety of personnel matters, including regarding: (1) preference for officers or members for acquisition positions; (2) establishment of acquisition management as a core competency; (3) promotion parity; and (4) a balanced workforce with regard to women and members of racial and ethnic minority groups.
 
Requires the Commandant to: (1) issue guidance on the qualifications, resources, responsibilities, tenure, and accountability of acquisition program managers; and (2) develop a comprehensive strategy for enhancing the role of Coast Guard program managers in developing and carrying out acquisition programs.
 
(Sec. 543) Requires implementation of a program to recognize excellent performance by individuals and teams comprised of officers, members, and employees of the Coast Guard that contributed to the long-term success of a Coast Guard acquisition program or project. Allows, subject to appropriations, a related cash bonus.
 
(Sec. 544) Authorizes the Commandant to designate any category of acquisition positions as shortage category positions and to use the authorities in specified existing provisions to recruit and appoint highly qualified persons directly to such positions.
 

Title VI: Maritime Workforce Development - 
Maritime Workforce Development Act - (Sec. 602) Directs the Secretary of Transportation to establish a maritime career training loan program.
 
Requires making maritime career training loans available to eligible students at federal, state, and commercial maritime training institutions, including state maritime academies, and nonprofit training organizations. Makes undergraduate students at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy ineligible for such loans.
 
Allows loans to a student of up to $15,000 in a calendar year or $60,000 in the aggregate.
 
Establishes certain student eligibility and loan requirements.
 
Establishes a revolving loan fund consisting of receipts from the repayment of loans to cover the administrative costs of the program.
 
Requires a related annual report.
 
Authorizes appropriations for this loan program for FY2010-FY2015.
 
Requires publication every three years in the Federal Register, and transmission to Congress, of a plan that describes the demonstration, research, and multistate project priorities of the Department of Transportation (DOT) regarding merchant mariner recruitment, training, and retention for the three-year period following the publication of the plan.
 
Authorizes the awarding of competitive grants to maritime training institutions to carry out demonstration projects and other eligible projects that implement DOT priorities in a way to address merchant mariner recruitment, training, and retention issues.
 
Establishes certain grant and project eligibility requirements.
 
Authorizes appropriations for this grant program for FY2010-FY2015.
 

Title VII: Coast Guard Modernization - 
Coast Guard Modernization Act of 2009 - 
Subtitle A: Coast Guard Leadership - 
 (Sec. 711) Revises provisions concerning the leadership of the Coast Guard, including: (1) allowing more than one admiral; (2) requiring that the Coast Guard Vice Commandant, while so serving, have the rank of admiral; and (3) replacing the current area commanders with vice admirals and revising their responsibilities.
 

Subtitle B: Marine Safety Administration - 
 (Sec. 721) Requires the Commandant to promote maritime safety according to specified priorities.
 
(Sec. 722) Requires the Commandant to: (1) designate Coast Guard positions constituting the marine safety workforce; (2) report annually on the adequacy of the current marine safety workforce to meet the anticipated workload; and (3) establish a management information system for that workforce.
 
Requires there to be a chief of marine safety in each Coast Guard sector.
 
Authorizes the Commandant to establish and operate one or more Centers of Expertise for Marine Safety.
 
Requires the Commandant, by policy, to establish a program under which a Coast Guard officer, member, or employee may be assigned to a private entity to further Coast Guard interests regarding marine safety, including to train the person. Requires a related annual report.
 
(Sec. 723) Directs the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to develop a long-term strategy for improving vessel safety and the safety of individuals on vessels, including annual issuance of a plan and schedule for achieving specified goals. Requires a related report to Congress.
 
(Sec. 724) Requires that the individual with the highest rank who meets certain experience qualifications serve as the Commandant's principal marine safety advisor.
 
(Sec. 725) Requires, except for the Commandant, that any individual adjudicating an appeal or waiver of a marine safety decision either have certain training, experience, and qualifications or be advised by a senior staff member who meets those requirements and concurs in the decision on appeal.
 
(Sec. 726) Requires a marine safety curriculum at the Coast Guard Academy and during other officer accession programs.
 
(Sec. 727) Requires the Commandant to report on the Coast Guard's efforts to recruit and retain civilian marine inspectors and investigators and the impact of such recruitment and retention efforts on Coast Guard organizational performance.
 
 
Title VIII: Marine Safety - 
Maritime Safety Act of 2009 - (Sec. 802) Amends the American Fisheries Act to allow the owner of an eligible vessel, in order to improve vessel safety and operational efficiencies (including fuel efficiency), to rebuild or replace that vessel with a vessel documented with a fishery endorsement.
 
Authorizes the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to recommend for approval by the Secretary of Commerce conservation and management measures, including size limits and measures to control fishing capacity, to ensure that the effectiveness of fishery management plans of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area or the Gulf of Alaska is not diminished. Establishes special rules, including rules pertaining to vessel size limits, certain catcher vessels, fishery endorsement limitations, and replacement vessels in the Gulf of Alaska.
 
(Sec. 803) Directs the Commandant to report on the efficacy of the Coast Guard's cold weather survival training.
 
(Sec. 804) Revises safety requirements for uninspected commercial fishing industry vessels, including requiring that such vessels be equipped with equipment to minimize the risk of crew injury during vessel operations. Requires that the individual in charge of a vessel pass a training program that: (1) is based on professional knowledge and skill obtained through sea service and hands-on training; (2) requires an individual to demonstrate the ability to communicate in an emergency situation and understand information found in navigation publications; and (3) recognizes and gives credit for recent past experience in fishing vessel operation. Directs the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to establish a publicly accessible database listing individuals who have successfully completed a training program.
 
Requires the Secretary to establish: (1) a competitive Fishing Safety Training Grants Program; and (2) a competitive Fishing Safety Research Grant Program. Authorizes appropriations. 
 
Changes the name of the Commercial Fishing Industry Vessel Safety Advisory Committee to the Commercial Fishing Safety Advisory Committee. Extends the Committee's termination date from September 30, 2010, to September 30, 2020.
 
Applies existing load line provisions to fishing vessels that are built, or undergo substantial changes to their dimension or vessel type, completed after July 1, 2010.
 
Requires fishing, fish tender, and fish processing vessels, when they meet certain length and other criteria, to meet all survey and classification requirements prescribed by the American Bureau of Shipping or another similarly qualified organization approved by the Secretary. (Current law requires only fish processing vessels to meet those requirements.) Directs the Secretary, by 2017, to prescribe an alternative safety compliance program.
 
(Sec. 805) Authorizes the Secretary to issue regulations requiring a vessel owner or managing operator of a commercial vessel, or the employer of a seaman on that vessel, to maintain records of each individual engaged on the vessel on matters of engagement, discharge, and service, and to make these records available to the individual and the Coast Guard on request. Imposes a civil monetary penalty for violations.
 
(Sec. 806) Ends the exemption of certain vessels from towing vessel manning requirements. (Current law applies the exemption to vessels that are under 200 gross tons, that are engaged in the offshore mineral and oil industry, and that have offshore mineral and oil industry sites or equipment as their ultimate destination or place of departure.)
 
(Sec. 807) Requires U.S. vessels (except those on a voyage from the United States to Canada) that are subject to inspection to have an official logbook with specified entries.
 
(Sec. 808) Allows any individual who is authorized to enforce federal shipping law to: (1) remove a vessel's certificate if the vessel is operating in a condition that does not comply with the provisions of the certificate; (2) order the individual in charge of a vessel without a certificate on board to return the vessel to a mooring; and (3) direct an individual in charge of a vessel operated in an unsafe condition to take steps necessary for the safety of individuals on board.
 
Requires the Secretary to establish vessel equipment standards that are: (1) based on performance using the best available technology economically achievable; and (2) operationally practical. Authorizes the Secretary to certify lifesaving equipment that is not required to be carried on vessels to ensure that such equipment is suitable for its intended purpose.
 
(Sec. 809) Prohibits the Secretary from approving a survival craft as a safety device unless it ensures that no part of an individual is immersed in water.
 
(Sec. 810) Applies certain vessel management requirements to a passenger vessel or small passenger vessel that transports more passengers than a number prescribed by the Secretary based on the number of individuals on the vessel that could be killed or injured in a marine casualty.
 
(Sec. 811) Adds to the list of acts related to marine safety for which a seaman may not be discharged or discriminated against, including that the seaman testified in a maritime safety law enforcement proceeding or cooperated with a safety investigation. Replaces provisions permitting civil actions by a seaman alleging discharge or discrimination with provisions allowing the seaman to use the Department of Labor complaint process used by commercial drivers, railroad workers, and aviation workers.
 
(Sec. 812) Requires certain new U.S. vessels with a construction contract date after enactment of this Act, or delivered after January 1, 2011, to comply with specified oil fuel tank protection standards.
 
(Sec. 813) Repeals the requirement of oaths for applicants for a merchant seaman license or certificate of registry and holders of merchant mariners' documents.
 
(Sec. 814) Allows eight-month advance renewals of merchant mariners' documents, merchant seamen's licenses, and merchant seaman certificates of registry.
 
(Sec. 815) Prohibits the Secretary from requiring the fingerprinting of an individual for the issuance or renewal of a license, a certificate of registry, or a merchant mariner's document if the individual was fingerprinted on applying for a transportation security card.
 
(Sec. 816) Authorizes the Secretary to extend the duration of expiring licenses, certificates of registry, and merchant mariner documents for up to one year to enable the Coast Guard to eliminate an applications backlog or in response to a national emergency or natural disaster.
 
(Sec. 817) Directs the Secretary to develop an interim clearance process for issuance of a merchant mariner document to enable a newly hired seaman to begin working on an offshore supply vessel or towing vessel, provided the seaman does not pose a safety and security risk.
 
(Sec. 818) Directs the Commandant to report regarding the feasibility of: (1) expanding to all Coast Guard processing centers the streamlined evaluation process program that was affiliated with the Coast Guard's Houston Regional Examination Center; (2) simplifying the application process for a license as an officer, staff officer, or operator and for a merchant mariner's document; (3) providing notice to an applicant of the status of the pending application; and (4) ensuring that all information collected regarding applications for new or renewed licenses, merchant mariner documents, and certificates of registry is retained in a secure electronic format.
 
(Sec. 819) Eliminates the tonnage cap applicable to offshore supply vessels.
 
(Sec. 820) Authorizes the Coast Guard to require recreational vessels to be equipped with emergency locator beacons. 
 
 
(Sec. 821) Directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations to require the installation, maintenance, and use of life preservers and other lifesaving devices for individuals on board uninspected vessels.
 
(Sec. 822) Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security, acting through the Commandant, to study, and report on, the use, safety, and performance of blended fuels in marine applications. Authorizes appropriations.
 
(Sec. 823) Extends through FY2020 the termination date of the Great Lakes Pilotage Advisory Committee, the National Boating Safety Advisory Council, the Houston-Galveston Navigation Safety Advisory Committee, the Lower Mississippi River Waterway Safety Advisory Committee, the Towing Safety Advisory Committee, and the Navigation Safety Advisory Council.
 
Revises other requirements for the National Boating Safety Advisory Council, the Lower Mississippi River Waterway Safety Advisory Committee, the Towing Safety Advisory Committee, and the Navigation Safety Advisory Council.
 
(Sec. 824) Directs the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to designate by regulation the areas of the approaches to and waters of Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, if any, on which certain vessels are not required to be under the direction and control of a pilot.
 
Establishes pilot licensing requirements applicable to any area of Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts in which a single-hull tanker or tank vessel carrying 5,000 or more barrels of oil or other hazardous material is required to be under a federal first class pilot's direction and control.
 
(Sec. 825) Authorizes the Secretary to delegate to the American Bureau of Shipping or another classification society the authority to: (1) review and approve plans required for issuing a certificate of inspection, a certificate of compliance, or any other certification and related documents issued by the Coast Guard under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act; and (2) conduct inspections and examinations. Imposes certain requirements on a delegation to a foreign classification society. Revises requirements classification societies must meet.
 

Title IX: Cruise Vessel Safety - 
Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2009 - (Sec. 903) Delineates passenger vessel security and safety requirements concerning: (1) vessel design, equipment, construction, and retrofitting; (2) video surveillance to monitor crime; (3) posting of U.S. embassy locations; (4) maintenance of equipment and medical personnel for sexual assaults on board; (5) confidentiality of sexual assault information; (6) crew access to passenger staterooms; and (7) log book entry and reporting of homicides, suspicious deaths, missing U.S. nationals, kidnapping, assault with serious bodily injury, thefts, and other crimes.
 
Requires the Secretary of Transportation to maintain on an Internet site a statistical compilation of missing persons and alleged crimes. Requires aggregating by cruise line, with each cruise line identified by name. Requires each cruise line to include on its Internet site a link, available to the public, to the site maintained by the Secretary of Transportation.
 
Prescribes civil and criminal penalties for violations of the Act.
 
Requires development of training standards and curricula for the certification of passenger vessel security personnel, crew members, and law enforcement officials on methods for the prevention, detection, evidence preservation, and reporting of criminal activities in the international maritime environment. Prohibits a vessel carrying U.S. citizens from entering a U.S. port unless there is at least one crew member on board who has met such training and certification requirements. Subjects persons who violate such requirements to civil monetary penalties.
 
(Sec. 904) Directs the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to study and report on the security needs of a passenger vessel depending on the number of passengers on the vessel, with recommendations for security improvements.
 

Title X: United States Mariner Protection - 
United States Mariner and Vessel Protection Act of 2009 - (Sec. 1002) Shields a person who uses force at sea to defend a vessel against piracy from liability in the event that the use of force causes harm to anyone engaging in the piracy, unless the person using the force knew at the time that the force was substantially in excess of what was reasonable. 
 
(Sec. 1003) Directs the Secretary to work through the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to establish agreements to promote coordinated action among flag states and port states to deter, protect against, and rapidly respond to acts of piracy against the vessels of, and in the waters under the jurisdiction of, those nations, and to ensure limitations on liability similar to those established by this Act.
 

Title XI: Port Security - 
(Sec. 1101) America's Waterway Watch Act - Establishes the America's Waterway Watch Program to promote voluntary reporting of activities relating to terrorism against a vessel, facility, port, or waterway. Authorizes appropriations.
 
(Sec. 1102) Requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to report to Congress and to the Comptroller General after completion of the pilot program (required by existing law) to test the business processes, technology, and operational impacts required to deploy transportation security card readers at secure areas of the marine transportation system. Requires an assessment of that report by the Comptroller General.
 
(Sec. 1103) Requires the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security to report on the establishment of Interagency Operational Centers for Port Security required by specified provisions of the SAFE Port Act.
 
(Sec. 1104) Requires the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to establish at least two maritime security response teams to act as the Coast Guard's rapidly deployable counterterrorism and law enforcement response units that can apply advanced interdiction skills in response to threats of maritime terrorism.
 
(Sec. 1105) Requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to begin to increase the number of detection canine teams certified by the Coast Guard for maritime-related security by at least 10 canine teams annually through fiscal year 2012 and to encourage owners and operators of port facilities, passenger cruise liners, oceangoing cargo vessels, and other vessels to strengthen security through the use of highly trained detection canine teams. Authorizes appropriations for FY2010-FY2012.
 
(Sec. 1106) Authorizes the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to lend, lease, donate, or otherwise provide equipment, and provide technical training and support, to the owner or operator of a foreign port or facility to assist: (1) in bringing the port or facility into (or exceeding) compliance with applicable International Ship and Port Facility Code standards; and (2) the port or facility in meeting (or exceeding) specified standards.
 
Modifies requirements regarding port security antiterrorism efforts in ports and facilities in foreign countries and U.S. territories.
 
(Sec. 1107) Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security, through the Commandant, to conduct, in the maritime environment, a program for the mobile biometric identification (fingerprint and digital photography images and facial and iris scan technology) of suspected individuals, including terrorists, to enhance border security and for other purposes.
 
Requires a report regarding the cost of expanding the Coast Guard's biometric identification capabilities for use by the Coast Guard's Deployable Operations Group, cutters, stations, and other deployable maritime teams and any other appropriate Department of Homeland Security maritime vessels and units.
 
 Requires a study on the use by the Coast Guard of the combination of facial and iris recognition to rapidly identify individuals for security purposes.
 
(Sec. 1108) Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to report regarding the threat, vulnerability, and consequence of a terrorist attack on gasoline and chemical cargo shipments in port activity areas in the United States.
 
(Sec. 1109) Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a pilot program to test and deploy preventive radiological or nuclear detection equipment on Coast Guard vessels and other locations. Requires that the pilot program leverage existing federal grant funding.
 
(Sec. 1110) Requires the Comptroller General to report on the effects that the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) has on companies that employ seasonal employees.
 
(Sec. 1111) Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish procedures providing for an individual who is required to be fingerprinted for purposes of obtaining a transportation security card under specified provisions to be fingerprinted at any facility operated by or under contract with an agency of the Department of Homeland Security that fingerprints the public. Terminates the directive on December 31, 2012.
 
(Sec. 1112) Requires issuance of a biometric transportation security card to an individual issued a license, certificate of registry, or merchant mariners document, and to an an individual engaged on a towing vessel that pushes, pulls, or hauls alongside a tank vessel, if those individuals are allowed unescorted access to a secure area designated in a vessel security plan, unless an individual poses a security risk. (Current law requires issuance, but makes no reference to unescorted access to a secure area.)
 
(Sec. 1113) Requires the Comptroller General to report regarding methods to conduct a background security investigation of an individual who possesses a biometric identification card that complies with International Labor Convention number 185 that are equivalent to the investigation conducted on individuals applying for a U.S. visa.
 
(Sec. 1114) Modifies the composition of the National Maritime Security Advisory Committee and extends its termination date to September 30, 2010. Repeals provisions requiring each committee submit to Congress the committee's recommendation regarding whether the committee should be continued beyond the termination date.
 
(Sec. 1115) Requires each facility security plan approved under specified provisions to provide a system for seamen assigned to a vessel at that facility, pilots, and representatives of seamen's welfare and labor organizations to board and depart the vessel through the facility in a timely manner at no cost to the individual.
 
(Sec. 1116) Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to: (1) study and report on measures to improve the security of maritime transportation of certain dangerous cargo; and (2) develop a national strategy for the waterside security of vessels carrying, and waterfront facilities handling, such cargo.
 
Requires the Coast Guard, consistent with other provisions of law, to enforce any security zone established by the Coast Guard around a vessel containing such cargo.
 
Prohibits any security arrangement approved after enactment of this Act to assist in the enforcement of any such vessel security zone, or around a waterfront facility handling such cargo, from being based on the provision of security by a state or local government unless the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating ensures that the waterborne patrols operated as part of that security arrangement have the training, resources, personnel, and experience necessary to deter and respond to a transportation security incident.
 
 Requires a related report.
 
(Sec. 1117) Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security, consistent with other provisions of law, to notify the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) whether the waterway to a proposed waterside liquefied natural gas facility is recommended as suitable for associated marine traffic. Requires FERC to reply by informing the Secretary of Homeland Security of FERC's action under the Natural Gas Act regarding the proposed facility.
 
(Sec. 1118) Authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to use a secondary authentication system for individuals applying for transportation security cards when fingerprints are not able to be taken or read to enhance transportation security.
 
(Sec. 1119) Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to prepare an assessment of the enrollment sites for transportation security cards, including regarding the feasibility of keeping those enrollment sites open after enactment of this Act and regarding customer service quality. Directs that Secretary to develop timelines and benchmarks for implementing the assessment's findings.
 
(Sec. 1120) Directs the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to assess and report on the feasibility of efforts to mitigate the threat of small boat attack in security zones of major ports, including the use of transponders or radio frequency identification devices to track small boats.
 
(Sec. 1121) Directs the Comptroller General to report to Congress on security background checks under state and federal transportation security programs and whether they should be limited and made uniform.
 
(Sec. 1122) Prohibits the Secretary from requiring an individual to hold a transportation security card, or be accompanied by another individual who holds such a card, if he or she: (1) has been issued a license, certificate of registry, or merchant mariner's document; (2) is not allowed unescorted access to a secure area of a vessel or facility; and (3) is engaged in the operation of a live animal-propelled vessel.
 
(Sec. 1123) Revises requirements for the issuance of transportation security cards.
 
Allows applicants escorted access to restricted areas pending issuance or reissuance of a card.
 
Requires the Secretary to: (1) respond to an initial transportation security card application, or review an appeal or waiver request, within 30 days after its receipt; and (2) develop a process to permit an individual approved for a transportation security card to receive it at the individual's place of residence.
 
Directs the Secretary to prohibit state or local governments from requiring separate security background checks for card applicants.
 
(Sec. 1124) Authorizes the Secretary to extend for up to one year the expiration of a transportation security card so as to align the expiration with the expiration of a license, certificate of registry, or merchant mariner document.
 
(Sec. 1125) Requires the Commandant to promote maritime security, including regarding protecting maritime borders, reducing the risk from terrorism at foreign and domestic ports, preventing and responding to terrorist attacks and other homeland security threats, protecting critical maritime infrastructure and other key resources, and preventing a transportation security incident.
 
Directs the Secretary to designate in each sector the positions of program oversight, counterterrorism functions, counterintelligence functions, maritime security criminal investigations, and port security enforcement.
 
Authorizes the Secretary to establish appropriate maritime security career paths for civilian and military Coast Guard personnel.
 
Authorizes the Commandant to assign, in each Coast Guard sector, a Chief of Maritime Security. Requires that the Chief be at least a lieutenant commander or a civilian in the grade of GS-13. 
 
Requires that each individual signing a letter of qualification for maritime security personnel hold a letter of qualification for the type being certified.
 
Authorizes the Commandant to: (1) establish and operate one or more centers of Maritime Security; and (2) enter into an agreement with an institution of higher education to provide for a center's joint operation and administration.
 
Requires the Commandant to designate a flag officer to serve as the Commandant's principal advisor for maritime security.
 
(Sec. 1126) Requires the Commandant to study and report on the feasibility of restoring the Fresnel Lens in the Presque Isle Light House in Presque Isle, Michigan, to operating condition to meet the safety needs of commerce.
 

Title XII: Alien Smuggling - 
Alien Smuggling and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2009 - (Sec. 1203) Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to check against all available terrorist watchlists persons suspected of alien smuggling and smuggled individuals who are interdicted at U.S. land, air, and sea borders.
 
(Sec. 1204) Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to specify the following criminal penalties for individuals convicted of smuggling unlawful aliens into the United States (applicable to each alien for whom the offense applies): (1) fine and/or up to five years incarceration for smuggling; (2) fine and/or up to one year incarceration for transit of the defendant's spouse, child, sibling, parent, grandparent, or niece or nephew; (3) fine and/or up to 10 years incarceration for recruiting to enter, or harboring or transporting in the United States for profit, commercial advantage, or private financial gain; (4) fine and/or incarceration for 3 to 10 years for a first or second offense of knowingly bringing an illegal alien into the United States for profit, commercial advantage, or private financial gain, or if the offense was committed with the intent or reason to believe that the individual will commit a federal or state offense punishable by more than one year's incarceration, and 5 to 15 years incarceration for any subsequent violation; (5) fine and/or up to 20 years incarceration if the offense results in serious bodily injury or jeopardizes a person's life; (6) fine and/or up to 30 years incarceration if the defendant knew the individual was a terrorist or intended to engage in terrorist activity; (7) fine and/or incarceration for any term of years/or life if the offense involves kidnaping or attempt to kidnap, the conduct required for aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill; and (8) fine and subject to the death penalty or incarceration for any term of years/or life if the offense results in the death of any person.
 
Grants extraterritorial jurisdiction over such offenses.
 
Limits a defense of necessity for knowingly bringing an illegal alien into the United States from the high seas.
 
Exempts from certain of such violations (transporting or harboring in the United States, or recruiting or encouraging to reside in the United States) a bona fide nonprofit, religious organization in the United States (or its agents or officers) that encourages, invites, or enables an alien who is present in the United States to serve as a volunteer minister or missionary for such organization in the United States, provided the minister or missionary has been a member of the denomination for at least one year.
 
(Sec. 1205) Amends federal criminal law to specify the following maritime penalties (in addition to the fine/five-year incarceration under current law): (1) fine and/or up to 10 years incarceration for offenses committed in the course of smuggling, trafficking, shipping, stolen property, drug, and other offenses; (2) fine and/or up to 15 years incarceration for offenses resulting in serious bodily injury or transportation under inhumane conditions; or (3) fine and/or incarceration for any term of years or life if the offense results in death or involves kidnaping or attempt to kidnap, the conduct required for aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit such abuse, or an attempt to kill.
 
Limits a defense of necessity with respect to such maritime enforcement.
 
Defines &quot;transportation under inhumane conditions&quot; as the transportation of persons in an engine compartment, storage compartment, or other confined space, transportation at an excessive speed, transportation of a number of persons in excess of the rated capacity of the means of transportation, or intentionally grounding a vessel in which persons are being transported.
 
(Sec. 1206) Directs the United States Sentencing Commission to review and amend as appropriate sentencing guidelines and policy statements applicable to persons convicted of alien smuggling offenses and criminal failure to heave to or obstruction of boarding.
 
Directs the Commission to consider sentencing enhancements for offenses that: (1) involve a pattern of continued and flagrant violations; (2) are part of an ongoing commercial organization or enterprise; (3) involve aliens who were transported in groups of 10 or more; (4) involve the transportation or abandonment of aliens in a manner that endangered their lives; or (5) involve the facilitation of terrorist activity.
 

Title XIII: Miscellaneous Provisions - 
(Sec. 1301) Modifies specifications related to the issuance of a certificate of documentation with a coastwise endorsement for the vessel GALLANT LADY.
 
(Sec. 1302) Authorizes the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating, notwithstanding specified provisions, to issue a certificate of documentation with a coastwise endorsement for six named and numbered vessels.
 
Authorizes the Secretary to issue a certificate of documentation with an endorsement for engaging in the coastwise trade in Ketchikan, Alaska, for a specified dry dock.
 
(Sec. 1303) Amends the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2004 to require the National Maritime Enhancement Institute for the Great Lakes region (current law directs the Secretary) to conduct maritime transportation studies of the Great Lakes region. Increases the specific studies included. Authorizes appropriations for FY2010-FY2013.
 
(Sec. 1304) Directs the Secretary to convey to Nantucket, Massachusetts, the Station Brant Point Boat House located at Coast Guard Station Brant Point, Nantucket, Massachusetts, for use for a public purpose, and to enter into a lease authorizing Nantucket to occupy the land on which the buildings are located.
 
(Sec. 1305) Caps the total delayed payment of wages (at ten times the unpaid wages that are subject to the claim) in a class action suit by seamen on a passenger vessel capable of carrying over 500 passengers on foreign, intercoastal, and coastwise voyages when payment of wages is not made by specified deadlines without sufficient cause. Regulates other aspects of seamen's wages regarding such vessels.
 
(Sec. 1306) Modifies provisions relating to vessel manning requirements for fish tender vessels in the Aleutian trade.
 
(Sec. 1307) Requires the Commandant, on the decommissioning of the Coast Guard Cutter STORIS, to convey the vessel to the USCG Cutter STORIS Museum and Maritime Education Center, LLC, in the state of Alaska, provided certain conditions are met.
 
(Sec. 1308) Authorizes the Commandant, notwithstanding any other law, to convey to Elizabeth City State University in the state of North Carolina an HU-25 Falcon Jet aircraft under the administrative jurisdiction of the Coast Guard if the Commandant makes specified determinations.
 
(Sec. 1309) Requires the Commandant, notwithstanding any other law, on the scheduled decommissioning of any Coast Guard 41-foot patrol boat, to give the government of Haiti a right of first refusal for conveyance of that vessel, subject to conditions, including that Haiti use the boat for the Coast Guard of Haiti and make the vessel available to the U.S. government if needed in time of war or national emergency.
 
(Sec. 1310) Allows foreign-flag vessels, notwithstanding specified provisions and if insufficient vessels documented under U.S. law are reasonably available and suitable, to be chartered for a limited time for the setting, relocation, or recovery of anchors or other mooring equipment of a mobile offshore drilling unit over the Outer Continental Shelf for operations in support of exploration, or flow-testing and stimulation of wells, for offshore mineral or energy resources in the Beaufort Sea or the Chukchi Sea adjacent to Alaska.
 
(Sec. 1311) Requires the Commandant, through the appropriate Area Committee under specified provisions of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, to prepare a vessel traffic risk assessment for Cook Inlet, Alaska, within one year after enactment of this Act. Authorizes appropriations.
 
(Sec. 1312) Authorizes the Commandant, notwithstanding the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, to convey to the Sheriff's Departments of Coahoma, Warren, and Washington Counties, Mississippi, Coast Guard trailerable boats and any equipment or parts from other Coast Guard vessels that the Commandant determines are excess to the needs of the Coast Guard and the Department of Homeland Security.
 
(Sec. 1313) Authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to station additional Coast Guard assets in the United States Virgin Islands for port security and other associated purposes. Authorizes appropriations for FY2010.
 
(Sec. 1314) Authorizes a purse seine tuna fishing vessel fishing exclusively for highly migratory species under a fishing license issued under the 1987 Treaty on Fisheries Between the Governments of Certain Pacific Islands States and the Government of the United States of America in the treaty area to engage a non-U.S. citizen as a chief engineer, radio officer, or officer in charge of a deck watch or engineering watch if no U.S. citizens are readily available. Applies that authorization only to vessels that are homeported in American Samoa, Guam, or the Northern Mariana Islands and imposes other restrictions.
 
(Sec. 1315) Directs the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to report on the need for additional Coast Guard prevention and response capability in the high latitude regions, including search and rescue, marine pollution response and prevention, fisheries enforcement, and maritime commerce.
 
(Sec. 1316) Directs the Secretary of Transportation to report regarding the proposed construction or alteration of any bridge, drawbridge, or causeway over navigable waters with a channel depth of 25 feet or greater that may impede or obstruct future navigation to or from port facilities.
 
(Sec. 1317) Prohibits the employer of a seaman from withholding state or local taxes, except by voluntary agreement, if the seaman performs regularly-assigned duties while engaged as a master, officer, or crewman on a vessel operating on navigable waters in two or more states. (Current law so prohibits when such an individual is engaged on a vessel operating on navigable waters of more than one state).
 
(Sec. 1318) Requires the Commandant, notwithstanding any other law and after the government of Haiti has exercised all of their options under specified provisions of this Act, on the scheduled decommissioning of any Coast Guard 41-foot patrol boat, to give the government of Bermuda a right of first refusal for conveyance of that vessel, subject to conditions, including that Bermuda use the boat for the Coast Guard of Bermuda and make the vessel available to the U.S. government if needed in time of war or national emergency.
 
(Sec. 1319) Authorizes the Commandant, notwithstanding the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, to convey to the Police Department of Nassau County, New York, two Coast Guard 41-foot patrol boats.
 
(Sec. 1320) Requires the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to report on the public health, safety, and environmental concerns related to the underground petroleum spill on the Brooklyn shoreline of Newtown Creek, New York City, New York, in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York. Authorizes appropriations.
 
(Sec. 1321) Authorizes the Commandant to convey as federal surplus property real property commonly identified as Coast Guard Station Marquette and Lighthouse Point to the city of Marquette, Michigan. Makes the city responsible for all reasonable and necessary costs, including real estate transaction and environmental documentation costs.
 
(Sec. 1322) Directs the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to prepare a mission requirement analysis for the navigable portions of the Rio Grande River, Texas, international water boundary. Requires a related report.
 
(Sec. 1323) Authorizes the Commandant, notwithstanding any other law, to convey, at fair market value, a parcel of about three acres of real property that is under the Coast Guard's administrative control in Cheboygan, Michigan. Makes the purchaser responsible for all reasonable and necessary costs, including real estate transaction and environmental documentation costs.
 
(Sec. 1324) Extends through December 18, 2013, the period during which the EPA Administrator and states are prohibited, subject to exception, from requiring a permit for any discharge incidental to the normal operation of a covered vessel. (Current law terminates that period on July 31, 2010.)
 
(Sec. 1325) Urges the Commandant to ensure that tall ships can participate in the Tall Ship Challenge race on the Great Lakes in a safe way, including changes to pilotage requirements under specified existing authority.
 
(Sec. 1326) Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation, with the approval of the Secretary of State, to appoint individuals from Haiti to receive instruction at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.
 
(Sec. 1327) Directs the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating, on request of the governor of Texas or the governor of Oklahoma, to enter into an agreement whereby the state shall license operators of uninspected passenger vessels operating on Lake Texoma in Texas and Oklahoma in lieu of the Secretary issuing the license under specified provisions, but only if the state plan for licensing such operators meets certain requirements.
 
(Sec. 1328) Directs the Secretary to: (1) report on oil spills involving human error; (2) report on near-miss oil spill incidents; and (3) take action domestically and at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to reduce the risk of oil spills caused by human error.
 
(Sec. 1329) Modifies a deadline and certain terms regarding the conveyance by the Secretary of property known as the Naval Reserve Pier property in Portland, Maine, to the Gulf of Maine Aquarium Development Corporation.
 
(Sec. 1330) Encourages the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Commandant, to enter into negotiations with the government of Canada to ensure that tugboat escorts are required for all tank ships with a capacity over 40,000 deadweight tons in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Strait of Georgia, and in Haro Strait. Requires the Commandant to consult with the state of Washington and affected tribal governments during the negotiations.
 
(Sec. 1331) Directs the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to study and report on the Coast Guard's current ability to respond to any possible short- and long-term effects resulting from changes in United States immigration policy toward Haiti.
 
(Sec. 1332) Directs the Secretary to develop a comprehensive strategy to combat the illicit flow of narcotics, weapons, bulk cash, and other contraband through the use of submersible and semi-submersible vessels.
 
(Sec. 1333) Prohibits the provisions of this Act that relate to the Coast Guard's marine safety mission from impairing the Coast Guard's authority to carry out its homeland security missions.
 
(Sec. 1334) Shields an owner, operator, time charterer, master, or mariner who uses, or authorizes the use of, force to defend a vessel of the United States against piracy from liability for any resulting injury to or death of any person participating in the piracy.
 
Directs the Secretary to work through the IMO to establish agreements to promote coordinated action among flag- and port-states to deter, protect against, and rapidly respond to acts of piracy against the vessels of, and in the waters under the jurisdiction of, those nations, and to ensure limitations on liability similar to those established by this section of this Act.
 
(Sec. 1335) Requires the Commandant to: (1) study and report on the facility infrastructure requirements needed to fulfill the Coast Guard's prescribed missions and capabilities; and (2) ensure that the department in which the Coast Guard is operating maintains the ability to use the latest technologies.
 

Title XIV: Servicemember Benefits Improvement - 
United States Coast Guard Servicemember Benefits Improvements Act - (Sec. 1402) Directs the Secretary to study and report on military family housing and military unaccompanied housing available to Coast Guard members and officers.
 
(Sec. 1403) Authorizes the Coast Guard Commandant to: (1) use appropriated funds to provide child development services; and (2) collect and expend, for such services, fees based on family income.
 
(Sec. 1404) Authorizes the Secretary of the Navy to: (1) detail Chaplain Corps personnel to the Coast Guard; and (2) provide support services (including transportation, food, lodging, child care, supplies, fees, and training materials) to chaplain-led programs to assist members of the Coast Guard on active duty and their dependents, and members of the reserve component in an active status and their dependents, in building and maintaining a strong family structure.
 
(Sec. 1405) Authorizes the President to award a Coast Guard cross and silver star medals to persons serving in any capacity with the Coast Guard for extraordinary heroism or gallantry in action while engaged in action against a U.S. enemy, or in other specified actions.

action_date: 2010-05-07
text: 
Coast Guard Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011 - 
Title I: Authorizations - 
(Sec. 101) Authorizes FY2010-FY2011 appropriations for the Coast Guard, including for: (1) operation and maintenance; (2) acquisition, construction, rebuilding, and improvement of aids to navigation, shore and offshore facilities, vessels, and aircraft; (3) retired pay, payments under the Retired Serviceman's Family Protection and Survivor Benefit Plans, and payments for medical care of retired personnel and their dependents; (4) environmental compliance and restoration at Coast Guard facilities; (5) research, development, test, and evaluation programs related to maritime technology; and (6) the Coast Guard Reserve program.
 
(Sec. 102) Authorizes Coast Guard active duty personnel end-of-year strength as of September 30, 2010, and as of September 30, 2011.
 
Authorizes Coast Guard average military training student loads for FY2010 and FY2011 for: (1) recruit and special training; (2) flight training; (3) professional training in military and civilian institutions; and (4) officer acquisition. 
 
 

Title II: Administration -
 (Sec. 201) Authorizes the Commandant of the Coast Guard to make grants to, or enter into cooperative agreements or contracts with, international maritime organizations for acquiring information about merchant vessel inspections, security, safety and environmental requirements, classification, and port state or flag state law enforcement or oversight.
 
(Sec. 202) Authorizes the Commandant to transfer or expend funds from any Coast Guard appropriation for certain assistance to foreign governments or maritime authorities, subject to approval by the Secreatry of State.
 
(Sec. 203) Authorizes Coast Guard industrial activities to accept orders and enter into agreements with establishments, agencies, and departments of the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
 
(Sec. 204) Defines &quot;Coast Guard vessels and aircraft&quot; (for provisions relating to stopping vessels, indemnity for firing at or into a vessel, and Coast Guard ensigns and pennants) as: (1) any vessel or aircraft owned, leased, transferred to, or operated by the Coast Guard and under the command of a Coast Guard member; or (2) any other vessel or aircraft under the tactical control of the Coast Guard on which one or more members of the Coast Guard are assigned and conducting Coast Guard missions.
 

Title III: Organization
 - (Sec. 301) Authorizes the President to designate up to four positions of vice admiral. 
 
Revises provisions concerning the leadership of the Coast Guard, including by: (1) requiring that the Coast Guard Vice Commandant, while so serving, have the rank of admiral; and (2) replacing the current area commanders with vice admirals and revising their responsibilities.
 
States that the total number of Coast Guard commissioned officers on the active duty promotion list, excluding warrant officers, shall not exceed 7,200, and may be temporarily increased following the commissioning of a Coast Guard Academy class.
 
Sets forth officer grade distribution provisions.
 

Title IV: Personnel
 - (Sec. 401) Allows certain members of the Armed Forces serving on active duty in support of a declaration of a major disaster or emergency by the President under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to retain up to 120 days of accumulated leave that otherwise would be forfeited at the end of a fiscal year.
 
(Sec. 402) Provides Coast Guard reservists with civil legal assistance.
 
(Sec. 403) Requires reimbursement for reasonable medical travel expenses of a covered beneficiary (other than active duty members or certain reserve members), including with regard to the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, the commissioned corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the commissioned corps of the Public Health Service, who resides on an INCONUS (Inside the Continental United States) island that lacks public access roads to the mainland and is referred to a specialty care provider on the mainland, regardless of the distance of travel involved.
 
(Sec. 404) Authorizes the President to appoint temporary commissioned officers in the Coast Guard Reserve in a grade not above lieutenant from among the commissioned warrant officers of the Coast Guard Reserve.
 
(Sec. 405) Modifies selection board requirements.
 
(Sec. 406) Authorizes the Secretary of DHS to appoint DHS civilian employees as appellate military judges, available for assignment to the Coast Guard Court of Criminal Appeals.
 
(Sec. 407) Amends the Armed Forces Retirement Home Act of 1991 to include the Coast Guard in the Armed Forces retirement home system.
 
(Sec. 408) Caps wage payments for all claims in a class action suit by seamen on certain passenger vessels against a vessel master, owner, operator, or employer of the seamen at 10 times the unpaid wages that are the subject of the claims.
 
Requires any class action suit for seaman's wages on a passenger vessel to be commenced within three years of the later of: (1) the end of the last voyage for which wages are claimed; or (2) the receipt, by a seaman who is a claimant in the suit, of a payment of wages that are the subject of the suit that is made in the ordinary course of employment.
 
Allows a seaman on such a vessel to authorize deposit of the seaman's wages into a checking, savings, investment, retirement, or other account to secure a payroll or debit card for the seaman under specified circumstances.
 
Makes the provisions under this section applicable to foreign, coastal, and coastwise voyages.
 
(Sec. 409) Establishes in the Treasury the Support of Seafarers Fund. 
 
Authorizes Fund payments for: (1) an alien crewman employed in any capacity on board a vessel subject to U.S. jurisdiction who enters the United States and who is involved in a Coast Guard investigation, or who has been abandoned in the United States; and (2) reimbursement of a shipowner who has filed a bond or surety and has provided necessary support of an alien crewman who has been paroled into the United States to facilitate a Coast Guard investigation. 
 
 
Authorizes FY2010-FY2012 appropriations. 
 
 

Title V: Acquisition Reform
 - (Sec. 501) Establishes in the Coast Guard a Chief Acquisition Officer who shall be selected by October 1, 2011.
 
(Sec. 502) Establishes an acquisition directorate to provide guidance and oversight for the implementation and management of all Coast Guard acquisition processes, programs, and projects.
 
Establishes a Coast Guard senior acquisition leadership team.
 
Prohibits assigning an individual as the program manager for: (1) a Level 1 acquisition unless the individual holds a Level III acquisition certification as a program manager; or (2) a Level 2 acquisition unless the individual holds a Level II acquisition certification as a program manager.
 
Requires the Commandant to: (1) issue guidance on the qualifications, resources, responsibilities, tenure, and accountability of acquisition program managers; (2) establish a management information system capability to improve acquisition workforce management and reporting; and (3) establish acquisition management as a core competency.
 
Prohibits the Commandant from using a private sector entity as a lead systems integrator for acquisition contracts, delivery orders, or task orders issued after enactment of this Act, except for National Security Cutters 2 and 3. Terminates the exception after the earlier of: (1) September 30, 2012; or (2) when the Commandant certifies to Congress that the Coast Guard has available and can retain sufficient contracting personnel and expertise in the public or private sector to perform the functions and responsibilities of the lead system integrator in an efficient and cost-effective manner.
 
Requires integrated product teams, and all teams that oversee integrated product teams, to be chaired by officers, members, or employees of the Coast Guard.
 
Requires the Commandant to make arrangements, as appropriate, with the Secretary of Defense for support in contracting and management of Coast Guard acquisition programs.
 
Prohibits entering into an undefinitized contractual action unless such action is directly approved by the Coast Guard's Head of Contracting Activity. Defines &quot;undefinitized contractual action,&quot; subject to exception, as a new procurement action for which the contractual terms, specifications, or price are not agreed on before performance is begun under the action. Regulates such actions. 
 
Requires the Commandant to: (1) take actions to support the establishment of mature and stable operational requirements for acquisitions; and (2) develop staffing predictions, define human capital performance initiatives, and identify preliminary training needs. Prohibits a Level 1 or Level 2 acquisition project or program from being implemented unless it is approved by the DHS Acquisition Review Board or the Joint Review Board.
 
Prohibits the Commandant from establishing a Level 1 or level 2 acquisition project or program until the Commandant: (1) clearly defines the project or program operational requirements; (2) establishes the feasibility of alternatives; (3) develops an acquisition project or program baseline; (4) produces a life-cycle cost estimate; and (5) assesses the alternatives. Requires compliance with applicable TEMPEST certification requirements.
 
Requires the Commandant to ensure that developmental test and evaluation, operational test and evaluation, life cycle cost estimates, and the development and demonstration requirements are met to confirm that the projects or programs meet the requirements described in the mission-needs statement, the operational-requirements document, and specified development and demonstration objectives.
 
Requires the Commandant to: (1) ensure there is a stable and efficient production and support capability to develop an asset or system; (2) conduct follow on testing to confirm and monitor performance and correct deficiencies; and (3) conduct acceptance tests and trails upon the delivery of each asset or system to ensure the delivered asset or system achieves full operational capability.
 
Requires the Commandant to report to Congress within 30 days after the Chief Acquisition Officer of the Coast Guard becomes aware, in a Level 1 or Level 2 acquisition program, of certain likely cost overruns or delays or an anticipated failure for any individual or class of capabilities or assets to satisfy any key performance threshold or parameter.
 
(Sec. 503) Requires the Comptroller General to report on pass-through charges on contracts, subcontracts, delivery orders, and task orders that were executed by a lead systems integrator under contract to the Coast Guard during the three years before enactment of this Act.
 
Requires the Commandant to prescribe guidance to ensure that pass-through charges on contracts, subcontracts, delivery orders, and task orders executed with a private entity acting as a lead systems integrator are not excessive in relation to the cost of the work performed. Exempts from the guidance any firm, fixed-price contract or subcontract, delivery order, or task order that is awarded on the basis of adequate price competition or for the acquisition of a commercial item. Allows the Commandant to include additional exceptions as necessary.
 

Title VI: Shipping and Navigation
 - (Sec. 601) Amends provisions relating to commercial instruments and maritime liens to substitute references to the Secretary of DHS for certain current references to the Secretary of Transportation.
 
(Sec. 603) Requires the Commandant to require an independent third party (other than the National Academy of Sciences) to conduct a comparative cost-benefit analysis of: (1) rebuilding, renovating, or improving the existing fleet of Coast Guard polar icebreakers; (2) constructing new Coast Guard polar icebreakers; (3) rebuilding, renovating, or improving the existing fleet of polar icebreakers by the National Science Foundation (NSF) for NSF operation; (4) constructing new polar icebreakers by the NSF for NSF operation; and (5) any combination of those activities. 
 
Requires the Commandant to analyze the impact on mission capacity and the ability of the United States to maintain a polar region presence through 2020 if recapitalization of the polar icebreaker fleet is not fully funded. Requires related reports.
 
(Sec. 604) Allows a foreign-flag vessel, under specified conditions, to be chartered for a limited time for the setting, relocation, or recovery of anchors or other mooring equipment of a mobile offshore drilling unit over the Outer Continental Shelf for operations in support of exploration, or flow-testing and stimulation of wells, for offshore mineral or energy resources in the Beaufort Sea or the Chukchi Sea adjacent to Alaska.
 

Title VII: Vessel Conveyance
 - Vessel Conveyance Act - (Sec. 702) Requires the Coast Guard, whenever the transfer of ownership of a Coast Guard vessel for use for educational, cultural, historical, charitable, recreational, or other public purposes is authorized by law, to transfer the vessel to the General Services Administration (GSA) for conveyance. 
 
Sets forth conveyance conditions.
 

Title VIII: Oil Pollution Prevention
 - (Sec. 801) Requires a report to Congress on the status of all Coast Guard rulemakings required (but not issued) under specified provisions of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act). Requires that such rules be issued within 18 months following the enactment of this Act.
 
(Sec. 802) Requires regulations to reduce the risks of oil spills in operations involving the transfer of oil from, or to, a tank vessel. Allows state laws enacted or regulations promulgated before enactment of this Act that are at least as stringent as such regulations.
 
(Sec. 803) Directs the Secretary to report on: (1) oil spills involving human error; (2) near-miss oil spill incidents; and (3) actions taken domestically and at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to reduce the risk of oil spills caused by human error.
 
(Sec. 804) Directs the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating and the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere to revise the area to be avoided off the coast of the state of Washington so that restrictions apply to all vessels required to prepare a response plan under specified provisions of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (other than fishing or research vessels while engaged in fishing or research in the area to be avoided).
 
(Sec. 805) Directs the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere to establish an oil spill prevention and education program for small vessels. 
 
Authorizes grants to carry out: (1) regional assessments of small oil spills; (2) voluntary, incentive-based clean marina programs; (3) cooperative oil spill prevention education programs; and (4) support for programs to address derelict vessels and the threat of such vessels sinking and discharging oil and other hazardous substances. Authorizes FY2010-FY2014 appropriations. 
 
(Sec. 806) Directs the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating to: (1) complete the development of a tribal consultation policy in order to improve the Coast Guard's consultation and coordination with tribal governments regarding oil spill prevention, preparedness, response and natural resource damage assessment; and (2) provide assistance to participating tribal governments. Authorizes FY2010-FY2014 appropriations.
 
(Sec. 807) Directs the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating to report to Congress on the availability, feasibility, and potential cost of technology to detect the loss of oil carried as cargo or as fuel on tank and non-tank vessels greater than 400 gross tons.
 
(Sec. 808) Amends the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to make not more than $15 million of the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund available each fiscal year to the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere for expenses and activities related to NOAA's response and damage assessment capabilities.
 
Modifies requirements regarding Fund audits by the Comptroller General of the United States and requires a report to Congress and to the Secretary or Administrator of each federal agency that administers and manages amounts from the Fund. 
 
Requires an annual report to Congress (and to the public on the National Pollution Funds Center Internet website) containing a list of each Fund disbursement of $250,000 or more. 
 
Authorizes appropriations for such audit and reports.
 
(Sec. 809) Directs the Secretary to ensure that the Coast Guard pursues stronger IMO enforcement of oil discharge agreements. 
 
 
(Sec. 810) Requires the Commandant to modify the definition of the term &quot;higher volume port area&quot; in a specified Coast Guard regulation by replacing &quot;Port Angeles, WA&quot; with &quot;Cape Flattery, WA.&quot; 
 
Requires the Coast Guard to complete its review of any changes to emergency response plans under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act resulting from such modification within five years.
 
(Sec. 811) Directs the Commandant to enter into negotiations with the government of Canada to update the comparability analysis which serves as the basis for the Cooperative Vessel Traffic Service agreement between the United States and Canada for the management of maritime traffic in Puget Sound, the Strait of Georgia, Haro Strait, Rosario Strait, and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. 
 
Requires that such updated analysis consider: (1) requirements for laden tank vessels to be escorted by tug boats; (2) vessel emergency response towing capability at the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca; and (3) spill response capability throughout the shared water. 
 
Amends the the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to require that double hulled tankers over 5,000 gross tons transporting bulk oil in Prince William Sound, Alaska, be escorted by at least two towing vessels.
 
 (Sec. 812) Amends the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to require any tank vessel over 100 gross tons (except a non-self-propelled vessel that does not carry oil as cargo) using any place subject to U.S. jurisdiction to establish and maintain evidence of financial responsibility sufficient to meet the maximum amount of liability to which the responsible party could be subjected under specified provisions.
 
(Sec. 813) Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to increase the amount invested in income-producing securities under specified provisions of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. 
 
(Sec. 814) Includes the owner of oil being transported in a tank vessel with a single hull after December 31, 2010, subject to exception, in the definition of &quot;responsible party.&quot;
 

Title IX: Miscellaneous Provisions
 - (Sec. 901) Deems two numbered vessels to be new vessels if no encumbrances are on record with the Coast Guard at the time of the issuance of the new vessel certificate of documentation for each such vessel. Subjects each vessel to the vessel safety and inspection requirements applicable to any such vessel as of the day before enactment of this Act.
 
(Sec. 902) Authorizes the Commandant to convey to Presque Isle Township, Michigan, the Historic Fresnel Lens from the Presque Isle Light Station Lighthouse, Michigan. Requires the Township to install the Lens in the Lighthouse for the purpose of operating the Lens and Lighthouse as a Class I private aid to navigation. 
 
Requires reversion of the Lens under specified conditions.
 
(Sec. 903) Authorizes the Commandant to convey real property commonly identified as Coast Guard Station Marquette and Lighthouse Point to the city of Marquette, Michigan.
 
(Sec. 904) Removes tonnage limits from the definition of &quot;offshore supply vessel.&quot; 
 
 Revises offshore supply vessels provisions regarding: (1) scale of employment and able seamen; (2) minimum number of licensed individuals; (3) watches; and (4) oil fuel tank protection.
 
 
(Sec. 905) Directs the Commandant to: (1) determine the types and numbers of vessels utilizing a specified portion of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway in Dade County, Florida; (2) assess the adequacy of navigational aids in and along such portion of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway; and (3) submit a related report to Congress.
 
 (Sec. 906) Directs the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating, on request of the governor of Texas or the governor of Oklahoma, to enter into an agreement whereby the state in lieu of the Secretary shall license operators of uninspected passenger vessels operating on Lake Texoma in Texas and Oklahoma if the state licensing plan meets certain requirements.
 

Title X: Budgetary Effects
 - (Sec. 1001) States that the budgetary effects of this Act, for purposes of Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 compliance, shall be determined by reference to the latest statement titled &quot;Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation&quot; for this Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record by the Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, provided that such statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.

action_date: 2010-10-15
text: 
Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010- 
Title I: Authorization - 
(Sec. 101) Authorizes FY2011 appropriations for the Coast Guard, including for: (1) operation and maintenance; (2) acquisition, construction, rebuilding, and improvement of aids to navigation, shore and offshore facilities, vessels, and aircraft; (3) research, development, test, and evaluation of technologies, materials, and human factors relating to the Coast Guard's mission in search and rescue, aids to navigation, marine safety, marine environmental protection, enforcement of laws and treaties, ice operations, oceanographic research, and defense readiness; (4) retired pay, payments under the Retired Serviceman's Family Protection and Survivor Benefit Plans, and payments for medical care of retired personnel and their dependents; (5) alteration or removal of bridges over U.S. navigable waters constituting obstructions to navigation, and for personnel and administrative costs associated with the Bridge Alteration Program; (6) environmental compliance and restoration at Coast Guard facilities; and (7) the Coast Guard Reserve program.
 
(Sec. 102) Authorizes Coast Guard active duty personnel end-of-year strength for FY2011.
 
Authorizes Coast Guard average military training student loads for FY2011 for: (1) recruit and special training; (2) flight training; (3) professional training in military and civilian institutions; and (4) officer acquisition. 
 
 

Title II: Coast Guard - 
(Sec. 201) Authorizes the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating (the Secretary) to appoint civilian employees of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating as appellate military judges, available for assignment to the Coast Guard Court of Criminal Appeals.
 
(Sec. 202) Authorizes Coast Guard industrial activities to accept orders and enter into agreements with establishments, agencies, and departments of the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
 
(Sec. 203) Requires reimbursement for reasonable medical travel expenses of a covered beneficiary (other than active duty members or certain reserve members), including with regard to the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, the commissioned corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the commissioned corps of the Public Health Service, who resides on an island that is located in the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia and that lacks public access roads to the mainland and is referred to a specialty care provider on the mainland, regardless of the distance of travel involved.
 
(Sec. 204) States that the total number of Coast Guard commissioned officers on the active duty promotion list, excluding warrant officers, shall not exceed 7,200, except that the Commandant may temporarily increase the number following the commissioning of a Coast Guard Academy class.
 
Sets forth officer grade distribution provisions.
 
(Sec. 205) Amends the Armed Forces Retirement Home Act of 1991 to include the Coast Guard in the Armed Forces retirement home system.
 
(Sec. 206) Authorizes the Commandant of the Coast Guard to make grants to, or enter into cooperative agreements or contracts with, international maritime organizations for acquiring information about merchant vessel inspections, security, safety and environmental protection, classification, and port state or flag state law enforcement or oversight.
 
(Sec. 207) Requires a duty assignment for an active duty member of the Coast Guard in support of a declaration of a major disaster or emergency by the President under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act or in response to a spill of national significance to be treated as a duty assignment in support of a contingency operation for the purpose of permitting such member to retain up to 120 days of accumulated leave that otherwise would be forfeited at the end of a fiscal year.
 
(Sec. 208) Allows Coast Guard members, in their official duties, to carry a firearm and, while at a facility: (1) to make an arrest without a warrant for any offense against the United States committed in their presence; and (2) as otherwise provided by law, to seize property.
 
(Sec. 209) Repeals a provision requiring that the initial appointment of the Director of the Boating Safety Office be in the grade of captain. 
 
(Sec. 210) Establishes the Merchant Mariner Medical Advisory Committee to advise the Secretary regarding: (1) medical certification determinations for issuance of licenses, certificates of registry, and merchant mariners' documents; (2) medical standards and guidelines for the physical qualifications of operators of commercial vessels; (3) medical examiner education; and (4) medical research.
 
(Sec. 211) Authorizes the appointment of temporary commissioned officers in: (1) the Regular Coast Guard from among holders of merchant seamen licenses (current law authorizes this to be from among licensed officers of the U.S. merchant marine); and (2) the Coast Guard Reserve from among Coast Guard Reserve commissioned warrant officers.
 
(Sec. 212) Modifies selection board requirements.
 
(Sec. 213) Allows firing at or into a vessel that fails to stop on being ordered to do so if the firing vessel or aircraft is on government noncommercial service and is under Coast Guard tactical control and at least one Coast Guard member is assigned and conducting a Coast Guard mission on the vessel or aircraft. (Current law indemnifies Coast Guard personnel from any penalties or actions for damages for that firing.)
 
Requires that vessels and aircraft designated by the Secretary be distinguished by an identifying insignia. (Current law requires that Coast Guard vessels and aircraft be so distinguished.)
 
(Sec. 214) Requires the Coast Guard Commandant to appoint in each Coast Guard district a District Ombudsman to serve as a liaison between the Coast Guard and ports, terminal operators, shipowners, and labor representatives, including examining complaints by a petitioner operating in a port or by Coast Guard personnel.
 
(Sec. 215) Raises from 62 to 64 the mandatory retirement age for flag officers serving in a grade of rear admiral (lower half) or above. Allows deferral of the mandatory retirement age of any regular commissioned officer serving in a flag officer grade position: (1) by the Secretary until age 66; and (2) by the President until age 68. (Current law allows deferral for flag officers until age 62.)
 
(Sec. 216) Authorizes the Coast Guard to enforce provisions of shipping law relating to the coastwise trade. Requires a program to be established for officers and members enforcing such laws and a related report.
 
(Sec. 217) Requires the Commandant to report annually on sexual assaults involving members of the Coast Guard.
 
(Sec. 218) Prohibits a Coast Guard vessel with its home port in a state of the United States or Guam from being overhauled, repaired, or maintained in a shipyard outside the United States or Guam, other than in the case of voyage repairs. (Current law makes no reference to Guam.)
 
(Sec. 219) Directs the Secretary to: (1) conclude the study of whether a single, domestic system is needed as a back-up navigation system to the Global Positioning System; and (2) notify Congress of such determination.
 
(Sec. 220) Authorizes the Commandant to use funds for certain assistance to foreign governments or maritime authorities, subject to approval by the Secretary of State.
 
(Sec. 221) Revises Coast Guard housing laws regarding the construction of military family housing and military unaccompanied housing. Repeals housing acquisition and construction provisions related to the authorization of direct loans and private sector loan guarantees, leasing contracts, and limited partnerships with eligible entities. Disallows the leasing of certain property or facilities to private persons. Requires any conveyance of real property to be by sale, for cash, and at fair market value. Repeals certain authority related to the assignment of armed forces' members to specified housing units. Eliminates demonstration projects and certain contracts with small business concerns qualified under the Small Business Act.
 
(Sec. 222) Authorizes the Commandant to: (1) use appropriated funds to provide child development services; and (2) collect and expend, for such services, fees based on family income.
 
(Sec. 223) Authorizes the Secretary of the Navy to: (1) detail Chaplain Corps personnel to the Coast Guard; and (2) provide support services (including transportation, food, lodging, child care, supplies, fees, and training materials) to chaplain-led programs to assist members of the Coast Guard on active duty and their dependents, and members of the reserve component in an active status and their dependents, in building and maintaining a strong family structure.
 
(Sec. 224) Authorizes the President to award a Coast Guard cross and silver star medals to persons serving in any capacity with the Coast Guard for extraordinary heroism or gallantry in action while engaged in action against a U.S. enemy, or in other specified actions.
 

Title III: Shipping and Navigation - 
(Sec. 301) Amends the Rivers and Harbors Appropriations Act of 1915 to: (1) increase the civil penalty for an owner of a vessel that violates regulations establishing anchorage grounds for safe navigation in U.S. waters; and (2) extend the Coast Guard's authority to establish anchorage grounds for vessels from 3 nautical miles to 12 nautical miles.
 
(Sec. 302) Subjects to a civil penalty any person who knowingly or intentionally possesses a controlled substance on a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.
 
(Sec. 303) Revises various provisions regarding the measurement of vessels, including changing the definition of &quot;vessel engaged on a foreign voyage&quot; and modifying international tonnage certificate provisions.
 
(Sec. 304) Directs the Secretary to submit to Congress: (1) a plan, including estimated costs, to ensure that the process for an application (by an individual who has, or has applied for, a transportation security card under specified provisions) for a merchant mariner document can be completed entirely by mail; and (2) a report on the redesign of the merchant mariner document.
 
(Sec. 305) Requires the Commandant, in conjunction with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to report on new and existing technology for reducing air emissions from cargo or passenger ships in U.S. waters and ports and impediments to demonstrating that technology.
 
(Sec. 306) Allows foreign-flag vessels, notwithstanding specified provisions and if insufficient vessels documented under U.S. law are reasonably available and suitable, to be chartered for a limited time for the setting, relocation, or recovery of anchors or other mooring equipment of a mobile offshore drilling unit over the Outer Continental Shelf for operations in support of exploration, or flow-testing and stimulation of wells, for offshore mineral or energy resources in the Beaufort Sea or the Chukchi Sea adjacent to Alaska.
 
(Sec. 307) Encourages the Secretary to work through the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to establish agreements to promote coordinated action among the United States, Russia, Canada, Iceland, Norway, and Denmark and other seafaring and Arctic nations to ensure, in the Arctic: (1) placement and maintenance of aids to navigation; (2) appropriate icebreaking escort, tug, and salvage capabilities; (3) oil spill prevention and response capability; (4) maritime domain awareness, including long-range vessel tracking; and (5) search and rescue. 
 
Directs the Secretary to require a nongovernmental, independent third party to conduct a comparative cost-benefit analysis of: (1) rebuilding, renovating, or improving the existing fleet of Coast Guard polar icebreakers; (2) constructing new Coast Guard polar icebreakers; (3) constructing of and renovating such icebreakers by the National Science Foundation (NSF) for NSF operation; and (4) any combination of those activities. Directs the Secretary to require such a nongovernmental, independent third party to conduct an analysis of the impact on all Coast Guard activities (assuming Coast Guard funding will not increase more than the annual rate of inflation) of the acquisition of such icebreakers by the Coast Guard or the NSF. Requires a related report, with Commandant recommendations. Requires the Commandant to report to Congress on the High-Latitude Study (assessment of polar icebreaking mission requirements). 
 

Title 

IV

: Acquisition Reform -
 (Sec. 401) Establishes in the Coast Guard a Chief Acquisition Officer.
 
 
(Sec. 402) Establishes an acquisition directorate to provide guidance and oversight for the implementation and management of all Coast Guard acquisition processes, programs, and projects.
 
Prohibits assigning an individual as the program manager for: (1) a Level 1 acquisition unless the individual holds a Level III acquisition certification as a program manager; or (2) a Level 2 acquisition unless the individual holds a Level II acquisition certification as a program manager.
 
Requires the Commandant to: (1) issue guidance on the qualifications, resources, responsibilities, tenure, and accountability of acquisition program managers; (2) develop a strategy for enhancing the role of Coast Guard project or program managers in developing and carrying out acquisition programs; (3) establish a management information system capability to improve acquisition workforce management and reporting; and (4) establish acquisition management as a core competency for certain Coast Guard career paths.
 
Requires the Commandant to: (1) designate a sufficient number of positions to be in the Coast Guard's acquisition workforce to perform acquisition-related functions; and (2) report annually to Congress on the scope of acquisition activities to be performed in the next fiscal year.
 
Prohibits the Commandant from using a private sector entity as a lead systems integrator for acquisition contracts, delivery orders, or task orders issued after enactment of this Act. Excludes from such prohibition completion of the National Distress and Response System Modernization Program, certain projects related to the Integrated Deepwater program, and National Security Cutters 2 and 3.
 
Prohibits, subject to exceptions, an entity performing lead system integrator functions for a Coast Guard acquisition or a Tier 1 subcontractor for any acquisition from having a financial interest in a subcontractor below the Tier 1 subcontractor level.
 
Terminates the exception, subject to exceptions, after the earlier of: (1) September 30, 2011; or (2) when the Commandant certifies to Congress that the Coast Guard has available and can retain sufficient acquisition workforce personnel and expertise in the public or private sector to perform the functions and responsibilities of the lead systems integrator in an efficient and cost-effective manner.
 
Sets forth required contract terms and prohibited provisions for certain capability or asset acquisitions.
 
Requires integrated product teams, and all teams that oversee integrated product teams, to be chaired by officers, members, or employees of the Coast Guard.
 
Requires the Commandant to make arrangements, as appropriate, with the Secretary of Defense for support in contracting and management of Coast Guard acquisition programs. Directs the Comptroller General to transmit a report to Congress on management recommendations related to Level 1 and Level 2 acquisitions.
 
Prohibits entering into an undefinitized contractual action unless such action is directly approved by the Coast Guard's Head of Contracting Activity. Defines &quot;undefinitized contractual action,&quot; subject to exception, as a new procurement action for which the contractual terms, specifications, or price are not agreed on before performance is begun under the action. Regulates such actions. 
 
Requires the Commandant to issue guidance to ensure that pass-through charges on contracts, subcontracts, delivery orders, and task orders entered into with a private entity acting as a lead systems integrator are not excessive in relation to the cost of the work performed.
 
Requires the Comptroller General to report on the employment during the preceding year by Coast Guard contractors of individuals who were Coast Guard officials in the previous five-year period.
 
Requires the Commandant to: (1) take actions to support the establishment of mature and stable operational requirements for acquisitions; and (2) develop staffing predictions, define human capital performance initiatives, and identify preliminary training needs.
 
Prohibits the Commandant from establishing a Level 1 or Level 2 acquisition project or program until the Commandant: (1) clearly defines the project or program operational requirements; (2) establishes the feasibility of alternatives; (3) develops an acquisition project or program baseline; (4) produces a life-cycle cost estimate; and (5) assesses the alternatives. Requires compliance with applicable TEMPEST certification requirements.
 
Requires the Commandant to submit specified information to Congress (including performance parameters, interoperability attributes, baseline and acquisition unit costs, and an acquisition process schedule) before any Level 1 or Level 2 acquisition project may begin to obtain any capability or asset or proceed beyond the development phase that entails the supporting acquisition approval.
 
Prohibits the Coast Guard from acquiring an experimental or technically immature capability or asset or implementing a Level 1 or Level 2 acquisition project or program unless it has prepared an analysis of alternatives in the concept and technology development phase.
 
Requires the Chief Acquisition Officer, for any Level 1 or Level 2 program or project, to approve a test and evaluation master plan. 
 
Requires the Commandant to ensure that developmental test and evaluation, operational test and evaluation, certain life-cycle cost estimates, and the development and demonstration requirements are met to confirm that the projects or programs meet the requirements identified in the mission analysis and affordability assessment, specified operational requirements, and enumerated development and demonstration objectives.
 
Directs the Commandant to ensure that any Level 1 or Level 2 acquisition is certified by the technical authority of the Coast Guard after review by an independent third party with capabilities in the mission area, asset, or particular asset component.
 
 Requires testing in accordance with TEMPEST and communications security (comsec) standards by an independent third party of all electronics on all aircraft, surface, and shore capabilities and assets that require TEMPEST certification.
 
Requires each cutter, other than a National Security Cutter, acquired by the Coast Guard and delivered after enactment of this Act to be classed by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) before final acceptance. Directs the Commandant to provide a report to Congress identifying any Coast Guard cutters that have been issued a certificate of classification by the ABS that have not been maintained in class and detailing the reasons why they have not been maintained in class.
 
Requires that an independent third party assess: (1) the design and construction of each National Security Cutter, other than National Security Cutters 1, 2, and 3; and (2) before final acceptance, the airworthiness of all Coast Guard aircraft and aircraft engines.
 
Requires the Commandant to: (1) ensure there is a stable and efficient production and support capability to develop an asset or capability for the Coast Guard; (2) conduct follow-on testing to confirm and monitor performance and correct deficiencies; and (3) conduct acceptance tests and trails prior to the delivery of each asset or system to ensure the delivered asset or system achieves full operational capability.
 
Requires the Commandant to report to Congress within 30 days after the Chief Acquisition Officer becomes aware, in a Level 1 or Level 2 acquisition program, of certain likely cost overruns or delays or an anticipated failure for any individual or class of capabilities or assets to satisfy any key performance threshold or parameter.
 
(Sec. 403) Requires a report before the Coast Guard awards any contract or issues any delivery order or task order to strengthen the hull of either of National Security Cutter 1 or 2 to resolve certain structural design and performance issues.
 
(Sec. 404) Authorizes the Commandant, subject to limitation, to designate any category of acquisition positions as shortage category positions and to use the authorities in specified existing provisions to recruit and appoint highly qualified persons directly to such positions.
 

Title V: Coast Guard Modernization -
 Coast Guard Modernization Act of 2010 - 
Subtitle A: Coast Guard Leadership -
 (Sec. 511) Authorizes the President to designate up to four positions of vice admiral and makes other revisions affecting Coast Guard leadership.
 

Subtitle B: Workforce Expertise -
 (Sec. 521) Requires the Commandant to: (1) ensure that appropriate career paths are identified for Coast Guard personnel who wish to pursue careers in prevention or response positions; (2) report annually on the adequacy of the current marine safety workforce to meet the anticipated workload; and (3) establish a management information system for the prevention and response workforces.
 
Requires there to be a Chief of Prevention in each Coast Guard sector.
 
Authorizes the Commandant to establish and operate one or more centers of expertise for prevention and response missions.
 
Requires the Commandant, by policy, to establish a program under which a Coast Guard officer, member, or employee may be assigned to a private entity to further Coast Guard interests regarding marine safety, including to train the person. Requires a related annual report.
 
(Sec. 522) Directs the Secretary to develop a long-term strategy for improving vessel safety and the safety of individuals on vessels, including annual issuance of a plan and schedule for achieving specified goals. Requires a related report to Congress.
 
(Sec. 523) Requires that the individual with the highest rank who meets certain experience qualifications serve as the Commandant's principal marine safety advisor.
 
(Sec. 524) Requires, except for the Commandant, that any individual adjudicating an appeal or waiver of a marine safety decision either have certain training, experience, and qualifications or be advised by a senior staff member who meets those requirements and concurs in the decision on appeal.
 
(Sec. 525) Requires a marine safety curriculum at the Coast Guard Academy and during other officer accession programs.
 
(Sec. 526) Requires the Commandant to report on the Coast Guard's efforts to recruit and retain civilian marine inspectors and investigators and the impact of such recruitment and retention efforts on Coast Guard organizational performance.
 

Title VI: Marine Safety -
 Maritime Safety Act of 2010 - (Sec. 602) Amends the American Fisheries Act to allow the owner of an eligible vessel, in order to improve vessel safety and operational efficiencies (including fuel efficiency), to rebuild or replace that vessel with a vessel documented with a fishery endorsement.
 
Authorizes the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to recommend for approval by the Secretary of Commerce conservation and management measures, including size limits and measures to control fishing capacity, to ensure that the effectiveness of fishery management plans of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area or the Gulf of Alaska is not diminished. Establishes special rules, including rules pertaining to vessel length, U.S. vessel ownership requirements, international agreements, certain catcher vessels, fishery endorsement limitations, and replacement vessels in the Gulf of Alaska. Repeals exemptions for specified vessels.
 
(Sec. 603) Directs the Commandant to report on the efficacy of the Coast Guard's cold weather survival training.
 
(Sec. 604) Revises safety requirements for uninspected commercial fishing industry vessels, including requiring that such vessels be equipped with equipment to minimize the risk of crew injury during vessel operations. Requires that the individual in charge of a vessel pass a training program that: (1) is based on professional knowledge and skill obtained through sea service and hands-on training; (2) requires an individual to demonstrate the ability to communicate in an emergency situation and understand information found in navigation publications; and (3) recognizes and gives credit for recent past experience in fishing vessel operation. Directs the Secretary to establish a publicly accessible database listing individuals who have successfully completed a training program.
 
Requires the Secretary to establish: (1) a competitive Fishing Safety Training Grants Program; and (2) a competitive Fishing Safety Research Grant Program. Authorizes appropriations. 
 
Changes the name of the Commercial Fishing Industry Vessel Safety Advisory Committee to the Commercial Fishing Safety Advisory Committee. Extends the Committee's termination date from September 30, 2010, to September 30, 2020.
 
Applies existing load line provisions to fishing vessels that are built after July 1, 2012. Directs a fishing vessel built by July 1, 2012, that undergoes a substantial change to the dimension of or type of the vessel completed after the later of July 1, 2012, or the date the Secretary establishes standards for an alternate loadline compliance program, to comply with such an alternative loadline compliance program that is developed with the commercial fishing industry and prescribed by the Secretary.
 
Requires fishing, fish tender, and fish processing vessels, when they meet certain length and other criteria, to meet all survey and classification requirements prescribed by the ABS or another similarly qualified organization approved by the Secretary. (Current law requires only fish processing vessels to meet those requirements.) 
 
 Sets forth provisions for such vessels: (1) built before July 1, 2012, that undergo a substantial change to the dimension of or type of vessel completed after the later of July 1, 2012, or the date the Secretary establishes standards for an alternate safety compliance program, to comply with such program developed with the commercial fishing industry and prescribed by the Secretary; and (2) owned by a person owning more than 30 vessels to be excluded from alternate safety compliance requirements until January 1, 2030, if that owner enters into a compliance agreement with the Secretary that provides for a fixed schedule for all of the vessels owned by that person to meet such requirements by that date and the vessel owner is meeting that schedule.
 
Directs the Secretary, by 2017, to prescribe an alternative safety compliance program.
 
(Sec. 605) Authorizes the Secretary to issue regulations requiring a vessel owner or managing operator of a commercial vessel, or the employer of a seaman on that vessel, to maintain records of each individual engaged on the vessel subject to inspection on matters of engagement, discharge, and service, and to make these records available to the individual and the Coast Guard on request. Imposes a civil monetary penalty for violations.
 
(Sec. 606) Ends the exemption of certain vessels from towing vessel manning requirements. (Current law applies the exemption to vessels that are under 200 gross tons, that are engaged in the offshore mineral and oil industry, and that have offshore mineral and oil industry sites or equipment as their ultimate destination or place of departure.)
 
(Sec. 607) Requires U.S. vessels (except those on a voyage from the United States to Canada) that are subject to inspection to have an official logbook with specified entries.
 
(Sec. 608) Allows any individual who is authorized to enforce federal shipping law to: (1) remove a vessel's certificate if the vessel is operating in a condition that does not comply with the provisions of the certificate; (2) order the individual in charge of a vessel without a certificate on board to return the vessel to a mooring; and (3) direct an individual in charge of a vessel operated in an unsafe condition to take steps necessary for the safety of individuals on board.
 
Requires the Secretary to establish vessel equipment standards that are: (1) based on performance using the best available technology economically achievable; and (2) operationally practical. Authorizes the Secretary to certify lifesaving equipment that is not required to be carried on vessels to ensure that such equipment is suitable for its intended purpose.
 
(Sec. 609) Prohibits the Secretary from approving a survival craft as a safety device unless it ensures that no part of an individual is immersed in water.
 
(Sec. 610) Applies certain vessel management requirements to a passenger vessel or small passenger vessel that transports more passengers than a number prescribed by the Secretary based on the number of individuals on the vessel that could be killed or injured in a marine casualty.
 
(Sec. 611) Adds to the list of acts related to marine safety for which a seaman may not be discharged or discriminated against, including that the seaman testified in a maritime safety law enforcement proceeding or cooperated with a safety investigation. Replaces provisions permitting civil actions by a seaman alleging discharge or discrimination with provisions allowing the seaman to use the Department of Labor complaint process used by commercial drivers, railroad workers, and aviation workers.
 
(Sec. 612) Requires certain new U.S. vessels with a construction contract date after enactment of this title, or delivered after January 1, 2011, to comply with specified oil fuel tank protection standards.
 
(Sec. 613) Removes the requirement that the applicant oath for a license or certificate of registry be taken before a designated official. 
 
(Sec. 614) Allows eight-month advance renewals of merchant mariners' documents, merchant seamen's licenses, and merchant seaman certificates of registry.
 
(Sec. 615) Authorizes the Secretary to extend the duration of expiring licenses, certificates of registry, and merchant mariner documents for up to one year to enable the Coast Guard to eliminate an applications backlog or in response to a national emergency or natural disaster.
 
(Sec. 616) Directs the Commandant to report regarding the feasibility of: (1) expanding to all Coast Guard processing centers the streamlined evaluation process program that was affiliated with the Coast Guard's Houston Regional Examination Center; (2) simplifying the application process for a license as an officer, staff officer, or operator and for a merchant mariner's document; (3) providing notice to an applicant of the status of the pending application; and (4) ensuring that all information collected regarding applications for new or renewed licenses, merchant mariner documents, and certificates of registry is retained in a secure electronic format.
 
(Sec. 617) Removes tonnage limits from the definition of &quot;offshore supply vessel.&quot; 
 
 Revises offshore supply vessels provisions regarding: (1) scale of employment and able seamen; (2) minimum number of licensed individuals; (3) watches; and (4) oil fuel tank protection.
 
(Sec. 618) Amends the definition of &quot;associated equipment&quot; to include certain radio equipment associated with emergency locator beacons for recreational vessels operating beyond three nautical miles from the baselines from which the territorial sea of the United States is measured or beyond three nautical miles from the coastline of the Great Lake.
 
(Sec. 619) Directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations to require the installation, maintenance, and use of life preservers and other lifesaving devices for individuals on board uninspected vessels.
 
(Sec. 620) Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security, acting through the Commandant, to study, and report on, the use, safety, and performance of blended fuels in marine applications. Authorizes appropriations.
 
(Sec. 621) Extends through FY2020 the termination date of the Great Lakes Pilotage Advisory Committee, the National Boating Safety Advisory Council, the Houston-Galveston Navigation Safety Advisory Committee, the Lower Mississippi River Waterway Safety Advisory Committee, the Towing Safety Advisory Committee, and the Navigation Safety Advisory Council.
 
Revises other requirements for the National Boating Safety Advisory Council, the Lower Mississippi River Waterway Safety Advisory Committee, the Towing Safety Advisory Committee, the Navigation Safety Advisory Council, and the Delaware River and Bay Oil Spill Advisory Committee.
 
(Sec. 622) Authorizes the Secretary to delegate to the ABS or another classification society the authority to: (1) review and approve plans required for issuing a certificate of inspection, a certificate of compliance, or any other certification and related documents issued by the Coast Guard under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act; and (2) conduct inspections and examinations. Imposes certain requirements on a delegation to a foreign classification society. Revises requirements classification societies must meet.
 

Title VII: Oil Pollution Prevention
 - (Sec. 701) Requires a report to Congress on the status of all Coast Guard rulemakings required or being developed (but not issued) under specified provisions of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act). Requires that such rules be issued within 18 months following the enactment of this Act.
 
(Sec. 702) Requires regulations to reduce the risks of oil spills in operations involving the transfer of oil from, or to, a tank vessel. Allows enforcement of certain state laws or regulations that are at least as stringent as such regulations.
 
(Sec. 703) Directs the Secretary to report on: (1) oil spills involving human error; (2) near-miss oil spill incidents; (3) gaps in required data, including gaps in the ability to define and identify fatigue; and (4) recommendations by the Secretary and representatives of industry and labor and experts in the fields of marine casualties and human factors to address identified errors and any gaps in the data. Directs the Secretary to take action to reduce the risk of oil spills caused by human error.
 
(Sec. 704) Directs the Secretary and the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere to revise the area to be avoided off the coast of the state of Washington so that restrictions apply to all vessels required to prepare a response plan under specified provisions of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (other than fishing or research vessels while engaged in fishing or research in the area to be avoided).
 
(Sec. 705) Directs the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere to establish an oil spill prevention and education program for small vessels. 
 
Authorizes grants to carry out: (1) regional assessments of small oil spills; (2) voluntary, incentive-based clean marina programs; (3) cooperative oil spill prevention education programs; and (4) support for programs to address derelict vessels and the threat of such vessels sinking and discharging oil and other hazardous substances. Authorizes FY2010-FY2014 appropriations. 
 
(Sec. 706) Directs the Secretary to: (1) complete the development of a tribal consultation policy in order to improve the Coast Guard's consultation and coordination with tribal governments regarding oil spill prevention, preparedness, response and natural resource damage assessment; and (2) provide assistance to participating tribal governments. Authorizes FY2010-FY2014 appropriations.
 
(Sec. 707) Directs the Secretary to report to Congress on the availability, feasibility, and potential cost of technology to detect the loss of oil carried as cargo or as fuel on tank and non-tank vessels greater than 400 gross tons.
 
 
(Sec. 708) Amends the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to make not more than $15 million of the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund available each fiscal year to the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere for expenses and activities related to NOAA's response and damage assessment capabilities.
 
Modifies requirements regarding Fund audits by the Comptroller General and requires a report to Congress and to the Secretary or Administrator of each federal agency that administers and manages amounts from the Fund. 
 
Requires an annual report to Congress (and to the public on the National Pollution Funds Center Internet website) containing a list of each Fund disbursement of $250,000 or more. 
 
(Sec. 709) Directs the Secretary to ensure that the Coast Guard pursues stronger IMO enforcement of oil discharge agreements. 
 
(Sec. 710) Requires the Commandant to modify the definition of the term &quot;higher volume port area&quot; in a specified Coast Guard regulation by replacing &quot;Port Angeles, WA&quot; with &quot;Cape Flattery, WA.&quot; 
 
Requires the Coast Guard to complete its review of any changes to vessel response plans under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act resulting from such modification within five years.
 
(Sec. 711) Encourages strongly the Commandant to enter into negotiations with the government of Canada to update the comparability analysis which serves as the basis for the Cooperative Vessel Traffic Service agreement between the United States and Canada for the management of maritime traffic in Puget Sound, the Strait of Georgia, Haro Strait, Rosario Strait, and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. 
 
Requires that such updated analysis consider: (1) requirements for laden tank vessels to be escorted by tug boats; (2) vessel emergency response towing capability at the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca; and (3) spill response capability throughout the shared water. 
 
Amends the the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to require that double hulled tankers over 5,000 gross tons transporting bulk oil in Prince William Sound, Alaska, be escorted by at least two towing vessels.
 
Requires the Commandant, through the appropriate Area Committee under specified provisions of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, to prepare a vessel traffic risk assessment for Cook Inlet, Alaska, within one year after enactment of this Act. 
 
(Sec. 712) Amends the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to require any tank vessel over 100 gross tons using any place subject to U.S. jurisdiction to establish and maintain evidence of financial responsibility sufficient to meet the maximum amount of liability to which the responsible party could be subjected under specified provisions. 
 
(Sec. 713) Includes the owner of oil being transported in a tank vessel with a single hull after December 31, 2010, subject to exception, in the definition of &quot;responsible party.&quot;
 

Title VIII: Port Security -
 (Sec. 801) Establishes the America's Waterway Watch Program to promote voluntary reporting of activities relating to terrorism against a vessel, facility, port, or waterway. Authorizes appropriations.
 
(Sec. 802) Requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to report to Congress and to the Comptroller General after completion of the pilot program (required by existing law) to test the business processes, technology, and operational impacts required to deploy transportation security card readers at secure areas of the marine transportation system. Requires an assessment of that report by the Comptroller General.
 
(Sec. 803) Revises enumerated characteristics of interagency operational centers for port security at high-priority ports to: (1) include information and sensor management systems and, where practicable, the physical co-location of the Coast Guard with, as the Secretary determines appropriate, previously participating representatives of specified federal agencies (including the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Transportation Security Administration [TSA], Department of Justice [DOJ], and DOD), state and local enforcement or port security personnel, the American Maritime Security Committee, and other public and private sector stakeholders adversely affected by a transportation security incident or transportation disruption; and (2) exclude the utilization of certain pilot project and virtual operational centers.
 
(Sec. 804) Amends provisions related to maritime safety and security teams to require the Secretary to establish deployable specialized forces, including at least two enhanced teams capable of combating terrorism, engaging in interdiction, law enforcement, and advanced maritime security operations addressing armed security threats (including noncompliant actors at sea), and participating in maritime-related homeland security and counterterrorism exercises. Revises the mission of such forces to include operations to protect against weapons of mass destruction.
 
(Sec. 805) Requires the Secretary of Homeland Security, subject to available appropriations, to begin to increase the number of detection canine teams certified by the Coast Guard for maritime-related security by at least 10 canine teams annually through fiscal year 2012 and to encourage owners and operators of port facilities, passenger cruise liners, oceangoing cargo vessels, and other vessels to strengthen security through the use of highly trained detection canine teams.
 
(Sec. 806) Allows the Secretary to find that a foreign port does not maintain effective antiterrorism measures without an inspection of such port. Requires the Secretary, unless the Secretary finds that a foreign port maintains such measures, to notify: (1) foreign authorities and recommend antiterrorism measures; and (2) passengers. (Current law requires such notices if the Secretary makes such a finding.) Authorizes conditions and denials of entry into the United States for certain vessels unless the Secretary makes such a finding.
 
Authorizes the Secretary to lend, lease, donate, or otherwise provide equipment, and provide technical training and support, to the owner or operator of a foreign port or facility to assist in: (1) bringing the port or facility into compliance with applicable International Ship and Port Facility Code standards; and (2) correcting deficiencies identified in specified periodic port assessments and reassessments. 
 
Modifies requirements regarding port security antiterrorism efforts in ports and facilities in foreign countries and U.S. territories.
 
(Sec. 807) Directs the Secretary to conduct, in the maritime environment, a program for the mobile biometric identification (fingerprint and digital photography images and facial and iris scan technology and other technology considered applicable by DHS) of suspected individuals, including terrorists, to enhance border security and for other purposes.
 
Requires a report regarding the cost of expanding the Coast Guard's biometric identification capabilities for use by the Coast Guard's Deployable Operations Group, cutters, stations, and other deployable maritime teams and any other appropriate DHS maritime vessels and units.
 
Requires a study on the use by the Coast Guard and other departmental entities of the combination of biometric technologies to rapidly identify individuals for security purposes.
 
(Sec. 808) Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish procedures providing for an individual who is required to be fingerprinted for purposes of obtaining a transportation security card under specified provisions to be fingerprinted at any of not less than 20 facilities operated by or under contract with a DHS agency that fingerprints the public. Terminates the directive one year after establishment of the required facilities.
 
(Sec. 809) Requires issuance of a biometric transportation security card to an individual issued a license, certificate of registry, or merchant mariners document, and to an individual engaged on a towing vessel that pushes, pulls, or hauls alongside a tank vessel, if those individuals are allowed unescorted access to a secure area designated in a vessel security plan, unless an individual poses a security risk. (Current law requires issuance, but makes no reference to unescorted access to a secure area.)
 
(Sec. 810) Modifies the composition of Maritime Security Advisory Committees and extends the termination date to September 30, 2020. Requires each committee, by September 30, 2018, to submit to Congress its recommendation regarding whether the committee should be renewed and continued beyond the termination date. 
 
(Sec. 811) Requires each facility security plan approved under specified provisions to provide a system for seamen assigned to a vessel at that facility, pilots, and representatives of seamen's welfare and labor organizations to board and depart the vessel through the facility in a timely manner at no cost to the individual.
 
(Sec. 812) Directs the Secretary to: (1) study and report on measures to improve the security of maritime transportation of especially hazardous cargo; and (2) develop a national strategy for the waterside security of vessels carrying, and waterfront facilities handling, such cargo.
 
Requires the Coast Guard, consistent with other provisions of law, to enforce any security zone established by the Coast Guard around a vessel containing such cargo.
 
Requires a related report.
 
(Sec 813) Directs the Secretary, consistent with other provisions of law, to make a recommendation, after considering state recommendations, to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) as to whether the waterway to a proposed waterside liquefied natural gas facility is recommended as suitable for associated marine traffic. 
 
(Sec. 814) Authorizes the Secretary to use a secondary authentication system to verify the identification of individuals using transportation security cards when fingerprints are not able to be taken or read.
 
(Sec. 815) Directs the Secretary to prepare an assessment of the enrollment sites for transportation security cards, including regarding the feasibility of keeping those enrollment sites open after enactment of this Act and regarding customer service quality. Directs the Secretary to develop timelines and benchmarks for implementing the assessment's findings.
 
(Sec. 816) Directs the Secretary to assess and report on the feasibility of efforts to mitigate the threat of small boat attack in security zones of major ports, including the use of transponders, radio frequency identification devices, and high-frequency surface radar systems to track small boats.
 
(Sec. 817) Directs the Comptroller General to report to Congress on security background checks under state and federal transportation security programs and whether they should be limited and made uniform.
 
(Sec. 818) Revises requirements for the issuance of transportation security cards.
 
Allows applicants escorted access to restricted areas pending issuance or reissuance of a card.
 
Requires the Secretary to: (1) respond to an initial transportation security card application, or review an appeal or waiver request, within 30 days after its receipt; and (2) develop a process to permit an individual approved for a transportation security card to receive it at the individual's place of residence or at the enrollment center of the individual's choosing, if the Comptroller General finds in a report to Congress that such a process is feasible and secure.
 
(Sec. 819) Authorizes the Secretary to extend for up to one year the expiration of a transportation security card so as to align the expiration with the expiration of a license, certificate of registry, or merchant mariner document.
 
(Sec. 820) Authorizes the Secretary to issue port security regulations.
 
(Sec. 821) Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish port security training requirements for certification of facility security officers; (2) develop and certify (with state and local enforcement agencies and industry stakeholders) specified security training requirements for federal, state, and local seaport security officials; and (3) develop (with maritime institutions and industry stakeholders) geographically balanced training capacity for personnel seeking certification.
 
(Sec. 822) Requires the owner or operator of a facility that may be involved in a transportation security incident to: (1) make its vulnerability assessment available to the port authority with jurisdiction of the facility and appropriate state or local law enforcement agencies; and (2) integrate any security system for the facility with compatible systems operated or maintained by the appropriate state, law enforcement agencies, and the Coast Guard.
 
(Sec. 823) Requires the Secretary to develop a plan to permit the receipt and activation of transportation security cards at any specified vessel or facility that desires to implement such capability. 
 
(Sec. 824) Directs the Secretary, subject to the availability of appropriations, to ensure that interoperable communications technology is deployed at specified interagency operational centers and that such technology and equipment has been tested in live operational environments before deployment.
 
(Sec. 825) Requires the Secretary, to the extent practicable, to concurrently conduct or integrate Coast Guard assessments required by specified provisions related to the SAFE Port Act and interagency operational centers for port security. Directs the Secretary to provide written notice to Congress whenever two or more assessments of the same port are conducted within a three-year period.
 
(Sec. 826) Amends Area Maritime Transportation Security Plan requirements to include area response and recovery protocols to prepare for, respond to, mitigate against, and recover from a transportation security incident.
 
(Sec. 827) Requires the development and utilization of a national standard and formula for prioritizing and addressing assessed security risks at U.S. ports and facilities on or adjacent to the waterways of the United States, such as the Maritime Security Risk Assessment Model tested by DHS. Directs the Secretary to use such standard to: (1) require each Area Maritime Security Committee to evaluate and prioritize mitigation of each port's risks; and (2) consider resource allocations and grant-making decisions. Makes the Coast Guard's Maritime Security Risk Assessment Model available, in an unclassified version, on a limited basis to regulated vessels and facilities to conduct true risk assessments of their own facilities and vessels using Coast Guard criteria.
 
(Sec. 828) Directs the Commandant to establish, by regulation, national standards for training and credentialing law enforcement personnel to enforce a security zone or assist in such enforcement.
 
 Defines &quot;security zone&quot; as a zone established by the Commandant pursuant to specified acts for a vessel carrying especially hazardous cargo when such vessel: (1) enters, or operates within, U.S. internal waters and territorial seas; or (2) transfers such cargo or residue in any port or place, under U.S. jurisdiction, within such seas and waters.
 
Requires the Commandant to develop training curriculum and allows agreements with public or private entities to test and deliver such training.
 
Establishes a related training grant.
 

Title IX: Miscellaneous Provisions - 
(Sec. 901) Authorizes the Secretary, notwithstanding specified provisions, to issue a certificate of documentation with a coastwise endorsement for two named and numbered vessels.
 
Authorizes the Secretary, notwithstanding specified provisions, to issue a certificate of documentation with appropriate endorsement for employment in the coastwise trade for two named and numbered GALLANT LADY vessels. (Current law provides the Secretary of Transportation such authorization.)
 
Limits authorized nonrecreational activity for a specified GALLANT LADY vessel to the transportation of individuals on behalf of certain tax exempt organizations for which the owner of the vessel receives no compensation. 
 
Allows the Secretary of Transportation to issue a waiver allowing a documented vessel with a registry endorsement or a foreign flag vessel to be used in operations that treat aquaculture fish for or protect aquaculture fish from disease, parasitic infestation, or other health threats if, after a notice is published in the Federal Register, a suitable U.S. vessel is not available that could perform those services. (Current law requires vessels to have a certificate of documentation with an endorsement before engaging in a trade.)
 
(Sec. 902) Caps the total delayed payment of wages (at ten times the unpaid wages that are subject to the claim) in a class action suit by seamen on a passenger vessel capable of carrying over 500 passengers on foreign, intercoastal, and coastwise voyages when payment of wages is not made by specified deadlines without sufficient cause. Regulates other aspects of seamen's wages regarding such vessels.
 
(Sec. 903) Removes the requirement that appointments of cadets to the Coast Guard Academy be made without regard to the sex, race, color, or religious beliefs of an applicant.
 
(Sec. 904) Permits a U.S. purse seine fishing vessel fishing exclusively for highly migratory species in the treaty area under a fishing license issued pursuant to the 1987 Treaty on Fisheries Between the Governments of Certain Pacific Islands States and the Government of the United States of America, or transiting to or from the treaty area exclusively for such purpose, to engage foreign citizens to meet the manning requirement (except for the master) through December 31, 2012, if it has an annual safety examination.
 
(Sec. 905) Directs the Commandant to report regarding the proposed construction or alteration of any bridge, drawbridge, or causeway over navigable waters with a channel depth of 25 feet or greater that may impede or obstruct future navigation to or from port facilities.
 
(Sec. 906) Prohibits the employer of a seaman from withholding state or local taxes, except by voluntary agreement, if the seaman performs regularly-assigned duties while engaged as a master, officer, or crewman on a vessel operating on navigable waters in two or more states. (Current law so prohibits when such an individual is engaged on a vessel operating on navigable waters of more than one state).
 
(Sec. 907) Authorizes the Commandant to convey as federal surplus property real property commonly identified as Coast Guard Station Marquette and Lighthouse Point to the city of Marquette, Michigan. Requires responsibility for all reasonable and necessary costs, including real estate transaction and environmental documentation costs, to be determined by the Commandant and the city.
 
(Sec. 908) Directs the Secretary to prepare a mission requirement analysis for the navigable portions of the Rio Grande River, Texas, international water boundary. Requires a related report.
 
(Sec. 909) Authorizes the Commandant, notwithstanding any other law, to convey, at fair market value, a parcel of about three acres of real property that is under the Coast Guard's administrative control in Cheboygan, Michigan. Requires responsibility for all reasonable and necessary costs, including real estate transaction and environmental documentation costs, to be determined by the Commandant and the purchaser.
 
(Sec. 910) Directs the Secretary, on request of the governor of Texas or the governor of Oklahoma, to enter into an agreement whereby the state shall license operators of uninspected passenger vessels operating on Lake Texoma in Texas and Oklahoma in lieu of the Secretary issuing the license under specified provisions, but only if the state plan for licensing such operators meets certain requirements.
 
(Sec. 911) Directs the Secretary to submit a report to Congress on its comprehensive strategy to combat the illicit flow of narcotics, weapons, bulk cash, and other contraband through the use of submersible and semi-submersible vessels.
 
(Sec. 912) Shields an owner, operator, time charterer, master, mariner, or individual who uses, or authorizes the use of, force to defend a vessel of the United States against piracy from liability for monetary damages for any injury or death caused by such force to any person engaging in an act of piracy if such force was in accordance with standard rules for the use of force in self-defense of vessels prescribed by the Secretary.
 
Directs the Secretary to work through the IMO to establish agreements to promote coordinated action among flag- and port-states to deter, protect against, and rapidly respond to piracy against the vessels of, and in the waters under the jurisdiction of, those nations, and to ensure limitations on liability similar to those established by this section of this Act. 
 
Requires the Secretary to develop standard rules for the use of force for self-defense of U.S. vessels.
 
(Sec. 913) Amends provisions relating to commercial instruments and maritime liens to substitute references to the DHS Secretary for certain current references to the Secretary of Transportation.
 
(Sec. 914) Requires the Coast Guard, whenever the transfer of ownership of a Coast Guard vessel or aircraft for use for educational, cultural, historical, charitable, recreational, or other public purposes is authorized by law or declared excess by the Commandant, to transfer the vessel or aircraft to the General Services Administration (GSA) for conveyance. 
 
Sets forth conveyance conditions.
 
(Sec. 915) Directs the Commandant to: (1) determine the types and numbers of vessels utilizing a specified portion of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway in Dade County, Florida; (2) assess the adequacy of navigational aids in and along such portion of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway; and (3) submit a related report to Congress.
 
(Sec. 916) Directs the Commandant to determine the necessity and adequacy of existing federal aids to navigation at Presque Isle Light Station, Presque Isle, Michigan and submit such determination to Congress. 
 
Allows the Commandant to transfer to the Township of Presque Isle, Michigan, subject to conditions and with reservations, possession of the Fresnel Lens from the Light Station for the purpose of conserving and displaying such Fresnel Lens as an artifact in an exhibition facility.
 
(Sec. 917) Amends federal criminal law to specify the following maritime penalties (in addition to the fine/five-year incarceration under current law): (1) fine and/or incarceration for any term of years or life if the offense results in death or involves kidnapping or attempt to kidnap, the conduct required for aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit such abuse, or an attempt to kill; and (2) fine and/or up to 15 years incarceration for offenses resulting in serious bodily injury or (if committed in the course of committing other specified offenses including alien smuggling, peonage, slavery, trafficking, or certain maritime, territorial jurisdiction, and domestic habitual offender assaults) transportation under inhumane conditions.
 
Defines &quot;transportation under inhumane conditions&quot; as the transportation of persons in an engine compartment, storage compartment, or other confined space, transportation at an excessive speed, transportation of a number of persons in excess of the rated capacity of the means of transportation, or intentionally grounding a vessel in which persons are being transported. Revises the definitions of &#147;vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States&#148; and &#147;vessel of the United States&#148; in federal criminal code provisions related to sanctions for failure to heave to, obstruction of boarding, and providing false information. 
 
(Sec. 918) Directs the Commandant to submit to Congress the Coast Guard's five-year capital investment plan concurrent with the President's budget submission for each fiscal year.
 
(Sec. 919) Limits in FY2011 the total amount of appropriated funds obligated or expended by the Coast Guard during any fiscal year in connection with any study or report required by law to the total amount of appropriated funds obligated or expended by the Coast Guard for such purpose in FY2010. Directs the Commandant to establish for each fiscal year a rank order of priority for studies and reports that can be conducted or completed consistent with such limitation and post the list on the Coast Guard's public website.
 
(Sec. 920) States that the budgetary effects of this Act, for purposes of Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 compliance, shall be determined by reference to the latest statement titled &quot;Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation&quot; for this Act, jointly submitted for printing in the Congressional Record by the Chairmen of the House and Senate Budget Committees, provided that such statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage in the House acting first on the conference report or amendments between the Houses.
 
(Sec. 921) Defines the term &quot;aquarium&quot; or &quot;public aquarium&quot; in provisions of the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 regarding the conveyance by the Secretary of property known as the Naval Reserve Pier property in Portland, Maine, to the Gulf of Maine Aquarium Development Corporation.
 

Title X: Clean Hulls - Subtitle A: General Provisions -
 (Sec. 1011) Defines &quot;antifouling system&quot; as a coating, paint, surface treatment, surface, or device used on a vessel to control or prevent attachment of unwanted organisms.
 
(Sec. 1012) Defines &quot;covered vessel&quot; to mean any vessel (except U.S. or foreign warships, naval auxiliary, or other government noncommercial service vessels) that is: (1) documented under U.S. laws; (2) authorized to operate on the Outer Continental Shelf; or (3) otherwise operating in U.S. internal waters or territorial seas, or is in a U.S. port.
 

Subtitle B: Implementation of the Convention -
 (Sec. 1021) Requires covered vessels of at least 400 gross tons that engage in one or more international voyages, upon entry into force of the International Convention on the Control of Harmful Anti-Fouling Systems on Ships, 2001, to carry an International Antifouling System Certificate, issued by the Secretary. Exempts from this requirement fixed or floating platforms, floating storage units (FSUs), and floating production, storage, or offloading units (FPSOs).
 
Authorizes such vessels of countries that are not a party to the Convention to comply with the title's requirement through other appropriate documentation considered acceptable by the Secretary. 
 
(Sec. 1022) Requires covered vessels of at least 24 meters in length, but less than 400 gross tons, engaged on an international voyage (with the same exceptions as for vessels of at least 400 tons), to carry a signed declaration that the vessel's antifouling system complies with the Convention.
 
(Sec. 1024) Sets forth a process for considering additional controls on antifouling systems.
 
(Sec. 1025) Authorizes the Secretary, the EPA Administrator, and the NOAA Administrator to each undertake scientific and technical research and monitoring and promote the availability of information regarding: (1) scientific and technical activities undertaken in accordance with the Convention; (2) marine scientific and technological programs and their objectives; and (3) the effects observed from any monitoring and assessment programs relating to antifouling systems. 
 
(Sec.1026) Directs the EPA Administrator to provide to any party to the Convention that requests information on which decisions to regulate are based or other information used to evaluate the antifouling system.
 

Subtitle C: Prohibitions and Enforcement Authority -
 (Sec. 1031) Makes it unlawful for a person to: (1) violate a requirement of this title; (2) sell or distribute domestically or internationally organotin (biocide) or an antifouling system containing organotin; (3) manufacture or use organotin to formulate an antifouling system; (4) apply an antifouling system that contains organotin on a vessel; or (5) apply an antifouling system on a vessel in violation of the Convention.
 
Prohibits the hull of a vessel, with specified exceptions, from bearing an antifouling system that contains organotin, unless it bears an overcoating that forms a barrier to organotin leaching from the underlying antifouling system.
 
(Sec. 1032) Authorizes the Secretary to investigate and enforce vessel compliance with the requirements of this title or the Convention. 
 
(Sec. 1033) Authorizes inspections by officers or employees of the EPA or of any state designated by the EPA Administrator. 
 

Subtitle D: Action on Violation, Penalties, and Referrals -
 (Sec. 1041) Subjects a person who knowingly violates this Act or the Convention to specified criminal and civil penalties.
 
(Sec. 1043) Establishes in rem liability for criminal fines or specified civil penalties imposed on a vessel operated in violation of the Convention, this title, or regulations prescribed under this title. Allows such vessel to be proceeded against in the U.S. district court of any district in which the vessel may be found.
 
(Sec. 1044) Authorizes the refusal or revocation of the clearance required before a vessel may proceed from a port or place in the United States for a foreign place, for another U.S. place, or outside the territorial sea if: (1) any vessel that is subject to the Convention or this title, or its owner, operator, or person in charge, is liable for a fine or civil penalty under specified sections of this title; or (2) reasonable cause exists to believe that the vessel, its owner, operator, or person in charge may be subject to such fine or civil penalty.
 
(Sec. 1045) Permits the Secretary to warn, detain, dismiss, or exclude from any U.S. port or offshore terminal a vessel detected to be in violation of the Convention, this title, or any regulation prescribed under this title.
 
(Sec. 1046) Authorizes the Secretary, rather than taking actions otherwise required or authorized by this subtitle, to refer a matter to the government of the country of the vessel's registry or nationality, or under whose authority the vessel is operating, for appropriate action, if a violation of the Convention is committed by a vessel registered in or of the nationality of a country that is a party to the Convention, or by a vessel operated under the authority of a country that is a party to the Convention.
 
 
(Sec. 1048) Repeals the Organotin Antifouling Paint Control Act of 1988.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-10-15
text: Became Public Law No: 111-281.
action_date: 2010-10-15
text: Became Public Law No: 111-281.
action_date: 2010-10-15
text: Signed by President.
action_date: 2010-10-15
text: Signed by President.
action_date: 2010-10-04
text: Presented to President.
action_date: 2010-10-04
text: Presented to President.
action_date: 2010-09-30
text: Cleared for White House.
action_date: 2010-09-30
text: Message on Senate action sent to the House.
action_date: 2010-09-30
text: Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
action_date: 2010-09-30
text: On motion that the House agree to the Senate amendments to the House amendment to the Senate amendment Agreed to without objection. (text as House agreed to Senate amendments to House amendment to Senate amendment: CR H7383-7384)
action_date: 2010-09-30
text: Resolving differences -- House actions: On motion that the House agree to the Senate amendments to the House amendment to the Senate amendment Agreed to without objection.(text as House agreed to Senate amendments to House amendment to Senate amendment: CR H7383-7384)
action_date: 2010-09-30
text: Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
action_date: 2010-09-30
text: On motion that the House agree to the Senate amendments to the House amendments to the Senate amendment Agreed to without objection.
action_date: 2010-09-30
text: Resolving differences -- House actions: On motion that the House agree to the Senate amendments to the House amendments to the Senate amendment Agreed to without objection.
action_date: 2010-09-30
text: Mr. Oberstar asked unanimous consent that the House agree to the Senate amendments to the House amendments to the Senate amendment. (consideration: CR H7383-7384)
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Senate agreed to the House Amendment to the title by Unanimous Consent.
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Resolving differences -- Senate actions: Senate agreed to the House Amendment to the title by Unanimous Consent.
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Senate concurred in House amendment with amendments (SA 4684) by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S7718-7719, S7730-7731)
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Resolving differences -- Senate actions: Senate concurred in House amendment with amendments (SA 4684) by Unanimous Consent.(consideration: CR S7718-7719, S7730-7731)
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Message on House action received in Senate and at desk: House amendments to Senate amendment.
action_date: 2010-09-28
text: House agreed to Senate amendment with amendments pursuant to H. Res. 1665.
action_date: 2010-09-28
text: Resolving differences -- House actions: House agreed to Senate amendment with amendments pursuant to H. Res. 1665.
action_date: 2010-05-07
text: Message on Senate action sent to the House.
action_date: 2010-05-07
text: Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent.
action_date: 2010-05-07
text: Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent.
action_date: 2010-05-07
text: Measure laid before Senate by unanimous consent. (consideration: CR S3431-3432)
action_date: 2009-11-02
text: Read twice. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 195.
action_date: 2009-10-26
text: Received in the Senate.
action_date: 2009-10-23
text: The Clerk was authorized to correct section numbers, punctuation, and cross references, and to make other necessary technical and conforming corrections in the engrossment of H.R. 3619.
action_date: 2009-10-23
text: Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
action_date: 2009-10-23
text: On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 385 - 11 (Roll no. 813).
action_date: 2009-10-23
text: Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 385 - 11 (Roll no. 813).
action_date: 2009-10-23
text: The House adopted the amendment in the nature of a substitute as agreed to by the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union. (text: CR 10/22/2009 H11640-11673)
action_date: 2009-10-23
text: The previous question was ordered pursuant to the rule. (consideration: CR H11723)
action_date: 2009-10-23
text: The House rose from the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union to report H.R. 3619.
action_date: 2009-10-23
text: DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H.Res. 853, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the LoBiondo amendment.
action_date: 2009-10-23
text: DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H.Res. 853, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Oberstar amendment number 12.
action_date: 2009-10-23
text: DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H.Res. 853, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Nye amendment.
action_date: 2009-10-23
text: POSTPONED PROCEEDINGS - At the conclusion of debate on the Kratovil amendment, the Chair put the question on adoption of the amendment and announced by voice vote that the ayes had prevailed. Mr. Kratovil demanded a recorded vote and the Chair postponed further proceedings on adoption of the amendment until later in the legislative day.
action_date: 2009-10-23
text: DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H.Res. 853, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Kratovil amendment.
action_date: 2009-10-23
text: DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H.Res. 853, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Kirkpatrick (AZ) amendment.
action_date: 2009-10-23
text: DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H.Res. 853, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Flake amendment number 8.
action_date: 2009-10-23
text: DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H.Res. 853, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Flake amendment number 7.
action_date: 2009-10-23
text: The House resolved into Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union for further consideration.
action_date: 2009-10-23
text: Considered as unfinished business. (consideration: CR H11717-11724)
action_date: 2009-10-22
text: Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union rises leaving H.R. 3619 as unfinished business.
action_date: 2009-10-22
text: On motion that the Committee now rise Agreed to by voice vote.
action_date: 2009-10-22
text: Mr. Cummings moved that the Committee now rise.
action_date: 2009-10-22
text: DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H.Res. 853, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Himes amendment.
action_date: 2009-10-22
text: DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H.Res. 853, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the LoBiondo amendment No. 2.
action_date: 2009-10-22
text: DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H.Res. 853, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the LoBiondo amendment.
action_date: 2009-10-22
text: DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H.Res. 853, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Oberstar amendment No. 2.
action_date: 2009-10-22
text: DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H.Res. 853, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Mica amendment.
action_date: 2009-10-22
text: DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H.Res. 853, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 20 minutes of debate on the Oberstar amendment.
action_date: 2009-10-22
text: GENERAL DEBATE - The Committee of the Whole proceeded with one hour of general debate on H.R. 3619.
action_date: 2009-10-22
text: The Speaker designated the Honorable Kathleen A. Dahlkemper to act as Chairwoman of the Committee.
action_date: 2009-10-22
text: House resolved itself into the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union pursuant to H. Res. 853 and Rule XVIII.
action_date: 2009-10-22
text: Rule provides for consideration of H.R. 3619 with 1 hour of general debate. Previous question shall be considered as ordered without intervening motions except motion to recommit with or without instructions. Measure will be considered read. A specified amendment is in order. All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived except thos arising under clause 9 or 10 of rule XXI. The amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure now printed in the bill shall be considered as adopted in the House and the Committee of the Whole. The bill, as amended, shall be considered as the original bill for the purpose of further amendment.
action_date: 2009-10-22
text: Considered under the provisions of rule H. Res. 853. (consideration: CR H11632-11685)
action_date: 2009-10-22
text: Rule H. Res. 853 passed House.
action_date: 2009-10-21
text: Rules Committee Resolution H. Res. 853 Reported to House. Rule provides for consideration of H.R. 3619 with 1 hour of general debate. Previous question shall be considered as ordered without intervening motions except motion to recommit with or without instructions. Measure will be considered read. A specified amendment is in order. All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived except thos arising under clause 9 or 10 of rule XXI. The amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure now printed in the bill shall be considered as adopted in the House and the Committee of the Whole. The bill, as amended, shall be considered as the original bill for the purpose of further amendment.
action_date: 2009-10-16
text: Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 170.
action_date: 2009-10-16
text: Committee on Homeland Security discharged.
action_date: 2009-10-16
text: Committee on Homeland Security discharged.
action_date: 2009-10-16
text: Referred sequentially to the House Committee on Homeland Security for a period ending not later than Oct. 16, 2009.
action_date: 2009-10-16
text: Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Transportation. H. Rept. 111-303, Part I.
action_date: 2009-10-16
text: Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Transportation. H. Rept. 111-303, Part I.
action_date: 2009-09-24
text: Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Discharged.
action_date: 2009-09-24
text: Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by Voice Vote.
action_date: 2009-09-24
text: Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
action_date: 2009-09-23
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation.
action_date: 2009-09-22
text: Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
action_date: 2009-09-22
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2009-09-22
text: Introduced in House

Enacted as: number: 111-281