Puerto Rico Recovery Act

Bill: 117-s-4999
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Lee, Mike [R-UT]
Introduced: 2022-09-28
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works
Latest action: action_date: 2022-09-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Summaries:
action_date: 2022-09-28
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><b>Puerto Rico Recovery Act </b></p> <p>This bill requires the U.S. Coast Guard to provide temporary exemptions from certain Jones Act restrictions to vessels providing relief to Puerto Rico for areas affected by Hurricane Fiona. The Jones Act requires that vessels transporting merchandise or passengers between Puerto Rico and other U.S. ports be built in the United States, be at least 75% owned by U.S. citizens , and be mostly crewed by U.S. <tt>C</tt>itizens.</p> <p>The exemptions are valid for one year or until the end of the major disaster declaration of September 22, 2022, for Puerto Rico, whichever comes first.</p>

tv_txt: II 117th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 4999 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES September 28, 2022 Mr. Lee introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To provide exemptions from certain Jones Act restrictions to vessels providing disaster relief to Puerto Rico for the areas affected by Hurricane Fiona.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Puerto Rico Recovery Act . 2. Temporary exemptions from Jones Act restrictions for vessels providing hurricane relief to Puerto Rico (a) Temporary exemption for Puerto Rican hurricane relief (1) In general Notwithstanding sections 12112, 12103, and 55102 of title 46, United States Code, the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating (referred to in this section as the Secretary ) shall exempt a vessel from the requirements of such sections if the Secretary determines that the owner or operator of the vessel has reasonably demonstrated that the exemption is needed to provide disaster relief to Puerto Rico for areas affected by Hurricane Fiona. (2) Process (A) Request An owner or operator of a vessel may request an exemption under paragraph (1), and the Secretary shall approve or deny the request by not later than 72 hours after the request is made. (B) Public denial statement In any case where the Secretary denies an exemption request under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall promptly provide a public, detailed statement regarding the reasoning and analysis for the denial. (C) Deemed approval If the Secretary does not approve or deny a request according to the terms of subparagraph (A), the request shall be deemed to be approved. (b) Period of exemption An exemption approved under subsection (a) shall be valid until the earlier of— (1) the date that is 1 year after the date on which the exemption was approved; or (2) the date on which the major disaster declared by the President under section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act ( 42 U.S.C. 5121 ) on September 22, 2022 expires. (c) Applicability This section, and any exemption issued under this section, shall cease to have effect on the date described in subsection (b)(2).