jiayi-li23/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Transportation — Maritime
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2013-03-13 00:00:00

Cross-Border Trade Enhancement Act of 2013 - Authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to enter into agreements with persons for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to provide customs and immigration services at a land border port of entry, subject to payment of a fee to reimburse the CBP for providing such services. Declares that nothing in this grant of authority shall be construed to reduce the responsibilities or duties of the CBP to provide services at land border ports of entry that have been authorized by law and federally-funded.

Directs the Administrator of General Services to establish procedures for evaluating proposals submitted by persons to: (1) enter into cost-sharing or reimbursement agreements with the General Services Administration (GSA) for the construction or maintenance of infrastructure at a land border port of entry, and (2) provide GSA an unconditional gift of property for use in the construction or maintenance of such infrastructure.

Prescribes minimum requirements for such procedures.
Topic: Transportation — Maritime
Subject: Transportation and public works
Date: 2013-03-13 00:00:00

Maritime Lien Reform Act - Bars specified federal shipping laws related to maritime liability from: (1) establishing maritime liens on state or federal fishing permits (authorizing a person or use of a vessel to engage in fishing), and (2) authorizing civil actions to enforce maritime liens on such permits.

Specifies that a "fishing permit" is governed solely by the state or federal law under which it was issued and is not included in the whole or as an appurtenance or intangible of a vessel.
Topic: Transportation — Maritime
Subject: Transportation and public works
Date: 2013-03-14 00:00:00

Waterways Are Vital for the Economy, Energy, Efficiency, and Environment Act of 2013 or WAVE4 Act - Directs the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, to require certain delivery process reforms for qualifying construction and major rehabilitation projects for navigation infrastructure of inland and intracoastal waterways.

Directs the Secretary, working in conjunction with the Inland Waterways Users Board, to submit to Congress a 20-year program for making capital investments on inland and intracoastal waterways. Authorizes such program to be based on the 20-year capital investment strategy contained in the Inland Marine Transportation System (IMTS) Capital Projects Business Model, Final Report published on April 13, 2010, as approved by the Board.

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to limit expenditures from the Inland Waterways Trust Fund to 50% of the total cost of the construction or rehabilitation project. Makes Fund amounts unavailable for: (1) construction or rehabilitation of dams, or (2) rehabilitation expenditures that do not equal or exceed $100 million.
Topic: Transportation — Maritime
Subject: Water resources development
Date: 2013-03-14 00:00:00

Water Infrastructure Now Public-Private Partnership Act or the WIN P3 Act - Directs the Chief of Engineers to establish a pilot program to evaluate the cost-effectiveness and project delivery efficiency of allowing non-federal interests to carry out authorized flood damage reduction, hurricane and storm damage reduction, and navigation projects. Requires the Chief: (1) to identify not more than 15 projects authorized for construction; (2) to develop a detailed project management plan for each identified project that outlines the scope, budget, design, and construction resource requirements necessary for the non-federal interest to execute the project or an element of the project; (3) to enter into a project partnership agreement with the non-federal interest at such interest's request to provide full project management control for construction of the project or element in accordance with plans approved by the Chief; (4) following execution of such agreement, to transfer specified amounts to the non-federal interest to carry out project construction; and (5) to regularly monitor and audit each such project being constructed by a non-federal interest.

Sets forth restrictions on projects selected. Authorizes the Chief to: (1) provide technical assistance to the non-federal interests for compensation, and (2) waive or modify applicable federal regulations if doing so would provide public and financial benefits.

Directs the Chief, before entering into a project partnership agreement, to enter into an arrangement with an independent third party to conduct an assessment and provide justification that the proposed agreement would represent a better public and financial benefit than a similar transaction using public funding.

Terminates authority to commence a project under this Act five years after its enactment.
Topic: Transportation — Maritime
Subject: Transportation and public works
Date: 2013-03-14 00:00:00

Dredging for Restoration and Economic Development for Global Exports Act of 2013 or the DREDGE Act of 2013 - Modifies the project for navigation, Mississippi River Ship Channel, Gulf of Mexico to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to direct the Secretary of the Army to: (1) achieve, operate, and maintain a navigation channel of 50 feet with respect to the portion of the project from Baton Rouge to the Southwest Pass sea buoy; (2) complete such work not later than the last day of the third fiscal year beginning after the enactment of this Act; (3) conduct a pilot disposal and sediment project in the Southwest Pass area to determine the cost-effectiveness of pump-out disposal operations for hopper dredges for environmental enhancement and dredged material disposal; and (4) consult with appropriate federal, state, and local agencies and stakeholders to determine the safe placement and timing of such pump-out disposal operations that protect, create, restore, and nourish coastal wetlands and aquatic habitat.

Requires: (1) all costs of such work to be treated as operation and maintenance costs, including the first costs of achieving a navigation channel of 50 feet; (2) the federal cost share of such work to be 100%; and (3) the Secretary to pay 100% of the costs of such work out of amounts made available from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund for operation and maintenance expenses.

Directs the Secretary to report to Congress on: (1) the cost and the environmental, storm damage reduction, and social benefits of the pump-out disposal operation; and (2) the total quantity of dredge material produced during operation and maintenance activities in the New Orleans District and the quantity that is beneficially used.
Topic: Transportation — Maritime
Subject: Transportation and public works
Date: 2013-04-11 00:00:00

Coast Guard Academy Opportunity Act - Modifies the Coast Guard Academy cadet nomination process by requiring that half of each incoming class be composed of cadets nominated by: (1) the Vice President or, if there is no Vice President, the President pro tempore of the Senate; (2) a Senator; (3) a Member of the House of Representatives; and (4) the various delegates to Congress, including the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico. Entitles each Senator, House Member, Delegate, and Resident Commissioner to nominate three persons each year.

Requires nominees to be citizens or nationals of the United States and meet any minimum requirements established by the Secretary of the respective department in which the Coast Guard is operating.

Directs the Superintendent of the Academy to furnish any Member of Congress, upon written request, the name of the nominating authority responsible for the nomination of any named or identified person for appointment to the Academy.
Topic: Transportation — Maritime
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2013-04-12 00:00:00

Autofill Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) establish a program to allow taxpayers to download income tax forms that are populated with tax return information (e.g., wages, withholding, and self-employment income) previously reported to the Secretary for the taxable year; (2) establish standards for data download to tax preparation software; and (3) provide on the website of the Department of the Treasury a secure function that allows a taxpayer to download, as both a printable document file and in a form suitable for input to automatic tax preparation software, the 1040, 1040A, and 1040EZ forms that are populated with tax return information previously reported to the Secretary. Establishes deadlines for reporting tax return information to the Secretary and for making such information available for populating tax returns.
Topic: Transportation — Maritime
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2013-04-12 00:00:00

Port Security Grant Act of 2013 - Extends the authorization of appropriations for the port security grant program through FY2017.
Topic: Transportation — Maritime
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2013-04-12 00:00:00

Gauging American Port Security Act or the GAPS Act - Directs the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to conduct a study of gaps in U.S. port security and submit to Congress a report (in classified form but with an unclassified annex) that includes a prioritization of such gaps and a plan for addressing them.

Directs the Secretary of DHS to: (1) share relevant information with designated points of contact from federal agencies, state, local, or tribal governments, and port system owners and operators in accordance with rules for the handling of classified information; and (2) help expedite the clearance process if a designated point of contact does not have the necessary security clearance to receive such information.
Topic: Transportation — Maritime
Subject: Transportation and public works
Date: 2013-04-23 00:00:00

Saving Essential American Sailors Act or SEAS Act - Amends the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) to repeal the Act's repeal of the agricultural export requirements that: (1) 25% of the gross tonnage of certain agricultural commodities or their products exported each fiscal year be transported on U.S. commercial vessels, and (2) the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) finance any increased ocean freight charges incurred in the transportation of such items.

Revives and reinstates those repealed requirements to read as if they were never repealed.
Topic: Transportation — Maritime
Subject: Transportation and public works
Date: 2013-05-14 00:00:00

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Amends federal shipping law to extend through October 31, 2028, the exemption of certain vessels from the requirement that U.S. passenger vessels having berth or stateroom accommodations for at least 50 passengers be constructed of fire-retardant materials in order to be granted a certificate of inspection.

Continues to apply this exemption only to vessels in operation before January 1, 1968, which operate only within the Boundary Line (the dividing point between inland waters and high seas).
Topic: Transportation — Maritime
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2013-05-20 00:00:00

Coast Guard STRONG Act - Directs the Secretary concerned (under current law, the Secretaries of the military departments) to issue regulations to ensure the timely determination of a request for a permanent change of station or unit transfer by a member of the Armed Forces who is the victim of a sexual assault or related offense (thereby including the Coast Guard within such requirement).
Topic: Transportation — Maritime
Subject: Transportation and public works
Date: 2013-05-23 00:00:00

Port Opportunity Reinvestment and Training Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) to award renewable one-year grants to ports to provide summer jobs to high school students who live within each port's Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA).

Requires the Secretary, when considering grant applications and amounts, to favor ports located in cities with high unemployment rates and also consider each port's cargo volume and the size of its MSA.

Allows ports to use the grants to provide job training to such students, provided no more than 15% of the students' time is spent training and they are compensated at their normal pay rate while training.
Topic: Transportation — Maritime
Subject: Transportation and public works
Date: 2013-06-06 00:00:00

Great Lakes Navigation System Sustainability Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, to manage and allocate funding for all commercial and recreational navigation projects in the Great Lakes Navigation System as components of a single system, recognizing the interdependence of the projects.

Directs the Secretary, acting through the Chief of Engineers, to: (1) establish a program to fund eligible operations and maintenenace projects of the System to their authorized depths and widths, and (2) give higher priority to projects at certain harbors in which a 50% non-federal share of costs of eligible operations and maintenance expenses is provided.
Topic: Transportation — Maritime
Subject: Transportation and public works
Date: 2013-07-23 00:00:00

Cruise Passenger Protection Act - Directs the Secretary to determine whether any of the enumerated rights in the international cruise line passenger bill of rights (adopted by the members of the Cruise Lines International Association) is enforceable under federal law.

Applies this Act to passenger vessels that: (1) carry at least 250 passengers, (2) have sleeping facilities for each passenger, (3) are on a voyage that embarks or disembarks passengers in the United States, (4) are not engaged in coastwise trade, and (5) are not federal- or state-owned.

Revises passenger vessel security and safety requirements concerning: (1) log book entries and reporting of deaths, missing individuals, thefts, and other crimes; and (2) placement, access to records, and notice of video surveillance equipment to monitor crime.

Directs the Secretary to maintain on a website a statistical compilation of reported incidents of missing persons, crimes, and other information for vessel passengers.

Directs the Secretary, in coordination with the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating, the Attorney General, and heads of other relevant federal agencies, to study the feasibility of having an individual on board each passenger vessel to provide victim support and related safety and security services.

Requires the Administrator of the Maritime Administration (who, currently, is merely authorized) to certify organizations in the United States and abroad that offer the curriculum for training and certification of passenger vessel security personnel, crewmembers, and law enforcement officials on the appropriate methods for prevention, detection, evidence preservation, and reporting of crimes in international waters.

Revises vessel design, equipment, construction, and retrofitting requirements.

Requires the peep hole or other means of visual identification in the entry door of a passenger stateroom or crew cabin to provide an unobstructed view of the area outside the stateroom or crew cabin.

Authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to withhold or revoke the clearance of, and the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to deny entry into the United States to, any vessel owner that: (1) commits an act or omission for which a penalty is imposed under this Act, or (2) fails to pay the penalty.
Topic: Transportation — Maritime
Subject: Transportation and public works
Date: 2013-07-25 00:00:00

Puerto Rico Interstate Commerce Improvement Act of 2013 - Amends federal shipping law to revise coastwise endorsement requirements for certain vessels that transport liquified natural gas or liquified petroleum gas to Puerto Rico from other U.S. ports.

Repeals authority to issue a certificate of documentation with a coastwise endorsement for a vessel to transport liquified natural gas or liquified petroleum gas to Puerto Rico from other ports in the United States, if the vessel: (1) is a foreign built vessel that was built before October 19, 1996; or (2) was documented before that date, even if it is placed under a foreign registry and subsequently redocumented for operation.

Exempts from coastwise endorsement requirements self-propelled vessels that transport bulk cargo, including liquified natural gas or liquified petroleum bulk cargo, to Puerto Rico from another U.S. port or from Puerto Rico to another U.S. port.
Topic: Transportation — Maritime
Subject: Transportation and public works
Date: 2013-07-31 00:00:00

Waterfront of Tomorrow Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, to study measures that provide the greatest flood protection and climate resilience for New York City coastal communities from a disaster such as Hurricane Sandy.

 Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to study the environmental impact of each major disaster that will have a significant environmental impact on U.S. waters.

Makes one of the goals of national freight policy to ensure that the socioeconomic and environmental impacts of moving cargo through a community are fully accounted for in establishing the national freight network (composed of highways, railways, navigable waterways, seaports, airports, freight intermodal connectors, and aerotropolis transportation systems most critical to the multimodal movement of freight).

Directs the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) to ensure that ports and harbors are incorporated into the national freight network.

Authorizes the Secretary of the Army to make grants to states and local governments for projects to improve port infrastructure and intermodal rail and highway networks.

Directs the Administrator of the Maritime Administration, acting jointly with the EPA Administrator, to establish a green port designation for ports that meet certain environmental standards.

Authorizes the Administrator of the Maritime Administration to provide grants and technical assistance to a designated green port to implement innovations that minimize the environmental impacts of port operations.

Directs the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Administrator of the Economic Development Administration (EDA), to make grants to states and local governments for projects to establish environmentally sustainable waterfront areas. Sets the federal share of project costs at 75%.
Topic: Transportation — Maritime
Subject: Transportation and public works
Date: 2013-08-01 00:00:00

Clean Ports Act of 2013 - Declares that federal preemption of state and local law relating to a price, route, or service of any motor carrier of property shall not apply to the authority of a state, local government, or the political authority of two or more states to adopt requirements for motor carriers providing services at port facilities that are reasonably related to the reduction of environmental pollution, traffic congestion, the improvement of highway safety, or the efficient utilization of such port facilities, provided adoption or enforcement of such requirements does not conflict with federal law.

Declares that nothing in this Act shall limit the rights reserved to any state or political subdivision of such state under the Clean Air Act.
Topic: Transportation — Maritime
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Date: 2013-10-29 00:00:00

Federal Submerged Lands Transportation Development Act - Authorizes the Commandant of the Coast Guard to lease tidelands and submerged lands under the control of the Coast Guard for periods longer than five years. (Currently, the Commandant is limited to renting or leasing real property under the Coast Guard's control for a period of up to five years, provided that such property may not be required for immediate use, with specified amounts of rental or lease monies received to be deposited in the Treasury.)
Topic: Transportation — Maritime
Subject: Transportation and public works
Date: 2013-11-13 00:00:00

Cruise Vessel Consumer Confidence Act of 2013 - Amends federal shipping law to authorize the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) to investigate, on its own initiative or upon receiving a complaint, whether the sale of a ticket to a cruise vessel passenger by a cruise vessel owner is: (1) an unfair or deceptive practice, or (2) an unfair method of competition.

Requires the FMC, in cases of an affirmative determination, to order the owner to cease such sales. Authorizes the FMC to impose a civil penalty of up to $25,000 for owners who violate such orders.

Makes it an unfair or deceptive practice for an owner that fails to make certain written disclosures before offering to sell a ticket to a passenger.

Makes it an unfair or deceptive practice for an owner offering to sell a ticket to a passenger via the Internet (electronic ticket) to require that the ticket purchaser provide a printed version of that ticket if the purchaser is able to provide appropriate identification at the time of travel.

Directs the FMC to establish a process to ensure that a passenger with a ticket for a vessel whose initial departure or final disembarkment is delayed for more than 24 hours is reimbursed by the owner in an amount that is equal to: (1) the lesser of half the ticket price or $500, if the delay is between 24 and 48 hours; or (2) the full price of the ticket, if the delay is 48 hours or more.

Requires a cruise vessel owner to: (1) submit a customer service plan to the FMC, (2) incorporate it into the ticket contract of that owner, and (3) make both of them easily available on the owner's website.

Directs the FMC to establish a process for passengers to report complaints to the FMC.

Authorizes the FMC to establish, adjust, and collect fees in ticket prices to fund implementation of this Act.
Topic: Transportation — Maritime
Subject: Environmental protection
Date: 2013-11-21 00:00:00

Water Trust Fund Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish in the Treasury a Water Infrastructure Investment Trust Fund. Appropriates to such Fund amounts equivalent to the fees received in the Treasury before January 1, 2019, under this Act.

Requires 85% of amounts in the Fund to be available to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for making capitalization grants under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act or CWA), and 15% to be available to the Secretary of the Treasury for carrying out the innovative financing program established under this Act.

Prohibits amounts in the Fund from being made available for a fiscal year unless the amount of funds appropriated to the Clean Water State Revolving Fund through annual capitalization grants is not less than the average of the annual amounts provided in capitalization grants under the CWA for the immediately preceding five-fiscal-year period.

Directs the Secretary to: (1) implement a program under which the Secretary provides a label suitable for placement on products (for a fee of three cents per unit) to inform consumers that the manufacturer, producer, or importer of the product and other stakeholders participate in the Fund and are contributing to America's clean water; and (2) deposit amounts received in the Treasury.

Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish an innovative financing program to make financial assistance available for projects eligible for assistance from a state water pollution control revolving fund established pursuant to the CWA, and (2) model the program after the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 1998 program.