I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1561 To amend title 14, United States Code, to require the Coast Guard to conduct icebreaking operations in the Great Lakes to minimize commer- cial disruption in the winter months, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 3, 2021 Mr. GALLAGHER (for himself, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. GIBBS, Mrs. DINGELL, Mrs. MCCLAIN, Mr. BERGMAN, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. HUIZENGA, Mr. JOYCE of Ohio, and Mr. STAUBER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To amend title 14, United States Code, to require the Coast Guard to conduct icebreaking operations in the Great Lakes to minimize commercial disruption in the winter months, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Great Lakes Winter 4 Commerce Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1561.IH H1561 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1561 IH SEC. 2. GREAT LAKES ICEBREAKING OPERATIONS. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter IV of chapter 5 of 2 title 14, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 3 end the following: 4 ‘‘§ 564. Great Lakes icebreaking operations 5 ‘‘(a) ICEBREAKING OPERATIONS.—The Commandant 6 shall conduct icebreaking operations in the Great Lakes 7 in accordance with the standard for icebreaking operations 8 under subsection (b). 9 ‘‘(b) STANDARD FOR ICEBREAKING OPERATIONS.— 10 In carrying out subsection (a)— 11 ‘‘(1) except as provided in paragraph (2), the 12 Commandant shall keep ice-covered waterways in the 13 Great Lakes open to navigation not less than 90 14 percent of the hours that commercial vessels and fer- 15 ries attempt to transit such ice-covered waterways; 16 and 17 ‘‘(2) in a year in which the Great Lakes are not 18 open to navigation because of ice of a thickness that 19 occurs on average only once every 10 years, the 20 Coast Guard shall keep ice-covered waterways in the 21 Great Lakes open to navigation at least 70 percent 22 of the hours that commercial vessels and ferries at- 23 tempt to transit such ice-covered waterways. 24 ‘‘(c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1561.IH H1561 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1561 IH ‘‘(1) DEADLINE.—Not later than July 1 of each 1 year, the Commandant shall submit to Congress a 2 report on the icebreaking operations conducted by 3 the Coast Guard in the Great Lakes for the fiscal 4 year. 5 ‘‘(2) CONTENT.—The report required under 6 paragraph (1) shall include the total number of 7 hours that United States icebreakers conducted 8 icebreaking operations in each of the types of Great 9 Lakes waters described in paragraph (3) and the 10 total number of hours that Canadian icebreakers 11 conducted icebreaking operations in the type of 12 Great Lakes waters described in subparagraphs 13 (3)(A) and (3)(C). 14 ‘‘(3) TYPES OF GREAT LAKES WATERS.—The 15 types of waters described in this paragraph are— 16 ‘‘(A) United States waters, excluding 17 waters described in subparagraph (C); 18 ‘‘(B) Canadian waters, excluding waters 19 described in subparagraph (C); and 20 ‘‘(C) frequent border crossing waters. 21 ‘‘(d) COORDINATION WITH INDUSTRY.—The Com- 22 mandant shall coordinate Great Lakes icebreaking oper- 23 ations with operators of commercial vessels. 24 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1561.IH H1561 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1561 IH ‘‘(1) COMMERCIAL VESSEL.—The term ‘com- 1 mercial vessel’ means any privately owned cargo ves- 2 sel of at least 500 tons, as measured under section 3 14502 of title 46 or an alternate tonnage measured 4 under section 14302 of such title as prescribed by 5 the Secretary under section 14104 of such title, op- 6 erating in the Great Lakes during the winter season. 7 ‘‘(2) GREAT LAKES.—The term ‘Great 8 Lakes’— 9 ‘‘(A) has the meaning given such term in 10 section 118 of the Federal Water Pollution 11 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1268); and 12 ‘‘(B) includes harbors. 13 ‘‘(3) ICE-COVERED WATERWAY.—The term ‘ice- 14 covered waterway’ means any portion of the Great 15 Lakes in which commercial vessels operate that is 70 16 percent or greater covered by ice, but does not in- 17 clude any waters adjacent to piers or docks for 18 which commercial icebreaking services are available 19 and adequate for the ice conditions. 20 ‘‘(4) OPEN TO NAVIGATION.—The term ‘open to 21 navigation’ means navigable to the extent necessary 22 to meet the reasonable demands of commerce, mini- 23 mize delays to passenger ferries, extricate vessels 24 and persons from danger, prevent damage due to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1561.IH H1561 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1561 IH flooding, and conduct other Coast Guard missions as 1 required. 2 ‘‘(5) REASONABLE DEMANDS OF COMMERCE.— 3 The term ‘reasonable demands of commerce’ means 4 the safe movement of commercial vessels transiting 5 ice-covered waterways in the Great Lakes, regardless 6 of type of cargo, at a speed consistent with the de- 7 sign capability of Coast Guard icebreakers operating 8 in the Great Lakes. 9 ‘‘(6) FREQUENT BORDER CROSSING WATERS.— 10 The term ‘frequent border crossing waters’ means 11 the United States waters and Canadian waters of— 12 ‘‘(A) Whitefish Bay in Lake Superior; 13 ‘‘(B) the St. Mary’s River; 14 ‘‘(C) the Detroit and St. Clair rivers sys- 15 tem; and 16 ‘‘(D) Western Lake Erie from the Detroit 17 River to Pelee Passage.’’. 18 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of analysis 19 for chapter 5 of title 14, United States Code, is amended 20 by adding at the end the following: 21 ‘‘564. Great Lakes icebreaking operations.’’. (c) REPORT.—Not later than the first July 1 after 22 the first winter in which the Commandant of the Coast 23 Guard is subject to the requirements of section 564 of title 24 14, United States Code, the Commandant shall submit to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1561.IH H1561 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1561 IH the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of 1 the House of Representatives and the Committee on Com- 2 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report 3 on the cost to the Coast Guard of meeting the require- 4 ments of such section. 5 SEC. 3. GREAT LAKES ICEBREAKER ACQUISITION. 6 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—Section 8107(a) of the Elijah 7 E. Cummings Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2020 8 (Public law 116–283) is amended by striking 9 ‘‘$160,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$350,000,000’’. 10 (b) EXEMPTION.—Notwithstanding sections 11 1105(a)(2), 1131, and 1132 of title 14, United States 12 Code, and the requirements in the Competition in Con- 13 tracting Act (10 U.S.C. 2304), and subject to the avail- 14 ability of appropriations, the Commandant shall acquire 15 the icebreaker described in section 8107(a) of the Elijah 16 E. Cummings Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2020 17 (Public law 116–283) through other than full and open 18 competition in an accelerated timeframe and award the 19 contract on the basis of contractor qualification and price. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1561.IH H1561 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS