Maritime Administration Authorization and Enhancement Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1417 To reauthorize activities of the Maritime Administration, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 9, 2019 Mr. WICKER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To reauthorize activities of the Maritime Administration, 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 ‘‘Maritime Administra- 4 tion Authorization and Enhancement Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 6 The table of contents of the Act is as follows: 7 Sec. 1. Short title. Sec. 2. Table of contents. TITLE I—MARITIME ADMINISTRATION Sec. 101. Authorization of the Maritime Administration. Sec. 102. Authorization of the Military Sealift Program. VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S1417.IS S1417 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1417 IS Sec. 103. Department of Transportation Inspector General Report. Sec. 104. Authority for MARAD to retain foreign student tuition reimburse- ment. Sec. 105. Appointment of candidates attending sponsored preparatory school. Sec. 106. Independent study on the United States Merchant Marine Academy. Sec. 107. Military to mariner. Sec. 108. Salvage recoveries of federally owned cargoes. Sec. 109. Salvage recoveries for subrogated ownership of vessels and cargoes. Sec. 110. Port operations, research, and technology. Sec. 111. Strategic seaports. Sec. 112. Maritime technical assistance program. Sec. 113. Domestic ship recycling facilities. Sec. 114. Improvement of National Oceanographic Partnership Program. Sec. 115. Improvements to the maritime guaranteed loan program. Sec. 116. Technical corrections. TITLE II—MARITIME SAFE ACT Sec. 201. Short title. Sec. 202. Definitions. Sec. 203. Findings. Sec. 204. Purposes. Sec. 205. Statement of policy. Subtitle A—Programs To Combat IUU Fishing and Increase Maritime Security Sec. 211. Coordination with international organizations. Sec. 212. Engagement of diplomatic missions of the United States. Sec. 213. Assistance by Federal agencies to improve law enforcement within priority regions and priority flag states. Sec. 214. Expansion of existing mechanisms to combat IUU fishing. Sec. 215. Improvement of transparency and traceability programs. Sec. 216. Technology programs. Sec. 217. Information sharing. Subtitle B—Establishment of Interagency Working Group on IUU Fishing Sec. 221. Interagency Working Group on IUU Fishing. Sec. 222. Strategic plan. Sec. 223. Reports. Sec. 224. Gulf of Mexico IUU Fishing Subworking Group. Subtitle C—Authorization of Appropriations Sec. 231. Authorization of appropriations. VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S1417.IS S1417 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1417 IS TITLE I—MARITIME 1 ADMINISTRATION 2 SEC. 101. AUTHORIZATION OF THE MARITIME ADMINISTRA- 3 TION. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro- 5 priated to the Department of Transportation for fiscal 6 year 2020, to be available without fiscal year limitation 7 if so provided in appropriations Acts, for programs associ- 8 ated with maintaining the United States Merchant Ma- 9 rine, the following amounts: 10 (1) For expenses necessary for operations of the 11 United States Merchant Marine Academy, 12 $88,593,000, of which— 13 (A) $77,944,000 shall remain available 14 until September 30, 2021, for Academy oper- 15 ations; and 16 (B) $18,000,000 shall remain available 17 until expended for capital asset management at 18 the Academy. 19 (2) For expenses necessary to support the State 20 maritime academies, $32,200,000, of which— 21 (A) $2,400,000 shall remain available until 22 September 30, 2020, for the Student Incentive 23 Program; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1417.IS S1417 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1417 IS (B) $6,000,000 shall remain available until 1 expended for direct payments to such acad- 2 emies; 3 (C) $30,080,000 shall remain available 4 until expended for maintenance and repair of 5 State maritime academy training vessels; 6 (D) $3,800,000 shall remain available until 7 expended for training ship fuel assistance; and 8 (E) $8,000,000 shall remain available until 9 expended for offsetting the costs of training 10 ship sharing. 11 (3) For expenses necessary to support the Na- 12 tional Security Multi-Mission Vessel Program, 13 $300,000,000, which shall remain available until ex- 14 pended. 15 (4) For expenses necessary to support Maritime 16 Administration operations and programs, 17 $60,442,000, of which $5,000,000 shall remain 18 available until expended for activities authorized 19 under section 50307 of title 46, United States Code. 20 (5) For expenses necessary to dispose of vessels 21 in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, $5,000,000, 22 which shall remain available until expended. 23 (6) For expenses necessary to maintain and 24 preserve a United States flag Merchant Marine to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1417.IS S1417 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1417 IS serve the national security needs of the United 1 States under chapter 531 of title 46, United States 2 Code, $300,000,000, which shall remain available 3 until expended. 4 (7) For expenses necessary for the loan guar- 5 antee program authorized under chapter 537 of title 6 46, United States Code, $33,000,000, of which— 7 (A) $30,000,000 may be used for the cost 8 (as defined in section 502(5) of the Federal 9 Credit Reform Act of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 661a(5))) 10 of loan guarantees under the program, which 11 shall remain available until expended; and 12 (B) $3,000,000 may be used for adminis- 13 trative expenses relating to loan guarantee com- 14 mitments under the program. 15 (8) For expenses necessary to provide assist- 16 ance to small shipyards and for maritime training 17 programs under section 54101 of title 46, United 18 States Code, $40,000,000. 19 (9) For expenses necessary to implement the 20 Port Operations, Research, and Technology Act, 21 $292,730,000. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1417.IS S1417 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1417 IS SEC. 102. AUTHORIZATION OF THE MILITARY SEALIFT PRO- 1 GRAM. 2 (a) AWARD OF OPERATING AGREEMENTS.—Section 3 53103 of title 46, United States Code, is amended by 4 striking ‘‘2025’’ each place it appears and inserting 5 ‘‘2035’’. 6 (b) EFFECTIVENESS OF OPERATING AGREE- 7 MENTS.—Section 53104(a) of title 46, United States 8 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘2025’’ and inserting 9 ‘‘2035’’. 10 (c) PAYMENTS.—Section 53106(a)(1) of title 46, 11 United States Code, is amended— 12 (1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘and’’ 13 after the semicolon; 14 (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking 15 ‘‘$3,700,000 for each of fiscal years 2022, 2023, 16 2024, and 2025.’’ and inserting ‘‘$5,233,463 for 17 each of fiscal years 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025; 18 and’’; and 19 (3) by adding at the end the following: 20 ‘‘(D) $ 5,233,463 for each of fiscal years 21 2026 through 2035.’’. 22 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 23 53111 of title 46, United States Code, is amended— 24 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 25 the semicolon; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1417.IS S1417 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1417 IS (2) in paragraph (3), by striking 1 ‘‘$222,000,000 for each fiscal year thereafter 2 through fiscal year 2025.’’ and inserting 3 ‘‘$314,007,780 for each of fiscal years 2022, 2023, 4 2024, and 2025; and’’; and 5 (3) by adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘(4) $314,007,780 for each of fiscal years 2026 7 through 2035.’’. 8 SEC. 103. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION INSPECTOR 9 GENERAL REPORT. 10 The Inspector General of the Department of Trans- 11 portation shall— 12 (1) not later than 180 days after the date of 13 enactment of this Act, initiate an audit of the Mari- 14 time Administration’s actions to address the 27 rec- 15 ommendations for improvement identified by a Na- 16 tional Academy of Public Administration panel in a 17 November 2017 report; and 18 (2) submit to the Committee on Commerce, 19 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the 20 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of 21 the House of Representatives a report containing the 22 results of that audit once the audit is completed. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1417.IS S1417 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1417 IS SEC. 104. AUTHORITY FOR MARAD TO RETAIN FOREIGN 1 STUDENT TUITION REIMBURSEMENT. 2 Section 51304 of title 46, United States Code, is 3 amended by adding at the end the following: 4 ‘‘(e) CREDIT OF REIMBURSEMENT.—Reimburse- 5 ments under this section shall be credited to the Maritime 6 Administration’s Operations and Training appropriation, 7 to remain available until expended, for use only for those 8 expenses related to the operations of the United States 9 Merchant Marine Academy.’’. 10 SEC. 105. APPOINTMENT OF CANDIDATES ATTENDING 11 SPONSORED PREPARATORY SCHOOL. 12 Section 51303 of title 46, United States Code, is 13 amended— 14 (1) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and inserting 15 the following: 16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary’’; and 17 (2) by adding at the end the following: 18 ‘‘(b) APPOINTMENT OF CANDIDATES SELECTED FOR 19 PREPARATORY SCHOOL SPONSORSHIP.—The Secretary of 20 Transportation may appoint each year as cadets at the 21 United States Merchant Marine Academy not more than 22 40 qualified individuals sponsored by the Academy to at- 23 tend preparatory school during the academic year prior 24 to entrance in the Academy, and who have successfully 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1417.IS S1417 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1417 IS met the terms and conditions of sponsorship set by the 1 Academy.’’. 2 SEC. 106. INDEPENDENT STUDY ON THE UNITED STATES 3 MERCHANT MARINE ACADEMY. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 5 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transpor- 6 tation shall seek to enter into an agreement with the Na- 7 tional Academy of Public Administration (referred to in 8 this section as the ‘‘Academy’’) to carry out the activities 9 described in this section. 10 (b) STUDY ELEMENTS.—In accordance with the 11 agreement described in subsection (a), the Academy shall 12 conduct a study of the United States Merchant Marine 13 Academy that consists of the following: 14 (1) A comprehensive assessment of the United 15 States Merchant Marine Academy’s systems, train- 16 ing, facilities, infrastructure, information technology, 17 and stakeholder engagement. 18 (2) Identification of needs and opportunities for 19 modernization to help the United States Merchant 20 Marine Academy keep pace with more modern cam- 21 puses. 22 (3) Development of an action plan for the 23 United States Merchant Marine Academy with spe- 24 cific recommendations for— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1417.IS S1417 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1417 IS (A) improvements or updates relating to 1 the opportunities described in paragraph (2); 2 and 3 (B) systematic changes needed to help the 4 United States Merchant Marine Academy 5 achieve its mission of inspiring and educating 6 the next generation of the mariner workforce on 7 a long-term basis. 8 (c) DEADLINE AND REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 9 after the date of the agreement described in subsection 10 (a), the Academy shall prepare and submit to the Mari- 11 time Administrator a report containing the action plan de- 12 scribed in subsection (b)(3), including specific findings 13 and recommendations. 14 SEC. 107. MILITARY TO MARINER. 15 (a) CREDENTIALING SUPPORT.—Not later than 1 16 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 17 of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security, with 18 respect to the applicable services in their respective de- 19 partments, and in coordination with one another and with 20 the United States Committee on the Marine Transpor- 21 tation System, shall, consistent with applicable law, iden- 22 tify all military training and experience within the applica- 23 ble service that may qualify for merchant mariner 24 credentialing, and submit a list of all identified military 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1417.IS S1417 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1417 IS training and experience to the United States Coast Guard 1 National Maritime Center for a determination of whether 2 such training and experience counts for credentialing pur- 3 poses. 4 (b) REVIEW OF APPLICABLE SERVICE.—The United 5 States Coast Guard Commandant shall make a determina- 6 tion of whether training and experience counts for 7 credentialing purposes, as described in subsection (a), not 8 later than 6 months after the date on which the United 9 States Coast Guard National Maritime Center receives a 10 submission under subsection (a) identifying a training or 11 experience and requesting such a determination. 12 (c) FEES AND SERVICES.—The Secretary of Defense 13 and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall— 14 (1) take all necessary and appropriate actions 15 to provide for the waiver of fees through the Na- 16 tional Maritime Center license evaluation, issuance, 17 and examination for members of the uniformed serv- 18 ice on active duty, if a waiver is authorized and ap- 19 propriate, and, if a waiver is not granted, take all 20 necessary and appropriate actions to provide for the 21 payment of fees for members of the uniformed serv- 22 ice on active duty by the applicable service to the 23 fullest extent permitted by law; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1417.IS S1417 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1417 IS (2) direct the applicable services to take all nec- 1 essary and appropriate actions to pay for Transpor- 2 tation Worker Identification Credential cards for 3 members of the uniformed service on active duty 4 pursuing or possessing a mariner credential; 5 (3) ensure that members of the appli [Text truncated for display. 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