Maritime Administration Authorization and Enhancement Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1439 To reauthorize activities of the Maritime Administration, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 14, 2019 Mr. WICKER (for himself and Ms. CANTWELL) 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. VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S1439.IS S1439 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1439 IS Sec. 102. Maritime Security Program. 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. Centers of excellence for domestic maritime workforce training and education. Sec. 108. Military to mariner. Sec. 109. Salvage recoveries of federally owned cargoes. Sec. 110. Salvage recoveries for subrogated ownership of vessels and cargoes. Sec. 111. Port operations, research, and technology. Sec. 112. Strategic seaports. Sec. 113. Maritime technical assistance program. Sec. 114. Requirement for small shipyard grantees. Sec. 115. Improvement of National Oceanographic Partnership Program. Sec. 116. Improvements to the maritime guaranteed loan program. Sec. 117. 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 04:01 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S1439.IS S1439 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1439 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 $95,944,000, 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, $50,280,000, of which— 21 (A) $2,400,000 shall remain available until 22 September 30, 2021, for the Student Incentive 23 Program; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1439.IS S1439 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1439 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 04:01 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1439.IS S1439 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1439 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, which shall remain avail- 19 able until expended. 20 (9) For expenses necessary to implement the 21 Port Operations, Research, and Technology Act, 22 $600,000,000, except that no funds shall be used for 23 a grant award to purchase fully automated cargo 24 handling equipment that is remotely operated or re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1439.IS S1439 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1439 IS motely monitored with or without the exercise of 1 human intervention or control, if the Secretary de- 2 termines such equipment would result in a net loss 3 of jobs that relate to the movement of goods through 4 a port and its intermodal connections. 5 SEC. 102. MARITIME SECURITY PROGRAM. 6 (a) AWARD OF OPERATING AGREEMENTS.—Section 7 53103 of title 46, United States Code, is amended by 8 striking ‘‘2025’’ each place it appears and inserting 9 ‘‘2035’’. 10 (b) EFFECTIVENESS OF OPERATING AGREE- 11 MENTS.—Section 53104(a) of title 46, United States 12 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘2025’’ and inserting 13 ‘‘2035’’. 14 (c) PAYMENTS.—Section 53106(a)(1) of title 46, 15 United States Code, is amended— 16 (1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘and’’ 17 after the semicolon; 18 (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking 19 ‘‘$3,700,000 for each of fiscal years 2022, 2023, 20 2024, and 2025.’’ and inserting ‘‘$5,233,463 for 21 each of fiscal years 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025; 22 and’’; and 23 (3) by adding at the end the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1439.IS S1439 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1439 IS ‘‘(D) $5,233,463 for each of fiscal years 1 2026 through 2035.’’. 2 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 3 53111 of title 46, United States Code, is amended— 4 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 5 the semicolon; 6 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking 7 ‘‘$222,000,000 for each fiscal year thereafter 8 through fiscal year 2025.’’ and inserting 9 ‘‘$314,007,780 for each of fiscal years 2022, 2023, 10 2024, and 2025; and’’; and 11 (3) by adding at the end the following: 12 ‘‘(4) $314,007,780 for each of fiscal years 2026 13 through 2035.’’. 14 SEC. 103. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION INSPECTOR 15 GENERAL REPORT. 16 The Inspector General of the Department of Trans- 17 portation shall— 18 (1) not later than 180 days after the date of 19 enactment of this Act, initiate an audit of the Mari- 20 time Administration’s actions to address the 27 rec- 21 ommendations for improvement identified by a Na- 22 tional Academy of Public Administration panel in a 23 November 2017 report; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1439.IS S1439 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1439 IS (2) submit to the Committee on Commerce, 1 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the 2 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of 3 the House of Representatives a report containing the 4 results of that audit once the audit is completed. 5 SEC. 104. AUTHORITY FOR MARAD TO RETAIN FOREIGN 6 STUDENT TUITION REIMBURSEMENT. 7 Section 51304 of title 46, United States Code, is 8 amended by adding at the end the following: 9 ‘‘(e) CREDIT OF REIMBURSEMENT.—Reimburse- 10 ments under this section shall be credited to the Maritime 11 Administration’s Operations and Training appropriation, 12 to remain available until expended, for use only for those 13 expenses related to the operations of the United States 14 Merchant Marine Academy.’’. 15 SEC. 105. APPOINTMENT OF CANDIDATES ATTENDING 16 SPONSORED PREPARATORY SCHOOL. 17 Section 51303 of title 46, United States Code, is 18 amended— 19 (1) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and inserting 20 the following: 21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary’’; and 22 (2) by adding at the end the following: 23 ‘‘(b) APPOINTMENT OF CANDIDATES SELECTED FOR 24 PREPARATORY SCHOOL SPONSORSHIP.—The Secretary of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1439.IS S1439 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1439 IS Transportation may appoint each year as cadets at the 1 United States Merchant Marine Academy not more than 2 40 qualified individuals sponsored by the Academy to at- 3 tend preparatory school during the academic year prior 4 to entrance in the Academy, and who have successfully 5 met the terms and conditions of sponsorship set by the 6 Academy.’’. 7 SEC. 106. INDEPENDENT STUDY ON THE UNITED STATES 8 MERCHANT MARINE ACADEMY. 9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 10 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transpor- 11 tation shall seek to enter into an agreement with the Na- 12 tional Academy of Public Administration (referred to in 13 this section as the ‘‘Academy’’) to carry out the activities 14 described in this section. 15 (b) STUDY ELEMENTS.—In accordance with the 16 agreement described in subsection (a), the Academy shall 17 conduct a study of the United States Merchant Marine 18 Academy that consists of the following: 19 (1) A comprehensive assessment of the United 20 States Merchant Marine Academy’s systems, train- 21 ing, facilities, infrastructure, information technology, 22 and stakeholder engagement. 23 (2) Identification of needs and opportunities for 24 modernization to help the United States Merchant 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1439.IS S1439 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1439 IS Marine Academy keep pace with more modern cam- 1 puses. 2 (3) Development of an action plan for the 3 United States Merchant Marine Academy with spe- 4 cific recommendations for— 5 (A) improvements or updates relating to 6 the opportunities described in paragraph (2); 7 and 8 (B) systemic changes needed to help the 9 United States Merchant Marine Academy 10 achieve its mission of inspiring and educating 11 the next generation of the mariner workforce on 12 a long-term basis. 13 (c) DEADLINE AND REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 14 after the date of the agreement described in subsection 15 (a), the Academy shall prepare and submit to the Adminis- 16 trator of the Maritime Administration a report containing 17 the action plan described in subsection (b)(3), including 18 specific findings and recommendations. 19 SEC. 107. CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE FOR DOMESTIC MARI- 20 TIME WORKFORCE TRAINING AND EDU- 21 CATION. 22 Section 54102 of title 46, United States Code, is 23 amended— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1439.IS S1439 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1439 IS (1) in subsection (b), by inserting ‘‘or sub- 1 section (d)’’ after ‘‘designated under subsection (a)’’; 2 and 3 (2) by adding at the end the following: 4 ‘‘(d) STATE MARITIME ACADEMY.—The Secretary of 5 Transportation shall designate each State maritime acad- 6 emy, as defined in section 51102(4) of this title, as a cen- 7 ter of excellence under this section.’’. 8 SEC. 108. MILITARY TO MARINER. 9 (a) CREDENTIALING SUPPORT.—Not later than 1 10 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 11 of Defense, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Sec- 12 retary of Commerce, and the Secretary of Health and 13 Human Services, with respect to the applicable services 14 in their respective departments, and in coordination with 15 one another and with the United States Committee on the 16 Marine Transportation System, shall, consistent with ap- 17 plicable law, identify all training and experience within the 18 applicable service that may qualify for merchant mariner 19 credentialing, and submit a list of all identified training 20 and experience to the United States Coast Guard National 21 Maritime Center for a determination of whether such 22 training and experience counts for credentialing purposes. 23 (b) REVIEW OF APPLICABLE SERVICE.—The United 24 States Coast Guard Commandant shall make a determina- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1439.IS S1439 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1439 IS tion of whether training and experience counts for 1 credentialing purposes, as described in subsection (a), not 2 l [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]