Small Passenger Vessel Safety Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 3042 To amend title 46, United States Code, to require the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to prescribe additional regulations to secure the safety of individuals and property on board certain small passenger vessels, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES DECEMBER 12, 2019 Mrs. FEINSTEIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To amend title 46, United States Code, to require the Sec- retary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to prescribe additional regulations to secure the safety of individuals and property on board certain small passenger vessels, 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 ‘‘Small Passenger Vessel 4 Safety Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Dec 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3042.IS S3042 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3042 IS SEC. 2. REGULATIONS FOR COVERED SMALL PASSENGER 1 VESSELS. 2 Section 3306 of title 46, United States Code, is 3 amended— 4 (1) in subsection (a)— 5 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 6 by inserting ‘‘, including covered small pas- 7 senger vessels (as defined in subsection (n)(5))’’ 8 after ‘‘vessels subject to inspection’’; and 9 (B) in paragraph (5), by inserting before 10 the period at the end ‘‘, including rechargeable 11 devices utilized for personal or commercial elec- 12 tronic equipment’’; and 13 (2) by adding at the end the following: 14 ‘‘(n) ADDITIONAL REGULATIONS FOR COVERED 15 SMALL PASSENGER VESSELS.— 16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall pre- 17 scribe additional regulations to secure the safety of 18 individuals and property on board covered small pas- 19 senger vessels. 20 ‘‘(2) COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW.—The regula- 21 tions prescribed under paragraph (1) shall include 22 the provision of a comprehensive review of all re- 23 quirements for covered small passenger vessels, in- 24 cluding calculations, with respect to fire detection, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Dec 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3042.IS S3042 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3042 IS protection, and suppression systems on board such 1 vessels. 2 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.—The regulations pre- 3 scribed under paragraph (1) shall include each of 4 the following requirements for covered small pas- 5 senger vessels: 6 ‘‘(A) Requirements for the addition of 7 interconnected fire detection, protection, and 8 suppression equipment, including fire extin- 9 guishers, in all areas on board such vessels to 10 which passengers have access, including dining 11 areas, sleeping quarters, and lounges. 12 ‘‘(B) Requirements to increase fire detec- 13 tion, protection, and suppression systems on 14 board such vessels in unmanned areas with ma- 15 chinery or areas with other potential heat 16 sources. 17 ‘‘(C) Requirements for fire detection, sup- 18 pression, and control in all areas on board such 19 vessels to which passengers have access, includ- 20 ing dining areas, sleeping quarters, and 21 lounges. 22 ‘‘(D) Requirements for all such vessels to 23 have not less than 2 avenues of escape from all 24 general areas accessible to passengers. Such 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Dec 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3042.IS S3042 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3042 IS avenues of escape shall be located so that if one 1 avenue is not available another avenue may be 2 available. 3 ‘‘(E) Requirements, including increased 4 standards, for marine firefighting training pro- 5 grams with respect to such vessels to improve 6 crewmember training and proficiency. Such pro- 7 grams shall— 8 ‘‘(i) include training regarding ship- 9 board marine firefighting operations; and 10 ‘‘(ii) be reviewed and maintained by a 11 third party contractor approved by the 12 Commandant. 13 ‘‘(F) Requirements for handling, storage, 14 and operation of flammable items, such as lith- 15 ium ion batteries, on board such vessels. 16 ‘‘(4) INTERIM POLICIES.—To the maximum ex- 17 tent practicable, the Secretary shall implement in- 18 terim policies to, prior to the issuance by the Sec- 19 retary of final regulations prescribed under para- 20 graph (1), apply the requirements under paragraph 21 (3) to covered small passenger vessels. 22 ‘‘(5) DEFINITION OF COVERED SMALL PAS- 23 SENGER VESSEL.—In this subsection, the term ‘cov- 24 ered small passenger vessel’— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Dec 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3042.IS S3042 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3042 IS ‘‘(A) means a small passenger vessel 1 that— 2 ‘‘(i) is less than 100 gross tons as 3 measured under section 14502 of this title, 4 or an alternate tonnage measured under 5 section 14302 of this title as prescribed by 6 the Secretary under section 14104 of this 7 title; and 8 ‘‘(ii) is carrying— 9 ‘‘(I) for overnight domestic voy- 10 ages, not more than 49 passengers; 11 and 12 ‘‘(II) for all other voyages, not 13 more than 150 passengers; and 14 ‘‘(B) includes any wooden vessel con- 15 structed prior to March 11, 1996, that carries 16 passengers on overnight domestic voyages.’’. 17 SEC. 3. SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM TO INCLUDE ALL 18 SMALL PASSENGER VESSELS. 19 Title 46, United States Code, is amended— 20 (1) in section 3202(b)— 21 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and 22 (2) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, 23 and indenting appropriately; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Dec 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3042.IS S3042 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3042 IS (B) by striking ‘‘This chapter’’ and insert- 1 ing the following: 2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—This chapter;’’; and 3 (C) by adding at the end the following: 4 ‘‘(2) SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.—Notwith- 5 standing any other provision in this chapter, includ- 6 ing paragraph (1)(B), the regulations issued under 7 section 3203, including the safety management sys- 8 tem established by such regulations, shall apply to 9 all small passenger vessels.’’; and 10 (2) in section 3203(a), by inserting ‘‘(including, 11 for purposes of this section, all small passenger ves- 12 sels)’’ after ‘‘vessels to which this chapter applies’’. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Dec 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3042.IS S3042 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS