Noncontiguous Shipping Relief Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5498 To amend title 46, United States Code, to allow transportation of merchandise in noncontiguous trade on foreign-flag vessels, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 19, 2019 Mr. CASE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with- in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend title 46, United States Code, to allow transpor- tation of merchandise in noncontiguous trade on foreign- flag 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 ‘‘Noncontiguous Ship- 4 ping Relief Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. TRANSPORTATION OF CERTAIN MERCHANDISE. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 55102 of title 46, United 7 States Code, is amended by redesignating subsection (c) 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:14 Dec 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5498.IH H5498 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5498 IH as subsection (d) and by inserting after subsection (b) the 1 following: 2 ‘‘(c) NONCONTIGUOUS TRADE EXEMPTION.— 3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (b) shall not 4 apply with respect to transportation in noncontig- 5 uous trade of merchandise on a foreign qualified 6 freight vessel for which the Secretary of Transpor- 7 tation has issued a certificate of documentation 8 under chapter 121. 9 ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of paragraph 10 (1): 11 ‘‘(A) FOREIGN QUALIFIED FREIGHT VES- 12 SEL.—The term ‘foreign qualified freight vessel’ 13 means a freight vessel (as that term is defined 14 in section 2101) of not less than 1,000 gross 15 tons that— 16 ‘‘(i) was not built in the United States 17 (or if rebuilt, not rebuilt in the United 18 States); 19 ‘‘(ii) is registered in a foreign country; 20 and 21 ‘‘(iii) employs United States citizens 22 to the extent required of vessels registered 23 under section 12102. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:14 Dec 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5498.IH H5498 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5498 IH ‘‘(B) NONCONTIGUOUS TRADE.—The term 1 ‘noncontiguous trade’ has the meaning given to 2 such term in section 53501.’’. 3 (b) COASTWISE ENDORSEMENTS.—Section 4 12112(a)(2)(B) of title 46, United States Code, is amend- 5 ed— 6 (1) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘or’’; 7 (2) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘and’’ and insert- 8 ing ‘‘or’’; and 9 (3) by adding at the end the following: 10 ‘‘(iv) is a foreign qualified freight vessel 11 (as defined in section 55102(c)) used for trans- 12 portation referred to in section 55102(c) for 13 which the Secretary of Transportation has 14 issued a certificate of documentation.’’. 15 (c) FOREIGN TRANSFER.—Section 56101(a)(2) of 16 title 46, United States Code, is amended— 17 (1) by striking ‘‘Paragraph (1)(A)’’ and insert- 18 ing: 19 ‘‘(A) Paragraph (1)(A)’’; and 20 (2) by adding at the end the following: 21 ‘‘(B) Paragraph (1) does not apply with 22 respect to a foreign qualified freight vessel (as 23 defined in section 55102(c)) for which the Sec- 24 retary has issued a certificate of documentation 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:55 Dec 31, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5498.IH H5498 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5498 IH after the date of enactment of this Act and that 1 is used solely for transportation referred to in 2 section 55102(c) may be placed under foreign 3 registry without the approval of the Secretary 4 at any time after that vessel is issued a certifi- 5 cate of documentation. At such time as that 6 vessel is placed under foreign registry, the Sec- 7 retary shall revoke the certificate of documenta- 8 tion issued by the Secretary.’’. 9 SEC. 3. CITIZENSHIP AND TRANSFER PROVISIONS. 10 (a) CITIZENSHIP OF CORPORATIONS, PARTNERSHIPS, 11 AND ASSOCIATIONS.—Section 50501 of title 46, United 12 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 13 lowing: 14 ‘‘(e)(1) EXCEPTIONS.—The following provisions of 15 this section shall not apply to a foreign qualified freight 16 vessel used for transportation referred to in section 17 55102(c)(2)(B): 18 ‘‘(A) Paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection 19 (b). 20 ‘‘(B) Subsection (c). 21 ‘‘(2) In paragraph (1) the term ‘foreign quali- 22 fied freight vessel’ has the meaning given that term 23 in section 55102(c).’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:14 Dec 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5498.IH H5498 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5498 IH (b) APPROVAL OF TRANSFER OF REGISTRY OR OP- 1 ERATION UNDER AUTHORITY OF A FOREIGN COUNTRY OR 2 FOR SCRAPPING IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY; PENALTIES.— 3 Section 56101 of title 46, United States Code, is amended 4 by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(f) TRANSFER OF FOREIGN VESSELS.—To promote 6 the transfer of foreign vessels to be documented under 7 chapter 121 of this title for use for transportation referred 8 to in section 55102(c)(2)(B) of this title, the Secretary 9 may grant approval under subsection (a) with respect to 10 such a vessel before the date the vessel is documented. 11 ‘‘(g) FOREIGN QUALIFIED FREIGHT VESSEL.—In 12 subsections (f) and (g), the term ‘foreign qualified freight 13 vessel’ has the meaning given that term in section 14 55102(c) of this title.’’. 15 SEC. 4. LABOR PROVISIONS. 16 (a) LIABILITY FOR INJURY OR DEATH OF MASTER 17 OR CREW MEMBER.—Section 30104 of title 46, United 18 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 19 lowing: ‘‘In an action brought under this section against 20 a defendant employer that does not reside or maintain an 21 office in the United States (including any territory or pos- 22 session of the United States) and that engages in any en- 23 terprise that makes use of one or more ports in the United 24 States (as defined in section 2101 of this title) jurisdiction 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:14 Dec 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5498.IH H5498 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5498 IH shall be under the district court most proximate to the 1 place of the occurrence of the personal injury or death that 2 is the subject of the action.’’. 3 (b) ELECTION TO UNDER PARTICIPATE LONGSHORE 4 AND HARBOR WORKERS’ COMPENSATION ACT.—Section 5 30104 of title 46, United States Code, as amended by sub- 6 section (a), is amended— 7 (1) by striking ‘‘A seaman’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) 8 IN GENERAL.— A seaman’’; and 9 (2) by adding at the end the following: 10 ‘‘(b)(1) PARTICIPATION IN AN AUTHORIZED COM- 11 PENSATION PLAN.—The employer of a master or member 12 of the crew of a vessel may participate in an authorized 13 compensation plan under the Longshore and Harbor 14 Workers’ Compensation Act (33 U.S.C. 901 et seq.). An 15 employer that participates in such a plan is subject to such 16 Act. 17 ‘‘(2) If an employer participates in an authorized 18 compensation plan under such Act under paragraph (1)— 19 ‘‘(A) a master or crew member employed by 20 that employer shall be considered to be an employee 21 for the purposes of that Act; and 22 ‘‘(B) the liability of that employer under that 23 Act to the master or crew member, or to any person 24 otherwise entitled to recover damages from the em- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:14 Dec 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5498.IH H5498 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 5498 IH ployer based on the injury, disability, or death of the 1 master or crew member, shall be exclusive and in 2 lieu of all other liability.’’. 3 (c) MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS.—All vessels, whether 4 documented in the United States or not, operating in the 5 coastwise trade of the United States shall be subject to 6 minimum international labor standards for seafarers 7 under international agreements in force for the United 8 States, as determined by the Secretary of Transportation 9 on the advice of the Secretaries of Labor and Defense. 10 SEC. 5. REGULATIONS REGARDING VESSELS. 11 (a) APPLICABLE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS.—Except 12 as provided in subsection (b), the minimum requirements 13 for vessels engaging in the transportation of cargo or mer- 14 chandise in the United States coastwise trade shall be the 15 recognized international standards in force for the United 16 States (as determined by the Secretary of the department 17 in which the Coast Guard is operating, in consultation 18 with any other official of the Federal Government that the 19 Secretary determines to be appropriate). 20 (b) CONSISTENCY IN APPLICATION OF STAND- 21 ARDS.—In any case in which any minimum requirement 22 for vessels referred to in subsection (a) establishes a lower 23 standard than a minimum that is applicable to vessels that 24 are documented in a foreign country and that are admit- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:14 Dec 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5498.IH H5498 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 5498 IH ted to engage in the transportation of cargo and merchan- 1 dise in the United States coastwise trade, the standard 2 applicable to such vessels that are documented in a foreign 3 country shall be the standard to be applied to United 4 States documented vessels. 5 SEC. 6. ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS. 6 All vessels, whether documented under the laws of the 7 United States or not, engaging in the United States coast- 8 wise trade shall comply with all applicable United States 9 and international environmental standards in force for the 10 United States. 11 SEC. 7. REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN NONCITIZENS IR- 12 REGULARLY ENGAGING IN DOMESTIC COAST- 13 WISE TRADE. 14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each person or entity that is not 15 a citizen of the United States, as defined in section 104 16 of title 46, United States Code, that owns or operates ves- 17 sels that irregularly engage in the United States domestic 18 coastwise trade shall— 19 (1) name an agent upon whom process may be 20 served; 21 (2) abide by all applicable laws of the United 22 States, including applicable environmental and tax 23 laws; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:14 Dec 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5498.IH H5498 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 5498 IH (3) post evidence of documentation and en- 1 dorsements aboard such vessel indicating the owner 2 or owners of such vessel, including any person con- 3 trolling vessels and the number of port calls and 4 coastwise trips made during that calendar year. 5 (b) PERSONS TREATED AS SINGLE EMPLOYER.—For 6 purposes of paragraph (3), all persons treated as a single 7 employer under subsection (a) or (b) of section 52 of the 8 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 shall be treated as 1 per- 9 son. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:14 Dec 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5498.IH H5498 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS