Coastal and Inland Ports and Terminals Commerce Improvement Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7416 To amend title 46, United States Code, to allow the Administrator of the Maritime Administration to provide assistance to the owners and opera- tors of certain ports and terminals, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 30, 2020 Mr. BOST (for himself, Mr. LAMB, Mr. GIBBS, Mr. RESCHENTHALER, Mrs. HARTZLER, Mr. LOEBSACK, and Mrs. MILLER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infra- structure A BILL To amend title 46, United States Code, to allow the Adminis- trator of the Maritime Administration to provide assist- ance to the owners and operators of certain ports and terminals, 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 ‘‘Coastal and Inland 4 Ports and Terminals Commerce Improvement Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 Jul 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7416.IH H7416 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7416 IH SEC. 2. ASSISTANCE FOR INLAND AND SMALL COASTAL 1 PORTS AND TERMINALS. 2 Section 50302 of title 46, United States Code, is 3 amended— 4 (1) in subsection (c)— 5 (A) in paragraph (2) by adding at the end 6 the following: 7 ‘‘(H) In the case of a small project funded 8 under subsection (d), a private entity or group 9 of entities.’’; 10 (B) in paragraph (6) by striking subpara- 11 graph (C); 12 (C) in paragraph (7)(B) by striking ‘‘para- 13 graph (3)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (d)’’; 14 (D) in paragraph (8)(B)— 15 (i) in clause (i) by striking ‘‘under 16 this subsection’’ and inserting ‘‘under this 17 subsection and subsection (d)’’; and 18 (ii) in clause (ii) by inserting ‘‘under 19 subsection (d) or’’ after ‘‘project’’; and 20 (E) in paragraph (11) by— 21 (i) striking ‘‘under this subsection’’ 22 and inserting ‘‘under this subsection and 23 subsection (d)’’ each place such phrase ap- 24 pears; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 Jul 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7416.IH H7416 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7416 IH (ii) striking ‘‘fiscal year.’’ and insert- 1 ing ‘‘fiscal year, and shall be awarded as 2 grants under the subsection for which the 3 original grant was made.’’; 4 (2) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub- 5 section (e); 6 (3) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol- 7 lowing: 8 ‘‘(d) ASSISTANCE FOR INLAND AND SMALL COASTAL 9 PORTS AND TERMINALS.— 10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Of amounts reserved under 11 subsection (c)(7)(B), the Secretary, acting through 12 the Administrator of the Maritime Administration, 13 shall make grants under this subsection— 14 ‘‘(A) to the owners or operators of a facil- 15 ity at a port, as such term is defined in sub- 16 section (c), to and from which the average an- 17 nual tonnage of cargo for the immediately pre- 18 ceding 3 calendar years from the time an appli- 19 cation is submitted is less than 8,000,000 short 20 tons as determined using Corps of Engineers 21 data; and 22 ‘‘(B) for infrastructure improvements, 23 equipment purchases, and capital investments 24 at such a facility, including piers, wharves, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 Jul 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7416.IH H7416 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7416 IH docks, terminals, and similar structures used 1 principally for the movement of goods, including 2 areas of land, water, or areas in proximity to 3 such structure that are necessary for the move- 4 ment of goods. 5 ‘‘(2) AWARDS.—In providing assistance under 6 this subsection, the Secretary shall— 7 ‘‘(A) take into account— 8 ‘‘(i) the economic advantage and the 9 contribution to freight transportation at an 10 eligible facility; and 11 ‘‘(ii) the competitive disadvantage of 12 an eligible facility; 13 ‘‘(B) not make more than 1 award per ap- 14 plicant for each fiscal year appropriation; and 15 ‘‘(C) promote the enhancement and effi- 16 ciencies of an eligible facility. 17 ‘‘(3) USE OF FUNDS.— 18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Assistance provided 19 under this subsection may be used to— 20 ‘‘(i) make capital improvements; 21 ‘‘(ii) construct, improve, repair, or 22 maintain transportation or physical infra- 23 structure, buildings, equipment, or facility 24 security; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 Jul 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7416.IH H7416 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7416 IH ‘‘(iii) perform planning activities re- 1 lated to carrying out an activity described 2 in clause (i); and 3 ‘‘(iv) otherwise fulfill the purposes for 4 which such assistance is provided. 5 ‘‘(B) ACQUISITION METHODS.—The Sec- 6 retary may not require as a condition of issuing 7 a grant under this subsection— 8 ‘‘(i) direct ownership of either a facil- 9 ity or equipment to be procured using 10 funds awarded under this subsection; or 11 ‘‘(ii) that equipment procured using 12 such funds be new. 13 ‘‘(4) PROHIBITED USES.—Funds provided 14 under this subsection may not be used for— 15 ‘‘(A) projects conducted on property lying 16 outside port or terminal boundaries and not 17 owned or leased by the applicant; 18 ‘‘(B) any single grant award more than 10 19 percent of total allocation of funds to carry out 20 this subsection per fiscal year appropriation; or 21 ‘‘(C) activities, including channel improve- 22 ments or harbor deepening, authorized, as of 23 the date of the application for assistance under 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 Jul 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7416.IH H7416 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7416 IH this subsection, to be carried out by of the 1 Corps of Engineers. 2 ‘‘(5) MATCHING REQUIREMENTS.— 3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 4 not provide assistance under this subsection un- 5 less the Secretary determines that sufficient 6 funding is available to meet the matching re- 7 quirements of subsection (c)(8). Any costs of 8 the project to be paid by the recipient’s match- 9 ing share may be incurred prior to the date on 10 which assistance is provided. 11 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—For the purpose of 12 making the determination under subparagraph 13 (A), funding may include a loan agreement, a 14 commitment from investors, cash on balance 15 sheet, or other contributions determined accept- 16 able by the Secretary. 17 ‘‘(6) APPLICATION AND AWARD.— 18 ‘‘(A) MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR PAYMENT 19 OR REIMBURSEMENT.—Each application sub- 20 mitted shall include a comprehensive description 21 of— 22 ‘‘(i) the project; 23 ‘‘(ii) the need for the project; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 Jul 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7416.IH H7416 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7416 IH ‘‘(iii) the methodology for imple- 1 menting the project; and 2 ‘‘(iv) documentation of matching 3 funds as described in paragraph (5). 4 ‘‘(B) DEMONSTRATION OF EFFECTIVE- 5 NESS.—In determining whether a project will 6 achieve the purposes for which such assistance 7 is requested under this subsection, the Sec- 8 retary shall accept documentation used to ob- 9 tain a commitment of the matching funds de- 10 scribed in paragraph (5), including feasibility 11 studies, business plans, investor prospectuses, 12 loan applications, or similar documentation. 13 ‘‘(C) PROJECT APPROVAL REQUIRED.— 14 The Secretary may not award a grant under 15 this subsection unless the Secretary determines 16 that the— 17 ‘‘(i) project will be completed without 18 unreasonable delay; and 19 ‘‘(ii) recipient has authority to carry 20 out the proposed project. 21 ‘‘(7) PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS, AUDITS, AND 22 EXAMINATIONS.— 23 ‘‘(A) PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS.—The 24 Administrator shall issue guidelines to establish 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 Jul 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7416.IH H7416 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 7416 IH appropriate accounting, reporting, and review 1 procedures to ensure that— 2 ‘‘(i) assistance provided under this 3 subsection is used for the purposes for 4 which such assistance is made available; 5 and 6 ‘‘(ii) grantees have properly accounted 7 for all expenditures of grant funds. 8 ‘‘(B) AUDITS AND EXAMINATIONS.—All 9 grantees under this subsection shall maintain 10 such records as the Administrator may require 11 and make such records available for review and 12 audit by the Administrator. 13 ‘‘(8) LIMITATION.—Not more than 10 percent 14 of the funds made available under subsection 15 (c)(7)(B) may be used for the planning and design 16 of eligible projects described in paragraph 17 (3)(A)(iii). 18 ‘‘(9) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 19 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE FACILITY.—The term ‘eli- 20 gible facility’ means a facility or collection of fa- 21 cilities that includes piers, wharves, docks, ter- 22 minals, and similar structures used principally 23 for the movement of goods, including areas of 24 land, water, or areas in proximity to such struc- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Jul 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7416.IH H7416 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 7416 IH ture that are necessary for the movement of 1 goods, located at a port, as that term is defined 2 in subsection (c), to and from which the aver- 3 age annual tonnage of cargo for the imme- 4 diately preceding 3 calendar years from the 5 time an application is submitted is less than 6 8,000,000 short tons as determined using Corps 7 of Engineers data. 8 ‘‘(B) PROJECT.—The term ‘project’ has 9 the meaning given such term in subsection 10 (c).’’. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Jul 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7416.IH H7416 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS