Maritime Transportation System Emergency Relief Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4395 To amend title 46, United States Code, to authorize maritime transportation emergency relief, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 30, 2020 Mr. MERKLEY (for himself and Mr. SULLIVAN) 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 authorize mari- time transportation emergency relief, and for other pur- poses. 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 Transpor- 4 tation System Emergency Relief Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:05 Aug 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4395.IS S4395 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4395 IS SEC. 2. MARITIME TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM EMERGENCY 1 RELIEF PROGRAM. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 503 of title 46, United 3 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 4 lowing: 5 ‘‘§ 50308. Maritime transportation system emergency 6 relief program 7 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section the following 8 definitions shall apply: 9 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE STATE ENTITY.—The term ‘eli- 10 gible State entity’ means a port authority, or a 11 State-owned or -operated vessel and facilities associ- 12 ated with the operation of such vessel, in any State. 13 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en- 14 tity’ means a public or private entity that is created 15 or organized in the United States or under the laws 16 of the United States, with significant operations in 17 and a majority of its employees based in the United 18 States, that is engaged in— 19 ‘‘(A) vessel construction, transportation by 20 water, or support activities for transportation 21 by water with an assigned North American In- 22 dustry Classification System code beginning 23 with 3366, 483, or 4883; or 24 ‘‘(B) as determined by the Secretary of 25 Transportation— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:05 Aug 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4395.IS S4395 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4395 IS ‘‘(i) construction related to activities 1 described in subparagraph (A); or 2 ‘‘(ii) maritime education and training. 3 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE OPERATING COSTS.—The term 4 ‘eligible operating costs’ means costs relating to— 5 ‘‘(A) emergency response; 6 ‘‘(B) cleaning; 7 ‘‘(C) sanitization; 8 ‘‘(D) janitorial services; 9 ‘‘(E) staffing; 10 ‘‘(F) workforce retention; 11 ‘‘(G) paid leave; 12 ‘‘(H) procurement and use of protective 13 health equipment, testing, and training for em- 14 ployees and contractors; 15 ‘‘(I) debt service payments; 16 ‘‘(J) infrastructure repair projects; and 17 ‘‘(K) other maritime transportation system 18 operations; 19 ‘‘(4) EMERGENCY.—The term ‘emergency’ 20 means a natural disaster affecting a wide area (such 21 as a flood, hurricane, tidal wave, earthquake, severe 22 storm, or landslide) or a catastrophic failure from 23 any external cause, that impacts the United States 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:05 Aug 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4395.IS S4395 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4395 IS maritime transportation system and as a result of 1 which— 2 ‘‘(A) the Governor of a State has declared 3 an emergency and the Maritime Administrator, 4 in consultation with the Administrator of the 5 Federal Emergency Management Administra- 6 tion, has concurred in the declaration; 7 ‘‘(B) the President has declared a major 8 disaster under section 401 of the Robert T. 9 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist- 10 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170); 11 ‘‘(C) a national emergency declared by the 12 President under the National Emergencies Act 13 (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) is in effect; or 14 ‘‘(D) a public health emergency declared 15 pursuant to section 319 of the Public Health 16 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) is in effect. 17 ‘‘(b) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—The Maritime Admin- 18 istrator may— 19 ‘‘(1) make grants to eligible State entities for 20 eligible operating costs; and 21 ‘‘(2) make grants and enter into contracts and 22 other agreements with eligible entities for— 23 ‘‘(A) the costs of capital projects to pro- 24 tect, repair, reconstruct, or replace equipment 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:05 Aug 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4395.IS S4395 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4395 IS and facilities of the United States maritime 1 transportation system that the Maritime Ad- 2 ministrator determines is in danger of suffering 3 serious physical damage, or has suffered serious 4 physical damage, as a result of an emergency; 5 and 6 ‘‘(B) eligible operating costs of United 7 States maritime transportation equipment and 8 facilities in an area directly affected by an 9 emergency during— 10 ‘‘(i) the 1-year period beginning on 11 the date of a declaration described in sub- 12 sections (a)(4)(A) and (a)(4)(B); and 13 ‘‘(ii) an additional 1-year period be- 14 ginning 1 year after the date of a declara- 15 tion described in subsections (a)(4)(A) and 16 (a)(4)(B), if the Maritime Administrator, 17 in consultation with the Administrator of 18 the Federal Emergency Management Ad- 19 ministration, determines there is a compel- 20 ling need arising out of the emergency for 21 which the declaration is made. 22 ‘‘(c) ALLOCATION.—The Maritime Administrator 23 shall determine an appropriate method for the equitable 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:05 Aug 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4395.IS S4395 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4395 IS allocation and distribution of funds under this section to 1 eligible State entities and eligible entities. 2 ‘‘(d) APPLICATIONS.—An applicant for assistance 3 under this section shall submit an application for such as- 4 sistance to the Maritime Administrator at such time, in 5 such manner, and containing such information and assur- 6 ances as the Maritime Administrator may require. 7 ‘‘(e) COORDINATION OF EMERGENCY FUNDS.— 8 ‘‘(1) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds appropriated to 9 carry out this section shall be in addition to any 10 other funds available under this chapter. 11 ‘‘(2) NO EFFECT ON OTHER GOVERNMENT AC- 12 TIVITY.—The provision of funds under this section 13 shall not affect the ability of any other agency of the 14 Government, including the Federal Emergency Man- 15 agement Agency, or a State agency, a local govern- 16 mental entity, organization, or person, to provide 17 any other funds otherwise authorized by law. 18 ‘‘(f) GRANT REQUIREMENTS.—A grant awarded 19 under this section that is made to address an emergency 20 defined under subsection (a)(4)(B) shall be— 21 ‘‘(1) subject to the terms and conditions the 22 Maritime Administrator determines are necessary; 23 and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:05 Aug 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4395.IS S4395 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4395 IS ‘‘(2) made only for expenses that are not reim- 1 bursed under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 2 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et 3 seq.) or any Federal, State, or local assistance pro- 4 gram. 5 ‘‘(g) FEDERAL SHARE OF COSTS.—The Federal 6 share payable of the costs for which a grant is made under 7 this section shall be 100 percent. 8 ‘‘(h) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Of the amounts 9 available to carry out this section, not more than one-half 10 of one percent may be used for administration of this sec- 11 tion. 12 ‘‘(i) QUALITY ASSURANCE.—The Maritime Adminis- 13 trator shall institute adequate policies, procedures, and in- 14 ternal controls to prevent waste, fraud, abuse, and pro- 15 gram mismanagement for the distribution of funds under 16 this section. 17 ‘‘(j) REPORTS.—The Maritime Administrator shall 18 annually report to the Congress regarding financial assist- 19 ance provided under this section, including a description 20 of such assistance.’’. 21 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for such 22 chapter is amended by adding at the end the following: 23 ‘‘50308. Maritime transportation system emergency relief program.’’. (c) INCLUSION OF COVID–19 PANDEMIC PUBLIC 24 HEALTH EMERGENCY.—For purposes of section 50308 of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:05 Aug 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4395.IS S4395 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4395 IS title 46, United States Code, as amended by subsection 1 (a), the public health emergency declared pursuant to sec- 2 tion 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 3 247d) resulting from the COVID–19 pandemic shall be 4 treated as an emergency. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:05 Aug 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4395.IS S4395 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS