Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2006
The Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2006 (CGTMA) Public Law 109-241 (H.R. 889) was signed into law on July 11, 2006. The Act authorizes funds for U.S. Coast Guard activities, and contains provisions relating to various shipping, navigation, and environmental matters. The CGMTA consists of nine titles as follows:
- Title I: Authorization
- Title II: Coast Guard
- Title III: Shipping and Navigation
- Title IV: Miscellaneous
- Title V: Lighthouses
- Title VI: Delaware River Protections and Miscellaneous Oil Provisions
- Title VII: Hurricane Response
- Title VIII: Ocean Commission Recommendations
- Title IX: Technical Corrections
The referenced document contains a section-by-section analysis of the various provisions of the new law that affect commercial interests. Owners and operators of vessels and facilities and other maritime interests, in particular, should review this advisory to determine possible effects on their activities. Other sections are noted by descriptive title only.
SUMMARY OF COAST GUARD AND MARITIME TRANSPORTATION ACT OF 2006
Title I - AUTHORIZATION
Sec. 101. Authorization of Appropriations
Authorizes funds for the necessary expenses of the Coast Guard for fiscal year 2006 that includes:
- $1.3 billion for new capital acquisitions that includes the Integrated Deepwater Systems.
- $284 million for sustaining legacy vessels and aircraft, including Integrated Deepwater Systems.
- $38.4 million for bridge alteration and removal.
- $24 million for research and development.
- $12 million for environmental compliance and restoration.
Sec. 102. Authorized Levels of Military Strength and Training
Sec. 103. Supplemental Authorization of Appropriations (Hurricane Katrina reimbursements)
Sec. 104. Web-based Risk Management Data System
Title II - COAST GUARD
Sec. 201. Extension of Coast Guard Vessel Anchorage and Movement Authority
Updates existing law to reflect the expansion of U.S. territorial waters from 3 to 12 nautical miles.
Sec. 202. International Training and Technical Assistance
Sec. 203. Officer Promotion
Sec. 204. Coast Guard Band Director
Sec. 205. Authority for One-Step Turnkey Design-Build Contracting
Authorizes the Secretary to use one-step turnkey selection procedures for the purpose of entering into contracts for construction projects.
Also provides definitions for:
- One-step Turnkey Selection Procedures: Procedures used for the selection of a contractor on the basis of price and other evaluation criteria to perform, in accordance with the provisions of a firm fixed-price contract, both the design and construction of a facility using performance specifications supplied by the Secretary.
- Construction: The construction, procurement, development, conversion, or extension of any facility.
- Facility: A building, structure, or other improvement to real property.
Sec. 206. Reserve Recall Authority
Sec. 207. Reserve Officer Distribution
Sec. 208. Expansion of Use of Auxiliary Equipment to Support Coast Guard Missions
Sec. 209. Coast Guard History Fellowships
Sec. 210. Icebreakers
Requires that within 90 days of enactment of the Act, a plan be submitted on POLAR STAR, POLAR SEA, and HEALY that does not rely on the transfer of funds to the Coast Guard by any other Federal agency. The plan will be submitted to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. The Secretary is required to maintain, at a minimum, the current vessel capacity for carrying out ice breaking in the Arctic and Antarctic, Great Lakes, and New England regions. This section also authorizes the appropriation of $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2006 to the Coast Guard for carrying out its icebreaker projects.
Sec. 211. Operation as A Service in the Navy
Sec. 212. Limitation on Moving Assets to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital
Calls for the General Services Administration a plan to develop a road access and facilities design for locating at the St. Elizabeth’s Hospital site a federal agency with 2,000 or more employees other than the Coast Guard, analyzing the feasibility and organizational impact of relocating Coast Guard Headquarters at various other locations.
Sec. 213. Cooperative Agreements
Requires that within 180 days of enactment of this Act, a report be provided on opportunities for cost savings and operational efficiencies that can be achieved through and the feasibility of co-locating Coast Guard assets and personnel at facilities of other armed forces throughout the United States. This report must be submitted to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Sec. 214. Biodiesel Feasibility Study
Requires the Secretary to conduct a study that examines the technical feasibility, costs, and potential cost savings of using biodiesel fuel in new and existing Coast Guard vehicles and vessels, focusing on the use of biodiesel fuel in ports that have a high density of vessel traffic. The report must be completed no later than one year after the enactment of this Act, and must be submitted to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Sec. 215. Boating Safety Directory
Sec. 216. Hangar at Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point
Calls for the cost analysis for constructing an aircraft hangar at Air Station Barbers Point, HI.
Sec. 217. Promotion of Coast Guard Officers
Sec. 218. Redesignation of Coast Guard Law Specialists as Judge Advocates
Title III - SHIPPING AND NAVIGATION
Sec. 301. Treatment of Ferries as Passenger Vessels
Defines “ferry” as a vessel that is used on a regular schedule to provide transportation only between places that are not more than 300 miles apart, and to transport passengers or vehicles/railroad cars that are being used or have been used in transporting passengers or goods.
Sec. 302. Great Lakes Pilotage Annual Ratemaking
Amends current law to require the Secretary to establish new pilotage rates by March 1 of each year. The Secretary shall establish base pilotage rates by a full rate-making at least once every five years and shall conduct annual reviews of the base pilotage rates, and make adjustments to those base rates, in each intervening year.
Sec. 303. Certification of Vessel Nationality in Drug Smuggling Cases
Amends the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act authorizing that the response of a foreign nation to a claim of registry may be made by radio, telephone, or similar oral or electric means, and be considered to be conclusively proved by certification of the Secretary of State or the Secretary’s designee.
Sec. 304. LNG Tankers
Directs the Secretary of Transportation to develop and implement a program to promote the transportation of LNG to the United States on U.S.-flag vessels by amending the Deepwater Port Act of 1974 and directing the Secretary of Transportation to give top priority to the processing of deepwater port licenses for LNG facilities supplied with LNG by U.S.-flag tankers. In implementing this priority, the Act requires that an application for a deepwater port include, in addition to financial, technical, and other information currently specified in the regulations, “the nation of registry for, and the nationality or citizenship of officers and crew serving on board, vessels transporting natural gas that are reasonably anticipated to be servicing the deepwater port.” With respect to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s shoreside licensing process for LNG facilities, the Coast Guard, in its role as a contributing agency, must provide FERC this same information.
Also requires the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security to prepare and submit a report on the implementation of these requirements to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure within six months of enactment.
Sec. 305. Use of Maritime Safety and Security Teams
Amends current law authorizing support of any other missions of the Coast Guard, thus broadening the authority of maritime safety and security teams.
Sec. 306. Enhanced Civil Penalties for Violations of Provisions Enacted by the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2004
Increases the maximum amount of a civil penalty for a violation under the Maritime Transportation Act of 2004 to not exceed $50,000. Prior to the amendment, the maximum penalty was $25,000.
Sec. 307. Training of Cadets at United States Merchant Marine Academy
Sec. 308. Reports from Mortgagees of Vessels
Expands the requirement to submit reports upon request as to the qualifications of vessels to engage in the coastwise trade to include mortgagees in addition to the current requirement for owners, masters, and charters.
Sec. 309. Determination of the Secretary
Requires the Secretary to establish a review process before administrative law judges to consider an appeal of a denial of an application for a transportation security card.
Sec. 310. Setting, Relocating and Recovering Anchors
Requires that U.S.-flag vessels be used to set, relocate, or recover anchors or other mooring equipment, or to transport merchandise or personnel to, a mobile offshore drilling unit located over the outer continental shelf that is not attached to the seabed, to or from a point in the United States.
Sec. 311. International Tonnage Measure-ment of Vessels Engaged in the Aleutian Trade
Amends current law to provide that fish tender vessels of less than 500 gross tons or a vessel engaged in Aleutian trade that is less than 2,500 gross tons are exempt from certain inspection requirements.
Sec. 312. Riding Gangs
Authorizes the use of foreign citizens (for not more than 60 days in each calendar year) to carry out repair work or pre-shipyard work on U.S.-flag vessels while underway when U.S. citizens or residents are unavailable to complete the work. Specific procedures and recordkeeping requirements are also required for use of riding gang members. This section also requires each riding gang member to undergo a criminal background check and requires the vessel owner to operator to certify that these checks have been completed. This section also provides for chemical testing and compliance with shipboard familiarization training in accordance with the International Convention of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978. The Coast Guard is authorized to order the removal of an individual found with probable cause to have committed certain criminal offenses or otherwise constitutes a threat to the safety of a U.S.-flag vessel. Under this section, violations are punishable by a civil penalty of not more than $10,000 a day, and each day of a continuing violation constitutes a separate violation.
TITLE IV - MISCELLANEOUS
Sec. 401. Authorization of Junior Reserve Officers Training Program Pilot Program
Authorizes the Secretary to carry out a pilot program to establish a Coast Guard junior reserve officers training program in Camden County, North Carolina. Active duty officers and members of the Coast Guard, including reservists on active duty, may not be stationed as administrators or instructors as part of the pilot program.
Sec. 402. Transfer (a vessel to a non-profit organization)
Sec. 403. LORAN - C
Authorizes the Department of Transportation to transfer $25,000,000 in FY 2006 and in FY2007 from the Federal Aviation Administration to the Coast Guard for recapitalization of the LORAN-C radio navigation system.
Sec. 404. Long-Range Vessel Tracking System
Establishes a three-year pilot program for long-range tracking of up to 2,000 vessels using satellite systems to aid maritime security and response to emergencies. The project must be conducted with the assistance of an existing non-profit maritime organization that has demonstrated capability of operating satellite communications systems able to transmit this type of data.
Sec. 405. Marine Vessel and Cold Water Safety Education
Requires the Coast Guard to continue existing agreements with organizations that provide marine vessel safety training and cold water immersion education to fishermen and children.
Sec. 406. Reports
Requires the Secretary to review and report to Congress on the adequacy of Coast Guard air and surface assets at several Coast Guard stations and sectors to carry out traditional missions of search and rescue, drug and migrant interdiction, and marine environmental protection in addition to homeland security responsibilities.
Sec. 407. Conveyance of the Decommissioned Coast Guard Cutter MACKINAW
Directs the Commandant of the Coast Guard to convey the USCGC MACKINAW to the City and County of Cheboygan, Michigan, upon the vessel’s decommissioning.
Sec. 408. Deepwater Reports
Requires the Secretary to submit a report to Congress that includes:
- A justification for how the projected number and capabilities of each Deepwater program asset meet the revised mission of the Deepwater program;
- A projection of the remaining operational lifespan of each legacy asset;
- An identification of any changes to the Deepwater program;
- A justification for how any change to the Deepwater program fulfills the mission needs of the program;
- An identification for how funds in that fiscal year’s budget request will be allocated; and
- A detailed explanation of how the costs of the legacy assets are being accounted for within the Deepwater program.
Also requires the Secretary to submit a report to Congress on the acceleration of the current Deepwater program acquisition timeline that reflects completion of the Deepwater program in each of ten years and fifteen years.
Sec. 409. Helicopters
Requires the Coast Guard to study and report to Congress on the potential impacts, costs, and benefits of a requirement that the Coast Guard only acquire helicopters and helicopter components built in the United States.
Sec. 410. Newton Creek, New York City, New York
Requires the Environmental Protection Agency to carry out a study and report to Congress on the pollution of Newtown Creek in the city of New York caused by oil seepage.
Sec. 411. Report on Technology (related to inbound vessels and cargo to U.S. ports)
Requires the Commandant of the Coast Guard to submit a report that includes an assessment of the availability and effectiveness of technologies that evaluate and identify inbound vessels and their cargo for potential threats before they reach United States ports.
Sec. 412. Assessment and Planning (Arctic Sea route)
Authorizes $400,000 to the Maritime Administration to carry out an assessment of and planning for the impact of an Arctic Sea Route on the indigenous people of Alaska.
Sec. 413. Homeport (icebreaker)
Requires the Coast Guard to conduct a study to assess the current homeport for the Coast Guard polar icebreaker HEALY.
Sec. 414. Opinions Regarding Whether Certain Facilities Create Obstructions to Navigation (Nantucket Sound)
Requires the Commandant of the Coast Guard to specify reasonable terms and conditions before a lease or right-of-way may be approved for the use of an offshore wind energy facility in Nantucket Sound necessary to provide for navigational safety.
Sec. 415. Port Richmond
Prohibits the Commandant of the Coast Guard from approving a security plan for a liquefied natural gas import facility at Port Richmond in Philadelphia, PA, until the Secretary conducts a vulnerability assessment.
Sec. 416. Western Alaska Community Development Quota Program
Amends the existing law applicable to the Western Alaska community development quota (CDQ) program. The amendment specifies: (1) annual harvest limits of Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands fisheries allocated to the CDQ program, (2) the percentages of each allocation that are apportioned to each CDQ entity, and (3) the rules for investments by CDQ entities. In addition, the section amends the terms of the existing CDQ loan program to allow the use of the loans for the purchase of interests in vessels, facilities, permits, quota, and cooperative rights.
Sec. 417. Quota Share Allocation (Bering Sea & Aleutian Islands)
Creates a “grandfather” provision that provides crab processor quota shares to a particular com-pany under the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands crab rationalization program.
Sec. 418. Maine Fish Tender Vessels
Authorizes foreign-built vessels that are less than five net tons to transport fish or shellfish between places in Maine if that vessel transported fish or shellfish between places in Maine prior to January 1, 2005.
Sec. 419. Automatic Identification System (vessel transponder development grant)
Authorizes the Secretary to transfer $1,000,000 to the Department of Commerce for the purposes of awarding a competitive grant to design, develop, and prototype a device that integrates a Class B Automatic Identification System transponder with an FCC-approved wireless maritime data device.
Sec. 420. Voyage Data Recorder Study and Report
Requires the Coast Guard to conduct a study that examines the costs and benefits of carriage of a voice data recorder aboard ferries that carry 400 or more passengers.
Sec. 421. Distant Water Tuna Fleet
Allows certain U.S.-flag tuna vessels to utilize foreign citizens that hold a valid license issued in accordance with the standards established by the 1995 amendments to the Convention on Standards of Training, Certifica-tion and Watchkeeping of Seafarers, 1978.
TITLE V - LIGHTHOUSES
Sec. 501. Transfer (intergovernmental)
Sec. 502. Misty Fiords National Monument and Wilderness
Sec. 503. Miscellaneous Light Stations
Sec. 504. Inclusion of lighthouse in St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, Florida
TITLE VI - DELAWARE RIVER PROTECTION AND MISCELLANEOUS OIL PROVISIONS
Sec. 601. Short Title
Sec. 602. Requirement to Notify Coast Guard of Release of Objects into the Navigable Waters of the United States
Requires a person to report the release of an object from a vessel or facility into the navigable waters that creates an obstruction. The provision also notes that such a report may not be used in any criminal prosecution unless the report involves a false statement or perjury.
Sec. 603. Limits on Liability (oil pollution)
Raises the OPA 90 liability limits for oil pollution, and hence liability for removal costs and damages, imposed on vessels operating in U.S. waters. The new limits are as follows: (1) single hull tank vessels, which includes vessels with double sides and double bottoms - $3,000/gross ton (previously $1,200); (2) double hull tank vessels - $1,900/gross ton (previously $1,200); and (3) non-tank vessels - $950/gross ton (previously $600). The Coast Guard must adjust the liability limits at least every three years to reflect increases in the Consumer Price Index.
Sec. 604. Requirement to Update Philadelphia Area Contingency Plan
Requires the Philadelphia Area Committee to review and revise the Philadelphia Area Contingency Plan to include available data and biological information on environmentally sensitive areas of the Delaware River and Delaware Bay. The Contingency plan must be reviewed and revised within one year of enactment of this Act and not less than annually thereafter.
Sec. 605. Submerged Oil Removal
Authorizes the appropriations of $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 through 2010 to carry out a “Submerged Oil Program” to detect, monitor, and evaluate the environmental effects of submerged oil in the Delaware River and Bay region.
Sec. 606. Assessment of Oil Spill Costs
Requires the Comptroller General to conduct an assessment of the cost of response activities and claims related to all oil spills from vessels that have occurred since January 1, 1990, for which the total costs and claims paid was at least $1,000,000 per spill.
Sec. 607. Delaware River and Bay Oil Spill Advisory Committee
Establishes a Delaware River and Bay Oil Spill Advisory Committee.
Sec. 608. Nontank Vessels (definition)
Defines a “nontank vessel” as a self-propelled vessel that is at least 400 gross tons, is not a tank vessel, carries oil of any kind as fuel for main propulsion, and operates on the navigable waters of the United States for the purpose of requiring nontank vessels transiting within 12 miles of the United States to have response plans for the discharge of oil.
TITLE VII - HURRICANE RESPONSE
Sec. 701. Homeowners Assistance for Coast Guard Personnel Affected by Hurricanes Katrina Or Rita
Authorizes the Secretary to reimburse Coast Guard personnel for losses of qualified property that resulted from damage caused by Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Rita.
Sec. 702. Temporary Authorization to Extend the Duration of Licenses, Certificates Of Registry, And Merchant Mariner’s Documents
Grants extensions of licenses and certificates of registry for individuals whose records are located at the Coast Guard facility in New Orleans that was damaged by Hurricane Katrina, or who is a resident of Alabama, Mississippi, or Louisiana. Authorizes extensions for “Merchant Mariner’s Documents under the same circumstances.
Sec. 703. Temporary Authorization to Extend the Duration of Vessel Certification Inspection
Allows the Coast Guard to extend the validity of a certificate of compliance for up to six months for a vessel inspected by a Coast Guard Marine Safety Office located in Alabama, Mississippi, or Louisiana. This authorization is valid until April 1, 2007.
Sec. 704. Preservation of Leave Lost Due to Hurricane Katrina Operations
Sec. 705. Reports on Impact Due to Coast Guard
Requires the Secretary to submit an interim report on the impact of Hurricane Katrina and the response of the Coast Guard within 90 days of enactment of this Act to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. This section also requires a final report to be submitted no later than 180 days after the enactment of this Act.
Sec. 706. Reports on Impacts on Navigable Waters
Requires the Secretary to submit a report on the impacts of Hurricane Katrina on navigable waterways and the response of the Coast Guard to such impacts. An interim report must be submitted to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation no later than 90 days after the enactment of this Act, and a final report must be submitted to the same committees no later than 180 days after the enactment of this Act.
TITLE VIII - OCEAN COMMISSION RECOMMENDATIONS
Sec. 801. Implementation of International Agreements
Requires the Secretary to work with the responsible officials and agencies of other nations to accelerate efforts at the International Maritime Organization to enhance oversight and enforcement of security, environmental and other agreements, including an audit regime for evaluating flag state performance.
Sec. 802. Voluntary Measures for Reducing Pollution from Recreational Boats
Requires the Secretary to undertake outreach programs for educating the owners and operators of boats using two-stroke engines about pollution.
Sec. 803. Integration of Vessel Monitoring System Data (fisheries enforcement)
Requires the Secretary to integrate vessel monitoring system data into its maritime operations databases for the purpose of improving, monitoring, and enforcement of Federal fisheries laws.
Sec. 804. Foreign Fishing Incursions
Orders the Secretary to produce a report focused on significantly improving the Coast Guard’s detection and interdiction of illegal incursions into the United States exclusive economic zone by foreign fishing vessels.
TITLE IX - TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS
Sec. 901. Miscellaneous Technical Corrections
Sec. 902. Correction of References to Secretary of Transportation and Department of Transportation; Related Matters
For Further Information
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