[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2658 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2658

  To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a program to 
 evaluate the technological feasibility and environmental benefits of 
having tank vessels carry oil spill prevention and response technology.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 15, 1993

  Mr. Tauzin (for himself and Mr. Lancaster) introduced the following 
   bill; which was referred to the Committee on Merchant Marine and 
                               Fisheries

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a program to 
 evaluate the technological feasibility and environmental benefits of 
having tank vessels carry oil spill prevention and response technology.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. OIL SPILL PREVENTION AND RESPONSE TECHNOLOGY TEST AND 
              EVALUATION PROGRAM.

    (a) Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this 
Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall establish a program to 
evaluate the technological feasibility and environmental benefits of 
having tank vessels carry oil spill prevention and response technology. 
To implement the program the Secretary shall--
            (1) publish in the Federal Register an invitation for 
        submission of proposals including plans and procedures for 
        testing; and
            (2) review and evaluate technology using, to the maximum 
        extent possible, existing evaluation and performance standards.
    (b) The Secretary shall, to the maximum extent possible, 
incorporate in the program established under subsection (a), the 
results of existing studies and evaluations of oil spill prevention and 
response technology carried on tank vessels.
    (c) Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Secretary shall evaluate the results of the program 
established under subsection (a) and submit a report to the Congress 
with recommendations on the feasibility and environmental benefits of, 
and appropriate equipment and utilization standards for, requiring tank 
vessels to carry oil spill prevention and response equipment.
    (d) Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Secretary shall evaluate and report to the Congress on the 
feasibility of using segregated ballast tanks for emergency transfer of 
cargo and storage of recovered oil.

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