[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 716 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

  1st Session
                                H. R. 716


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 5, 1995

    Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
                      Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
                To amend the Fishermen's Protective Act.

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

SECTION 1. AMENDMENT TO THE FISHERMEN'S PROTECTIVE ACT OF 1967.

    (a) Section 3(a) of the Fishermen's Protective Act of 1967 (22 
U.S.C. 1973(a)) is amended by inserting after ``prompt release of the 
vessel and crew,'' the following: ``or when a fee regarded by the 
United States as being inconsistent with international law must be paid 
for a vessel 
of the United States to transit the waters of a foreign nation on a 
voyage between points in the United States (including a point in the 
exclusive economic zone or an area whose jurisdiction is in 
dispute),''.
    (b)(1) Section 5 of the Fishermen's Protective Act of 1967 (22 
U.S.C. 1975) is amended by inserting after ``seizure;'' in the title, 
the following: ``or imposition of a fee regarded by the United States 
as inconsistent with international law''.
    (2) Section 5(a)(1)(A) of the Fishermen's Protective Act of 1967 
(22 U.S.C. 1975(a)) is amended by inserting after ``as a result of the 
seizure of,'' the following: ``or imposition of a fee regarded by the 
United States as inconsistent with international law on''.
    (c) Subsections (a) and (b) shall take effect on June 15, 1994.
    (d) Section 7 of the Fishermen's Protective Act of 1967 (22 U.S.C. 
1977) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) by striking the third sentence, and
                    (B) by inserting after the first sentence the 
                following: ``Fees may be collected regardless of 
                whether needed to carry out the purposes of subsection 
                (a).''; and
            (2) in subsection (e) by striking ``October 1, 1993'' and 
        inserting ``October 1, 1998''.

SEC. 2. CLEARANCE AND ENTRY OF COMMERCIAL FISHING VESSELS.

    (a) Not later than 15 days after the date of enactment of this Act 
and at least once each year thereafter, the Secretary of State shall 
publish a list of those nations that impose fees for transit passage 
through their waters on commercial fishing vessels registered under the 
laws of the United States.
    (b) Not later than 15 days after the publication of the list 
required under subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury shall 
withhold from commercial fishing vessels registered under the laws of a 
nation listed under subsection (a) the clearance required by section 
4197 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (46 U.S.C. App. 91) 
for entry into the navigable waters of the United States west of 122 
degrees west longitude.
    (c) Subsection (b) shall not apply to a commercial fishing vessel--
            (1) that enters the navigable waters of the United States 
        pursuant to a bilateral convention governing fishing for 
        Pacific halibut or albacore tuna;
            (2) that enters the navigable waters of the United States 
        due to an emergency; or
            (3) the master of which obtains clearance from the 
        Secretary of the Treasury's designee by physically appearing 
        before the designee at a designated port of entry and paying a 
        fee equal to the fee charged to a commercial fishing vessel of 
        the United States by the nation under whose laws the foreign 
        vessel is registered.
    (d) The owner or master of a vessel which enters the navigable 
waters of the United States in violation of this section shall be in 
violation of section 307(1)(A) of the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1857(1)(A)).

SEC. 3. TECHNICAL CORRECTION.

    (a) Section 15(a) of Public Law 103-238 is amended by striking 
``April 1, 1994,'' and inserting ``May 1, 1994.''.
    (b) The amendment made by subsection (a) shall be effective on and 
after April 30, 1994.

            Passed the House of Representatives April 3, 1995.

            Attest:

                                                ROBIN H. CARLE,

                                                                 Clerk.