[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1868 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







104th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 1868

To amend the Deepwater Port Act of 1974 to promote the use of deepwater 
ports to transport Outer Continental Shelf oil by reducing unnecessary 
    and duplicative regulatory requirements, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 12, 1996

  Mr. Breaux introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Deepwater Port Act of 1974 to promote the use of deepwater 
ports to transport Outer Continental Shelf oil by reducing unnecessary 
    and duplicative regulatory requirements, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Deepwater Port Modernization Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    Section 3(10) of the Deepwater Port Act of 1974 (33 U.S.C. 
1502(10)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``for the loading or unloading'' and 
        inserting ``for the transportation, storage,''; and
            (2) by inserting after ``section 23'' the following: ``, 
        and for any other use consistent with the purposes of this Act, 
        including transportation of oil from the Outer Continental 
        Shelf of the United States''.

SEC. 3. LICENSE FOR THE OWNERSHIP, CONSTRUCTION, AND OPERATION OF A 
              DEEPWATER PORT.

    Section 4 of the Deepwater Port Act of 1974 (33 U.S.C. 1503) is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by striking the last sentence;
            (2) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) by striking paragraph (7); and
                    (B) by redesignating paragraphs (8) through (10) as 
                paragraphs (7) through (9), respectively;
            (3) in subsection (e)--
                    (A) by striking ``(e)(1) In'' and inserting the 
                following:
    ``(e) Terms of Licenses.--
            ``(1) Conditions.--
                    ``(A) In general.--In'';
                    (B) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) in the first sentence, by striking 
                        ``any conditions which he'' and inserting 
                        ``only such conditions as the Secretary'';
                            (ii) by striking ``On petition'' and 
                        inserting the following:
                    ``(B) Preference for license conditions.--To the 
                maximum extent practicable--
                            ``(i) conditions required to carry out this 
                        Act shall be addressed in license conditions 
                        rather than regulations; and
                            ``(ii) a license shall allow the operating 
                        procedures of a deepwater port to be specified 
                        in an operations manual, prepared in accordance 
                        with section 10(a) and approved by the 
                        Secretary of the department in which the Coast 
                        Guard is operating, rather than in detailed and 
                        specific license conditions or regulations.
                    ``(C) Review of conditions.--On petition'';
                            (iii) by striking ``The Secretary'' and 
                        inserting the following:
                    ``(D) Amendment and rescission of conditions.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The Secretary''; and
                            (iv) in subparagraph (D) (as so 
                        designated), by adding at the end the 
                        following:
                            ``(ii) Procedures for amendments.--An 
                        amendment of a license or operations manual--
                                    ``(I) shall not be considered to be 
                                a rulemaking or adjudication within the 
                                meaning of chapter 5 of title 5, United 
                                States Code; and
                                    ``(II) may be made in accordance 
                                with such procedures as the Secretary 
                                determines are appropriate given the 
                                issues involved.''; and
                    (C) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ``application, 
                as approved,'' and inserting ``license''; and
            (4) by striking subsection (f) and inserting the following:
    ``(f) Amendment, Transfer, or Reinstatement of License.--The 
Secretary may amend, transfer, or reinstate a license issued under this 
Act on finding that the amendment, transfer, or reinstatement is 
consistent with the purposes of this Act.''.

SEC. 4. EXEMPTIONS FROM CERTAIN INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS.

    Section 5(c) of the Deepwater Port Act of 1974 (33 U.S.C. 1504(c)) 
is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Exemptions from certain information requirements.--
        The Secretary may exempt a person from any information 
        requirement under paragraph (2), or under any other provision 
        of this Act, if the Secretary determines that the information 
        is not necessary to facilitate the determinations of the 
        Secretary under section 4.''.

SEC. 5. ANTITRUST REVIEW.

    Section 7 of the Deepwater Port Act of 1974 (33 U.S.C. 1506) is 
amended--
            (1) by striking subsections (a) and (b)(1);
            (2) by striking ``(2) Nothing'' and inserting the 
        following:
    ``(a) Authority To Challenge Anti-Competitive Situations.--
Nothing'';
            (3) by striking ``(3) Nothing'' and inserting the 
        following:
    ``(b) Effect on Antitrust Laws.--Nothing''; and
            (4) in subsections (a) and (b) (as so redesignated), by 
        striking ``section'' each place it appears and inserting 
        ``Act''.

SEC. 6. COMMON CARRIER STATUS.

    Section 8 of the Deepwater Port Act of 1974 (33 U.S.C. 1507) is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ``and shall accept, 
        transport, or convey without discrimination all oil delivered 
        to the deepwater port with respect to which the license of the 
        deepwater port is issued,'' before ``except as provided''; and
            (2) in subsection (b), by striking ``(b) A licensee'' and 
        all that follows through ``However, a licensee is not'' and 
        inserting the following:
    ``(b) Exceptions.--A licensee shall not be considered to be 
discriminating for the purpose of subsection (a) and shall not be''.

SEC. 7. MARINE PROTECTION AND NAVIGATIONAL SAFETY.

    Section 10(a) of the Deepwater Port Act of 1974 (33 U.S.C. 1509(a)) 
is amended--
            (1) by striking ``shall prescribe by regulation and enforce 
        procedures with respect to any deepwater port, including, but 
        not limited to, rules'' and inserting ``, with respect to a 
        deepwater port, shall prescribe and enforce procedures, by 
        regulation or through the operations manual of a licensee,'';
            (2) by striking ``unloading procedures'' and inserting 
        ``unloading''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following: ``Compliance by a 
        licensee with its operations manual, as approved by the 
        Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is 
        operating, shall constitute compliance with all requirements 
        under this Act applicable to the subjects addressed in the 
        operations manual.''.
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