[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1947 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1947

   To provide for the development, operation, and maintenance of the 
               Nation's harbors, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 26, 1999

Mr. Shuster (for himself and Mr. Oberstar) (both by request) introduced 
      the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                   Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To provide for the development, operation, and maintenance of the 
               Nation's harbors, 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 title may be cited as the ``Harbor Services Fund Act of 
1999''.

SEC. 2. HARBOR SERVICES FEE.

    (a) In General.--There is hereby imposed a fee on services provided 
to commercial vessels for port use.
    (b) Amount of Fee.--The amount of the fee imposed by subsection (a) 
shall be based on vessel category and vessel capacity unit in 
accordance with the following table:

Vessel Category:                    Rate of Fee:
    Bulker.........................
                                        $0.12 per vessel capacity unit
    Tanker.........................
                                        $0.28 per vessel capacity unit
    General........................
                                        $2.74 per vessel capacity unit
    Cruise.........................
                                        $0.12 per vessel capacity unit.
The aggregate amount of fees imposed under the authority of this 
section in a fiscal year shall be sufficient to pay the projected total 
expenditures of the Department of the Army, subject to appropriations, 
for harbor development, operation, and maintenance for a fiscal year. 
If amounts appropriated in any fiscal year are less than the amount 
collected in fees for the prior fiscal year, then the rate of the fee 
for each vessel category shall be reduced in the year of the 
appropriation so as to result in collections not exceeding the total 
amount appropriated from the Harbor Services Fund for that fiscal year.
    (c) Imposition of Fees.--The fee imposed by subsection (a) shall be 
imposed on a voyage basis for commercial vessels and shall be payable 
by the operator of a commercial vessel upon the first port use by a 
vessel entering a United States port from a foreign port or at the 
originating port for domestic voyages.
    (d) Authorization of Collection and Appropriation of Fees.--Fees 
imposed pursuant to this section may be collected only to the extent 
provided in advance in appropriations Acts. Amounts so collected in any 
fiscal year shall be available for obligation in the following fiscal 
year only to the extent and in the amount provided in advance in the 
appropriations Act for such fiscal year. Such fees are authorized to be 
appropriated to remain available until expended.
    (e) Exemptions.--No fee shall be imposed under this section for 
port use--
            (1) by the United States or any agency or instrumentality 
        thereof;
            (2) in connection with intraport movements;
            (3) in connection with transporting commercial cargo from 
        the United States mainland to Alaska, Hawaii, or any possession 
        of the United States for ultimate use or consumption in Alaska, 
        Hawaii, or any possession of the United States;
            (4) in connection with transporting commercial cargo from 
        Alaska, Hawaii, or any possession of the United States to the 
        United States mainland, Alaska, Hawaii, or such possession for 
        ultimate use or consumption in the United States mainland, 
        Alaska, Hawaii, or such a possession;
            (5) in connection with transporting commercial cargo within 
        Alaska, Hawaii, or a possession of the United States; or
            (6) in connection with transporting passengers on United 
        States flag vessels operating solely within the State waters of 
        Alaska or Hawaii and adjacent international waters.
    (f) Collection of Fee.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall be 
responsible for prescribing regulations--
            (1) providing for the manner and method of payment and 
        collection of the fee imposed by this section;
            (2) providing for the posting of bonds to secure payment of 
        such fee; and
            (3) exempting any transaction or class of transactions from 
        such fee where the collection of such fee is not 
        administratively practical.
    (g) Audit of Fees.--The Secretary of the Army shall be responsible 
for prescribing regulations--
            (1) providing for the remittance or mitigation of penalties 
        and the settlement or compromise of claims;
            (2) providing for a periodic review of amounts collected 
        under this section to ensure that the fees charged fairly 
        approximate the cost of services provided to commercial vessels 
        for port use;
            (3) providing for the prospective adjustment of the rate of 
        the fee for any one or more of the bulker, tanker, or cruise 
        vessel categories by up to $0.05, or, in the case of the 
        general vessel category, by up to $0.25, as necessary to fairly 
        approximate the cost of services provided to commercial vessels 
        in each vessel category; and
            (4) such other regulations as may be necessary to carry out 
        the purposes of this Act.

SEC. 3. HARBOR SERVICES FUND.

    (a) Creation of Fund.--There is hereby established in the Treasury 
of the United States a Harbor Services Fund (hereinafter referred to as 
the ``Fund'') into which shall be deposited as offsetting receipts all 
fees collected under section 2 of this Act and to which shall be 
transferred balances in the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund established 
pursuant to 26 U.S.C. 9505.
    (b) Purposes.--(1) Subject to subsection (c), amounts in the Fund 
may be made available for each fiscal year to pay--
            (A) 100 percent of the eligible harbor development costs;
            (B) 100 percent of the eligible operations and maintenance 
        costs assigned to commercial navigation of all ports within the 
        United States; and
            (C) 100 percent of the eligible costs of maintaining the 
        Federal dredging capability for the Nation.
    (2) In addition to the purposes set forth in paragraph (1) of this 
subsection, an amount of up to $100,000,000 per fiscal year is 
authorized to be appropriated from the Fund for dredging of berthing 
areas and construction and maintenance of bulkheads associated with a 
Federally authorized project and for all or a portion of the non-
Federal share of project costs of an eligible non-Federal interest 
participating in the construction, operation, or maintenance of a 
Federally authorized project.
    (c) Expenditures From Harbor Services Fund.--(1) Except as provided 
in paragraph (2), amounts in the Fund shall be available, as provided 
in advance in appropriation Acts, to carry out subsection (b) of this 
section and for the payment of expenses incurred in administering the 
fee imposed by section 2(a) of this Act. Such amounts are authorized to 
be appropriated to remain available until expended.
    (2) From the balances transferred to the Harbor Services Fund 
pursuant to section 3(a) of this Act, such sums as may be necessary are 
hereby reserved to implement legislation to be enacted to establish the 
Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation as a performance based 
organization.

SEC. 4. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

    (a) Section 210 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 (33 
U.S.C. 2238) is permanently repealed upon enactment of an appropriation 
Act for fiscal year 2000 authorizing the collection of fees pursuant to 
section 2(d) of this Act.
    (b) Sections 4461 and 4462 of title 26, United States Code, are 
permanently repealed upon enactment of an appropriation Act for fiscal 
year 2000 authorizing the collection of fees pursuant to section 2(d) 
of this Act.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act--
            (1) The term ``port'' means any channel or harbor (or 
        component thereof) in the United States which is not an inland 
        waterway and which is open to public navigation. The term 
        ``port'' does not include any channel or harbor with respect to 
        which no Federal funds have been used since 1989 for 
        construction, operation, or maintenance, or which 
was deauthorized by Federal law before 1997 or to any channel or harbor 
where commercial vessels cannot load or unload cargo or passengers.
            (2) The term ``port use'' means the use of a channel by a 
        commercial vessel for entering and exiting a port for 
        commercial purposes.
            (3) The term ``commercial cargo'' means any cargo 
        transported on a commercial vessel. The term does not include 
        bunker fuel, ship's stores, sea stores, or equipment necessary 
        to the operation of a vessel, or fish or other aquatic animal 
        life caught and not previously landed on shore.
            (4) The term ``commercial vessel'' means any vessel in 
        excess of 3,000 gross registered tons used in transporting 
        cargo or passengers by water for compensation or hire, or in 
        transporting cargo by water in the business of the owner, 
        lessee, or operator of the vessel. The term does not include 
        any ferry engaged primarily in the ferrying of passengers 
        (including their vehicles) between points within the United 
        States, or between the United States and contiguous countries.
            (5) The term ``ferry'' means any vessel which arrives in 
        the United States on a regular schedule during its operating 
        season at intervals of at least once each business day.
            (6) The term ``vessel capacity unit'' means the unit 
        measure of vessel capacity represented by net tonnage, or, in 
        the case of containerships or cruise ships, gross tonnage.
            (7) The term ``United States mainland'' means the 
        contiguous 48 States.
            (8) The term ``eligible harbor development costs'' means 
        the Federal share of the costs associated with construction of 
        the general navigation features at a harbor or inland harbor 
        within the United States.
            (9) The term ``bulker'' as a vessel category means a 
        waterborne vessel designed to transport dry bulk cargo, 
        including self-propelled vessels and non self-propelled 
        vessels.
            (10) The term ``tanker'' as a vessel category means a 
        waterborne vessel designed to transport liquid bulk cargo, 
        including self-propelled vessels and non self-propelled 
        vessels.
            (11) The term ``general'' as a vessel category means a 
        waterborne vessel designed to transport general cargo.
            (12) The term ``cruise ship'' as a vessel category means a 
        waterborne vessel designed to transport fare paying, berthed 
        passengers.
            (13) The term ``eligible non-Federal interest'' means a 
        non-Federal interest for a Federally authorized navigation 
        project at a port where the average amount of the harbor 
        services fee collected over three consecutive fiscal years 
        exceeds the average Federal expenditures from the Harbor 
        Services Fund at that port during the same consecutive fiscal 
        years by $10,000,000.
            (14) For purposes of paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) of 
        section 2(d), the term ``commercial cargo'' does not include 
        crude oil with respect to Alaska.

SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The fees prescribed pursuant to section 2(a) of this Act shall be 
imposed on the owners or operators of commercial vessels beginning on 
October 1, 1999.
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