[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2536 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2536

     To reduce the risk of oil pollution and improve the safety of 
navigation in San Francisco Bay by removing hazards to navigation, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 15, 1999

 Mr. George Miller of California introduced the following bill; which 
   was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To reduce the risk of oil pollution and improve the safety of 
navigation in San Francisco Bay by removing hazards to navigation, 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 ``San Francisco Bay Shipping and 
Fisheries Enhancement Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) San Francisco Bay is a vital environmental, industrial, 
        and recreational resource to the San Francisco Bay area and to 
        the Nation.
            (2) Over 800 tank vessels enter San Francisco Bay each 
        year, carrying hundreds of millions of gallons of oil and other 
        hazardous substances.
            (3) The small oil spill of October 28, 1996, showed that 
        even small oil spills in San Francisco Bay are both costly to 
        mitigate and harmful to the environment, including fish, 
        mammals, and birds.
            (4) Because of the bathymetry of San Francisco Bay, the 
        Coast Guard has been unable to make needed improvements in the 
        routing of tankers and other deep draft vessels.
            (5) The presence of multiple underwater hazards less than 
        40 feet below the surface and in close proximity to shipping 
        lanes, combined with increased traffic of tankers with drafts 
        in excess of 45 feet, significantly increase the likelihood of 
        collisions or groundings that would result in the release of 
        substantial amounts of oil or other hazardous substances, 
        severely damaging both the economy and the environment of the 
        San Francisco Bay area.
            (6) Removing hazards to navigation to allow greater 
        separation of vessels carrying oil or other hazardous 
        substances is a simple and economical step that can be taken to 
        reduce substantially the risk of oil pollution, improve the 
        safety of navigation, and reduce threats to the fish, wildlife, 
        and environment of San Francisco Bay.

SEC. 3. NAVIGATIONAL IMPROVEMENTS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of the Army shall develop and carry 
out in accordance with this section a navigation project in San 
Francisco Bay, California, to remove underwater hazards to navigation 
in the vicinity of Alcatraz Island.
    (b) Rerouting of Vessel Traffic.--In consultation with the 
Commandant of the Coast Guard, the Secretary shall design the 
navigation project under this section to facilitate the rerouting of 
vessel traffic in San Francisco Bay to minimize the risk of an oil or 
hazardous substance spill resulting from collisions between vessels or 
with an underwater hazard.
    (c) Minimization of Impact.--In developing and carrying out the 
navigation project under this section, the Secretary shall minimize, to 
the maximum extent practicable, impacts on the environment and on 
commercial and recreational fisheries.
    (d) Plan.--
            (1) General requirement.--In consultation with appropriate 
        Federal, State, and local government agencies and in accordance 
        with applicable Federal and State environmental laws, the 
        Secretary shall develop a plan for implementation of the 
        navigation project under this section.
            (2) Contents.--The plan shall include initial design and 
        engineering, underwater hazard removal, and, if needed, 
        environmental mitigation.
            (3) Target dates.--
                    (A) Feasibility study.--The first phase of the plan 
                shall be completed within 2 years of the date of the 
                enactment of this Act and shall consist of a 
                feasibility study for the project described in 
                subsection (a). The feasibility study shall include 
                scoping, development of alternative designs for the 
                project, cost-benefit analysis, and selection of final 
                project design. In conducting the cost-benefit analysis 
                and selecting a final project design, the Secretary 
                shall consider the economic and environmental benefits 
                of oil spill aversion reasonably to be expected from 
                the completion of the project.
                    (B) Implementation.--The second phase of the plan 
                shall be completed not later than 4 years after the 
                date of the enactment of this Act and shall consist of 
                underwater hazard removal, transportation, and disposal 
                of the removed material in accordance with the final 
                project design.
                    (C) Mitigation and monitoring.--The final phase of 
                the plan shall consist of any mitigation needed due to 
                environmental impacts, and environmental monitoring of 
                removal, disposal, and mitigation sites (if different 
                from the disposal site or sites), shall commence as 
                soon as is practicable after the completion of the 
                implementation phase and shall continue for not less 
                than 5 years thereafter.
    (e) Non-Federal Participation.--
            (1) Feasibility study.--The non-Federal share of the cost 
        of the feasibility study under this section shall be 50 
        percent.
            (2) Implementation.--The non-Federal share of the cost of 
        implementation of the project under this section shall be 25 
        percent.
    (f) Reports to Congress.--Not later than the last day of each of 
the time periods referred to in subsection (d)(3), the Secretary shall 
report to Congress on the progress being made toward development and 
implementation of the project under this section.

SEC. 4. MODIFICATION OF NAVIGATION LANES.

    The Commandant of the Coast Guard shall modify navigation lanes and 
reroute vessel traffic after the completion of the second phase of the 
navigation project under section 3 to improve the safety and efficiency 
of vessel traffic in San Francisco Bay, California. In carrying out 
this section, the Commandant shall develop a vessel routing program 
that minimizes the risk of an oil or hazardous substance spill in San 
Francisco Bay.

SEC. 5. OIL SPILL RISK ASSESSMENT.

    (a) Survey.--In consultation with the Commandant of the Coast 
Guard, the Maritime Administrator shall ensure that operational vessels 
owned by, or vessels under contract to, the Maritime Administration are 
surveyed for risks for oil spills or other hazards to human health or 
the environment.
    (b) Standards and Procedures.--In surveying vessels under this 
section, the Commandant shall use the same standards and procedures as 
are used in inspecting similarly situated private vessels.
    (c) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Commandant shall submit to Congress and the 
Administrator of the Federal Maritime Administration a report 
describing any oil spill risks determined in the survey conducted under 
this section and making recommendations for corrective actions for such 
risks, including estimates of the costs of those actions.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    For fiscal years beginning after September 30, 1999, there are 
authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of the Army and the 
Commandant of the Coast Guard such sums as may be necessary to carry 
out their respective duties under this Act. Such sums shall remain 
available until expended.
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