[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 498 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 498

To require vessels entering the United States waters to provide earlier 
notice of the entry, to clarify the requirements for those vessels and 
  the authority of the Coast Guard over those vessels, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 2, 1999

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require vessels entering the United States waters to provide earlier 
notice of the entry, to clarify the requirements for those vessels and 
  the authority of the Coast Guard over those vessels, 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. CLARIFICATION OF COAST GUARD AUTHORITY TO CONTROL VESSELS IN 
              TERRITORIAL WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES.

    The Ports and Waterways Safety Act (33 U.S.C. 1221 et seq.) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 15. ENTRY OF VESSELS INTO TERRITORIAL SEA; DIRECTION OF VESSELS 
              BY COAST GUARD.

    ``(a) Notification of Coast Guard.--
            ``(1) Notification.--Under regulations prescribed by the 
        Secretary, a commercial vessel entering the territorial sea of 
        the United States shall notify the Secretary not later than 24 
        hours before that entry.
            ``(2) Information.--The regulations under paragraph (1) 
        shall specify that the notification shall contain the following 
        information:
                    ``(A) The name of the vessel.
                    ``(B) The port or place of destination in the 
                United States.
                    ``(C) The time of entry into the territorial sea.
                    ``(D) With respect to the fuel oil tanks of the 
                vessel--
                            ``(i) the capacity of those tanks; and
                            ``(ii) the estimated quantity of fuel oil 
                        that will be contained in those tanks at the 
                        time of entry into the territorial sea.
                    ``(E) Any information requested by the Secretary to 
                demonstrate compliance with applicable international 
                agreements to which the United States is a party.
                    ``(F) If the vessel is carrying dangerous cargo, a 
                description of that cargo.
                    ``(G) A description of any hazardous conditions on 
                the vessel.
                    ``(H) Any other information requested by the 
                Secretary.
    ``(b) Denial of Entry.--The Secretary may deny entry of a vessel 
into the territorial sea of the United States if--
            ``(1) the Secretary has not received notification for the 
        vessel in accordance with subsection (a); or
            ``(2) the vessel is not in compliance with any other 
        applicable law relating to marine safety, security, or 
        environmental protection.
    ``(c) Direction of Vessel.--The Secretary may direct the operation 
of any vessel in the navigable waters of the United States as necessary 
during hazardous circumstances, including the absence of a pilot 
required by Federal or State law, weather, casualty, vessel traffic, or 
the poor condition of the vessel.''.
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