[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2228 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2228

To establish a program of assistance to families of passengers and crew 
                members involved in maritime disasters.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 19, 2001

    Mr. Green of Wisconsin introduced the following bill; which was 
     referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To establish a program of assistance to families of passengers and crew 
                members involved in maritime disasters.

    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 ``Maritime Disaster Family Assistance 
Act of 2001''.

SEC. 2. ASSISTANCE TO FAMILIES OF PASSENGERS INVOLVED IN MARITIME 
              DISASTERS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 63 of title 46, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 6309. Assistance to families of passengers involved in maritime 
              disasters
    ``(a) In General.--As soon as practicable after being notified of a 
maritime disaster within the United States involving a covered vessel 
operator that results in the death or disappearance of 2 or more 
individuals, the Secretary shall--
            ``(1) designate and publicize the name and phone number of 
        an employee of the Coast Guard as a director of family support 
        services, who shall be responsible for acting as a point of 
        contact within the Federal Government for the families of 
        passengers involved in the disaster and as a liaison between 
        the covered vessel operator and the families; and
            ``(2) designate an independent nonprofit organization, with 
        experience in disasters and post-trauma communication with 
        families, that shall have primary responsibility for 
        coordinating the emotional care and support of the families of 
        passengers involved in the disaster.
    ``(b) Responsibilities of the Secretary.--The Secretary shall have 
primary Federal responsibility for--
            ``(1) investigating the circumstances surrounding a 
        maritime disaster and, in the case of a disappearance of a 
        covered vessel, searching for such vessel until it is located 
        or until the Secretary determines that the search is no longer 
        appropriate;
            ``(2) facilitating the recovery and identification of 
        fatally injured passengers involved in a maritime disaster 
        described in subsection (a);
            ``(3) communicating with the families of passengers 
        involved in the disaster regarding the roles of--
                    ``(A) the organization designated for the disaster 
                under subsection (a)(2);
                    ``(B) Government agencies; and
                    ``(C) the covered vessel operator involved,
        with respect to the disaster and the post-disaster activities; 
        and
            ``(4) working with other governmental agencies and other 
        resources, where appropriate, to assist in facilitating the 
        search for and recovery of any missing vessel.
    ``(c) Responsibilities of Designated Organization.--The 
organization designated for a maritime disaster under subsection (a)(2) 
shall have the following responsibilities with respect to the families 
of passengers involved in the disaster:
            ``(1) To provide mental health and counseling services, in 
        coordination with the disaster response team of the covered 
        vessel operator involved.
            ``(2) To take such actions as may be necessary to provide 
        an environment in which the families may grieve in private.
            ``(3) To meet with the families who have traveled to the 
        location of the disaster, to contact the families unable to 
        travel to such location, and to contact all affected families 
        regularly thereafter until such time as the organization, in 
        consultation with the director of family support services 
        designated for the accident under subsection (a)(1), determines 
        that further assistance is no longer needed.
            ``(4) To arrange a suitable memorial service, in 
        consultation with the families.
    ``(d) Passenger Lists.--
            ``(1) Requests for passenger lists.--
                    ``(A) Requests by director of family support 
                services.--The director of family support services 
                designated for a maritime disaster under subsection 
                (a)(1) shall request, as soon as practicable, from the 
                covered vessel operator involved in the disaster a 
                list, based on the best available information at the 
                time of the request, of the names of the passengers 
                that were aboard the vessel involved in the disaster.
                    ``(B) Requests by designated organization.--The 
                organization designated under subsection (a)(2) for a 
                disaster may request from the covered vessel operator 
                involved in the disaster a list described in 
                subparagraph (A).
            ``(2) Use of information.--The director of family support 
        services and the organization may not release to any person 
        information on a list obtained under paragraph (1), except that 
        the director may provide information on the list about a 
        passenger to the family of the passenger to the extent that the 
        director of family support services or the organization 
        considers appropriate.
    ``(e) Continuing Responsibilities of the Secretary.--In the course 
of its investigation of a maritime disaster described in subsection 
(a), the Secretary shall, to the maximum extent practicable, ensure 
that the families of passengers involved in the disaster--
            ``(1) are briefed, prior to any public briefing, about the 
        disaster and any other findings from the investigation; and
            ``(2) are individually informed of and allowed to attend 
        any public hearings and meetings of the Secretary about the 
        disaster.
    ``(f) Use of Covered Vessel Operator Resources.--To the extent 
practicable, the organization designated for a maritime disaster under 
subsection (a)(2) shall coordinate its activities with the covered 
vessel operator involved in the disaster to facilitate the reasonable 
use of the resources of the operator.
    ``(g) Prohibited Actions.--
            ``(1) Actions to impede the secretary.--No person 
        (including a State or political subdivision) may impede the 
        ability of the Secretary (including the director of family 
        support services designated for a maritime disaster under 
        subsection (a)(1)), or an organization designated for a 
        maritime disaster under subsection (a)(2), to carry out its 
        responsibilities under this section or the ability of the 
        families of passengers involved in the disaster to have contact 
        with one another.
            ``(2) Unsolicited communications.--No unsolicited 
        communication concerning a potential action for personal injury 
        or wrongful death may be made by an attorney (including any 
        associate, agent, employee, or other representative of an 
        attorney) or any potential party to the litigation to an 
        individual (other than an employee of the covered vessel 
        operator) injured in the maritime disaster, or to a relative of 
        an individual involved in the disaster, before the 45th day 
        following the date of the disaster.
            ``(3) Prohibition on actions to prevent mental health and 
        counseling services.--No State or political subdivision may 
        prevent the employees, agents, or volunteers of an organization 
        designated for a maritime disaster under subsection (a)(2) from 
        providing mental health and counseling services under 
        subsection (c)(1) in the 30-day period beginning on the date of 
        the disaster. The director of family support services 
        designated for the disaster under subsection (a)(1) may extend 
        such period for not to exceed an additional 30 days if the 
        director determines that the extension is necessary to meet the 
        needs of the families and if State and local authorities are 
        notified of the determination.
    ``(h) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Maritime disaster.--The term `maritime disaster' 
        means any loss of, or collision involving--
                    ``(A) a passenger vessel or small passenger vessel 
                providing interstate transportation of 2 or more 
                passengers, regardless of its cause or suspected cause; 
                or
                    ``(B) a fishing vessel carrying 2 or more 
                individuals.
            ``(2) Covered vessel operator.--The term `covered vessel 
        operator' means the operator of--
                    ``(A) a passenger vessel or small passenger vessel 
                providing interstate transportation of passengers on 
                such vessel; or
                    ``(B) a fishing vessel.
            ``(3) Passenger.--Notwithstanding section 2101(21) of this 
        title, the term `passenger' includes--
                    ``(A) an employee of a person who is a covered 
                vessel operator aboard a vessel operated by such 
                person, including a crew member on a fishing vessel;
                    ``(B) any other person aboard the vessel, without 
                regard to whether the person paid for the 
                transportation, occupied a seat, or held a reservation 
                for transportation on the vessel; and
                    ``(C) any other person injured or killed in the 
                maritime disaster.
            ``(4) Secretary.--Notwithstanding section 2101(34) of this 
        title, the term `Secretary' means--
                    ``(A) except as provided in subparagraph (B), the 
                head of the department in which the Coast Guard is 
                operating, acting through the Coast Guard; or
                    ``(B) the National Transportation Safety Board, in 
                the case of a maritime disaster in which primary 
                responsibility for investigation of the disaster is 
                vested in such board.
    ``(i) Limitation on Statutory Construction.--Nothing in this 
section may be construed as limiting the actions that a covered vessel 
operator may take, or the obligations that a covered vessel operator 
may have, in providing assistance to the families of passengers 
involved in a maritime disaster.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) The heading for such chapter is amended by inserting 
        ``and responding to'' after ``investigating''.
            (2) The table of sections for such chapter is amended by 
        adding at the end the following:

``6309. Assistance to families of passengers involved in maritime 
                            disasters.''.
            (3) The analysis for subtitle II of title 46, United States 
        Code, is amended in the item relating to chapter 63 by 
        inserting ``and responding to'' after ``Investigating''.
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