[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5770 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5770

  To ensure safe, secure, and reliable marine shipping in the Arctic 
including the availability of aids to navigation, vessel escorts, spill 
response capability, and maritime search and rescue in the Arctic, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 19, 2010

    Mr. Young of Alaska (for himself and Mr. Larsen of Washington) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                   Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To ensure safe, secure, and reliable marine shipping in the Arctic 
including the availability of aids to navigation, vessel escorts, spill 
response capability, and maritime search and rescue in the Arctic, 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 ``Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment 
Implementation Act of 2010''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds and declares the following:
            (1) The Arctic Ocean and adjacent seas are becoming 
        increasingly accessible to shipping, due to thinning ice cover, 
        technological improvements allowing greater efficiencies in the 
        operation of ice-breakers and ice-strengthened cargo and 
        passenger vessels, satellite support for navigation and real-
        time ice-charting, and growing demand for Arctic tourism and 
        natural resources.
            (2) It is in the interests of the United States to work 
        with the State of Alaska and our neighbors in the Arctic to 
        ensure that shipping in the Arctic Ocean and adjacent seas is 
        safe for mariners, protective of the natural environment, 
        including the air, land, water, and wildlife of the Arctic, and 
        mindful of the needs of longstanding subsistence users of 
        Arctic resources.
            (3) It is further in the interests of the United States to 
        ensure that shipping in the Arctic Ocean and adjacent seas is 
        secure, and that United States sovereign and security 
        interests, including the rights of United States vessels to 
        innocent passage through international straits, are respected 
        and protected, that access is provided throughout the Arctic 
        Ocean for legitimate research vessels of all nations, and that 
        peaceful relations are maintained in the Arctic.
            (4) It is further in the interests of the United States to 
        see that a system of international cooperation is established 
        to support reliable shipping, with methods for joint investment 
        in providing mariners aids to navigation, ports of refuge, 
        vessel-to-shore communication, hydrographic mapping, and search 
        and rescue capability.
            (5) For nearly 500 years, mariners and sea-faring nations 
        have sought national and global benefits from sea routes in the 
        Arctic similar to those provided now by the Panama and Suez 
        canals, but as those benefits may finally be realized, expanded 
        shipping will present risks to residents of the Arctic, and 
        coordinated shipping regulations are needed to protect United 
        States interests even from shipping that may occur in the 
        Arctic outside United States territorial waters.
            (6) Proven models for international cooperation in 
        management of regional waterways exist, including United States 
        joint administration of the St. Lawrence Seaway with Canada, 
        and existing cooperation between the Coast Guard and its 
        Russian Federation counterpart for fisheries enforcement in the 
        Bering Sea and North Pacific regions.
            (7) The United States has continuing research, security, 
        environmental, and commercial interests in the Arctic that rely 
        on the availability of icebreaker platforms of the Coast Guard. 
        The Polar Class icebreakers commissioned in the 1970s are in 
        need of replacement.
            (8) Sovereign interests of the United States in the Arctic 
        Ocean and Bering Sea regions may grow with submission of a 
        United States claim for an extended continental shelf.
            (9) Building new icebreakers, mustering international plans 
        for aids to navigation and other facilities, and establishing 
        coordinated shipping regulations and oil spill prevention and 
        response capability through international cooperation, 
        including the approval of the International Maritime 
        Organization, requires long lead times. Beginning those efforts 
        now, with the completion of an Arctic Marine Shipping 
        Assessment by the eight-nation Arctic Council, is essential to 
        protect United States interests given the extensive current use 
        of the Arctic Ocean and adjacent seas by vessels of many 
        nations.

SEC. 3. ARCTIC MARINE SHIPPING ASSESSMENT IMPLEMENTATION.

    (a) Purpose.--The purpose of this section is to ensure safe and 
secure maritime shipping in the Arctic including the availability of 
aids to navigation, vessel escorts, spill response capability, and 
maritime search and rescue in the Arctic.
    (b) International Maritime Organization Agreements.--To carry out 
the purpose of this section, the Secretary of the department in which 
the Coast Guard is operating is encouraged to enter into negotiations 
through the International Maritime Organization to conclude and execute 
agreements to promote coordinated action among the United States, 
Russia, Canada, Iceland, Norway, and Denmark and other seafaring and 
Arctic nations to ensure, in the Arctic--
            (1) placement and maintenance of aids to navigation;
            (2) appropriate marine safety, tug, and salvage 
        capabilities;
            (3) oil spill prevention and response capability;
            (4) maritime domain awareness, including long-range vessel 
        tracking; and
            (5) search and rescue.
    (c) Coordination by Committee on the Maritime Transportation 
System.--The Committee on the Maritime Transportation System 
established under a directive of the President in the Ocean Action 
Plan, issued December 17, 2004, shall coordinate the establishment of 
domestic transportation policies in the Arctic necessary to carry out 
the purpose of this section.
    (d) Agreements and Contracts.--The Secretary of the department in 
which the Coast Guard is operating may, subject to the availability of 
appropriations, enter into cooperative agreements, contracts, or other 
agreements with, or make grants to individuals and governments to carry 
out the purpose of this section or any agreements established under 
subsection (b).
    (e) Icebreaking.--The Secretary of the department in which the 
Coast Guard is operating shall promote safe maritime navigation by 
means of icebreaking where needed to carry out the purposes of this 
section.
    (f) Demonstration Projects.--The Secretary of Transportation may 
enter into cooperative agreements, contracts, or other agreements with, 
or make grants to--
            (1) individuals to conduct demonstration projects to reduce 
        emissions (including black carbon and other emissions that 
        could contribute to climate change) or discharges from vessels 
        operating in the Arctic; and
            (2) maritime training institutions to train mariners for 
        ice navigation (including navigation in broken ice conditions) 
        and Arctic operations, including the prevention of discharges.
    (g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated--
            (1) to the Secretary of the department in which the Coast 
        Guard is operating--
                    (A) $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2011 
                through 2015 for seasonal operations in the Arctic; and
                    (B) $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2012 
                through 2015 to carry out agreements established under 
                subsection (d); and
            (2) to the Secretary of Transportation $5,000,000 for each 
        of fiscal years 2011 through 2015 to conduct demonstration 
        projects under subsection (f).
    (h) Icebreakers.--
            (1) Analyses.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act or the date of completion of the ongoing 
        High Latitude Study to assess Arctic polar ice-breaking mission 
        requirements, whichever occurs later, the Commandant of the 
        Coast Guard shall--
                    (A) conduct a comparative cost-benefit analysis 
                of--
                            (i) extending the service life of the 
                        existing fleet of icebreakers for operation by 
                        the Coast Guard,
                            (ii) constructing new icebreakers for 
                        operation by the Coast Guard, and
                            (iii) any combination of the activities 
                        described in clauses (i) and (ii) that is 
                        necessary for the Coast Guard to carry out the 
                        Federal icebreaking missions of the United 
                        States; and
                    (B) conduct an analysis of the impact on mission 
                capacity and the ability of the United States to 
                maintain a presence in the Arctic regions through the 
                year 2020 if recapitalization of the icebreaker fleet, 
                either by constructing new icebreakers or extending the 
                service life of the existing fleet of icebreakers, is 
                not fully funded.
            (2) Reports to congress.--
                    (A) Not later than 90 days after the date of 
                enactment of this Act or the date of completion of the 
                ongoing High Latitude Study to assess Arctic ice-
                breaking mission requirements, whichever occurs later, 
                the Commandant of the Coast Guard shall submit a report 
                containing the results of the study, together with 
                recommendations the Commandant deems appropriate under 
                section 93(a)(24) of title 14, United States Code, to 
                the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
                Transportation and the House of Representatives 
                Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
                    (B) Not later than 1 year after the date of 
                enactment of this Act, the Commandant shall submit 
                reports containing the results of the analyses required 
                under subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1), 
                together with recommendations the Commandant deems 
                appropriate under section 93(a)(24) of title 14, United 
                States Code, to the Senate Committee on Commerce, 
                Science, and Transportation and the House of 
                Representatives Committee on Transportation and 
                Infrastructure.

SEC. 4. ASSESSMENT OF NEEDS FOR ADDITIONAL COAST GUARD PRESENCE IN HIGH 
              LATITUDE REGIONS.

    Within 270 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating shall 
submit a report to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure of the House of Representatives assessing the need for 
additional Coast Guard prevention and response capability in the high 
latitude regions. The assessment shall address needs for all Coast 
Guard mission areas, including search and rescue, marine pollution 
response and prevention, fisheries enforcement, and maritime commerce. 
The Secretary shall include in the report--
            (1) an assessment of the high latitude operating 
        capabilities of all current Coast Guard assets, including 
        assets acquired under the Deepwater program;
            (2) an assessment of projected needs for Coast Guard 
        forward operating bases in the high latitude regions;
            (3) an assessment of shore infrastructure, personnel, 
        logistics, communications, and resources requirements to 
        support Coast Guard forward operating bases in the high 
        latitude regions;
            (4) an assessment of the need for high latitude icebreaking 
        capability and the capability of the current high latitude 
        icebreaking assets of the Coast Guard, including--
                    (A) whether the Coast Guard's high latitude 
                icebreaking fleet is meeting current mission 
                performance goals;
                    (B) whether the fleet is capable of meeting 
                projected mission performance goals; and
                    (C) an assessment of the material condition, 
                safety, and working conditions aboard high latitude 
                icebreaking assets, including the effect of those 
                conditions on mission performance;
            (5) a detailed estimate of acquisition costs for each of 
        the assets (including shore infrastructure) necessary for 
        additional prevention and response capability in high latitude 
        regions for all Coast Guard mission areas, and an estimate of 
        operations and maintenance costs for such assets for the 
        initial 10-year period of operations; and
            (6) detailed cost estimates (including operating and 
        maintenance for a period of 10 years) for high latitude 
        icebreaking capability to ensure current and projected future 
        mission performance goals are met, including estimates of the 
        costs to--
                    (A) renovate and modernize the Coast Guard's 
                existing high latitude icebreaking fleet; and
                    (B) replace the Coast Guard's existing high 
                latitude icebreaking fleet.

SEC. 5. ARCTIC DEFINITION.

    In this Act the term ``Arctic'' has the same meaning as in section 
112 of the Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984 (15 U.S.C. 4111).
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