[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5887 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5887

 To authorize appropriations for the Coast Guard for fiscal years 2013 
                 through 2015, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 1, 2012

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize appropriations for the Coast Guard for fiscal years 2013 
                 through 2015, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Coast Guard and 
Maritime Transportation Act of 2012''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as 
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
                         TITLE I--AUTHORIZATION

Sec. 101. Authorization of appropriations.
Sec. 102. Authorized levels of military strength and training.
                         TITLE II--COAST GUARD

Sec. 201. Selection boards; oath of members.
Sec. 202. Special selection boards; correction of errors.
Sec. 203. Prohibition of certain involuntary administrative 
                            separations.
Sec. 204. Annual report on Coast Guard unfunded priorities.
                        TITLE III--MISCELLANEOUS

Sec. 301. Technical corrections.
Sec. 302. Fishing vessel certification.
Sec. 303. Response Boat-Medium procurement.
Sec. 304. USCGC ``Polar Sea''.

                         TITLE I--AUTHORIZATION

SEC. 101. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    Funds are authorized to be appropriated for each of fiscal years 
2013, 2014, and 2015 for necessary expenses of the Coast Guard as 
follows:
            (1) For the operation and maintenance of the Coast Guard--
                    (A) $6,922,645,000 for fiscal year 2013;
                    (B) $7,021,036,000 for fiscal year 2014; and
                    (C) $7,078,327,000 for fiscal year 2015.
            (2) For the acquisition, construction, rebuilding, and 
        improvement of aids to navigation, shore and offshore 
        facilities, vessels, and aircraft, including equipment related 
        thereto--
                    (A) $1,505,312,000 for fiscal year 2013;
                    (B) $1,506,448,000 for fiscal year 2014; and
                    (C) $1,507,605,000 for fiscal year 2015;
        to remain available until expended.
            (3) For the Coast Guard Reserve program, including 
        personnel and training costs, equipment, and services--
                    (A) $138,111,000 for fiscal year 2013;
                    (B) $140,016,000 for fiscal year 2014; and
                    (C) $141,957,000 for fiscal year 2015.
            (4) For environmental compliance and restoration of Coast 
        Guard vessels, aircraft, and facilities (other than parts and 
        equipment associated with operation and maintenance)--
                    (A) $16,699,000 for fiscal year 2013;
                    (B) $16,701,000 for fiscal year 2014; and
                    (C) $16,704,000 for fiscal year 2015;
        to remain available until expended.
            (5) To the Commandant of the Coast Guard for research, 
        development, test, and evaluation of technologies, materials, 
        and human factors directly related to improving the performance 
        of the Coast Guard's mission with respect to search and rescue, 
        aids to navigation, marine safety, marine environmental 
        protection, enforcement of laws and treaties, ice operations, 
        oceanographic research, and defense readiness--
                    (A) $19,848,000 for fiscal year 2013;
                    (B) $19,890,000 for fiscal year 2014; and
                    (C) $19,933,000 for fiscal year 2015.

SEC. 102. AUTHORIZED LEVELS OF MILITARY STRENGTH AND TRAINING.

    (a) Active Duty Strength.--The Coast Guard is authorized an end-of-
year strength for active duty personnel of 47,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2013 through 2015.
    (b) Military Training Student Loads.--The Coast Guard is authorized 
average military training student loads for each of fiscal years 2013 
through 2015 as follows:
            (1) For recruit and special training, 2,500 student years.
            (2) For flight training, 165 student years.
            (3) For professional training in military and civilian 
        institutions, 350 student years.
            (4) For officer acquisition, 1,200 student years.

                         TITLE II--COAST GUARD

SEC. 201. SELECTION BOARDS; OATH OF MEMBERS.

    Section 254 of title 14, United States Code, is amended to read as 
follows:
``Sec. 254. Selection boards; oath of members
    ``Each member of a selection board shall swear--
            ``(1) that the member will, without prejudice or 
        partiality, and having in view both the special fitness of 
        officers and the efficiency of the Coast Guard, perform the 
        duties imposed upon the member; and
            ``(2) an oath in accordance with section 635.''.

SEC. 202. SPECIAL SELECTION BOARDS; CORRECTION OF ERRORS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 11 of title 14, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting after section 262 the following:
``Sec. 263. Special selection boards; correction of errors
    ``(a) Officers Not Considered Due to Administrative Error.--
            ``(1) In general.--If the Secretary determines that as the 
        result of an administrative error--
                    ``(A) an officer or former officer was not 
                considered for selection for promotion by a selection 
                board convened under section 251; or
                    ``(B) the name of an officer or former officer was 
                not placed on an all-fully-qualified-officers list;
        the Secretary shall convene a special selection board to 
        determine whether such officer or former officer should be 
        recommended for promotion and such officer or former officer 
        shall not be considered to have failed of selection for 
        promotion prior to the consideration of the special selection 
        board.
            ``(2) Effect of failure to recommend for promotion.--If a 
        special selection board convened under paragraph (1) does not 
        recommend for promotion an officer or former officer, whose 
        grade is below the grade of captain and whose name was referred 
        to that board for consideration, the officer or former officer 
        shall be considered to have failed of selection for promotion.
    ``(b) Officers Considered but Not Selected; Material Error.--
            ``(1) In general.--In the case of an officer or former 
        officer who was eligible for promotion, was considered for 
        selection for promotion by a selection board convened under 
        section 251, and was not selected for promotion by that board, 
        the Secretary may convene a special selection board to 
        determine whether the officer or former officer should be 
        recommended for promotion, if the Secretary determines that--
                    ``(A) an action of the selection board that 
                considered the officer or former officer--
                            ``(i) was contrary to law in a matter 
                        material to the decision of the board; or
                            ``(ii) involved material error of fact or 
                        material administrative error; or
                    ``(B) the selection board that considered the 
                officer or former officer did not have before it for 
                consideration material information.
            ``(2) Effect of failure to recommend for promotion.--If a 
        special selection board convened under paragraph (1) does not 
        recommend for promotion an officer or former officer, whose 
        grade is that of commander or below and whose name was referred 
        to that board for consideration, the officer or former officer 
        shall be considered--
                    ``(A) to have failed of selection for promotion 
                with respect to the board that considered the officer 
                or former officer prior to the consideration of the 
                special selection board; and
                    ``(B) to incur no additional failure of selection 
                for promotion as a result of the action of the special 
                selection board.
    ``(c) Requirements for Special Selection Boards.--Each special 
selection board convened under this section shall--
            ``(1) be composed in accordance with section 252 and the 
        members of the board shall be required to swear the oaths 
        described in section 254;
            ``(2) consider the record of an applicable officer or 
        former officer as that record, if corrected, would have 
        appeared to the selection board that should have considered or 
        did consider the officer or former officer prior to the 
        consideration of the special selection board and that record 
        shall be compared with a sampling of the records of--
                    ``(A) those officers of the same grade who were 
                recommended for promotion by such prior selection 
                board; and
                    ``(B) those officers of the same grade who were not 
                recommended for promotion by such prior selection 
                board; and
            ``(3) submit to the Secretary a written report in a manner 
        consistent with sections 260 and 261.
    ``(d) Appointment of Officers Recommended for Promotion.--
            ``(1) In general.--An officer or former officer whose name 
        is placed on a promotion list as a result of the recommendation 
        of a special selection board convened under this section shall 
        be appointed, as soon as practicable, to the next higher grade 
        in accordance with the law and policies that would have been 
        applicable to the officer or former officer had the officer or 
        former officer been recommended for promotion by the selection 
        board that should have considered or did consider the officer 
        or former officer prior to the consideration of the special 
        selection board.
            ``(2) Effect.--An officer or former officer who is promoted 
        to the next higher grade as a result of the recommendation of a 
        special selection board convened under this section shall have, 
        upon such promotion, the same date of rank, the same effective 
        date for the pay and allowances of that grade, and the same 
        position on the active duty promotion list as the officer or 
        former officer would have had if the officer or former officer 
        had been recommended for promotion to that grade by the 
        selection board that should have considered or did consider the 
        officer or former officer prior to the consideration of the 
        special selection board.
            ``(3) Record correction.--If the report of a special 
        selection board convened under this section, as approved by the 
        President, recommends for promotion to the next higher grade an 
        officer not eligible for promotion or a former officer whose 
        name was referred to the board for consideration, the Secretary 
        may act under section 1552 of title 10 to correct the military 
        record of the officer or former officer to correct an error or 
        remove an injustice resulting from the officer or former 
        officer not being selected for promotion by the selection board 
        that should have considered or did consider the officer or 
        former officer prior to the consideration of the special 
        selection board.
    ``(e) Application Process and Time Limits.--The Secretary shall 
issue regulations regarding the process by which an officer or former 
officer may apply to have a matter considered by a special selection 
board convened under this section, including time limits related to 
such applications.
    ``(f) Limitation of Other Jurisdiction.--No official or court of 
the United States shall have authority or jurisdiction over any claim 
based in any way on the failure of an officer or former officer to be 
selected for promotion by a selection board convened under section 251, 
until--
            ``(1) the claim has been referred to a special selection 
        board convened under this section and acted upon by that board; 
        or
            ``(2) the claim has been rejected by the Secretary without 
        consideration by a special selection board convened under this 
        section.
    ``(g) Judicial Review.--
            ``(1) In general.--A court of the United States may 
        review--
                    ``(A) a decision of the Secretary not to convene a 
                special selection board under this section to determine 
                if the court finds that the decision of the Secretary 
                was arbitrary or capricious, not based on substantial 
                evidence, or otherwise contrary to law; and
                    ``(B) an action of a special selection board under 
                this section to determine if the court finds that the 
                action of the special selection board was contrary to 
                law or involved material error of fact or material 
                administrative error.
            ``(2) Remand and reconsideration.--If, with respect to a 
        review under paragraph (1), a court makes a finding described 
        in subparagraph (A) or (B) of that paragraph, the court shall 
        remand the case to the Secretary and the Secretary shall 
        provide the applicable officer or former officer consideration 
        by a new special selection board convened under this section.
    ``(h) Designation of Boards.--The Secretary may designate a 
selection board convened under section 251 as a special selection board 
convened under this section. A selection board so designated may 
function in the capacity of a selection board convened under section 
251 and a special selection board convened under this section.''.
    (b) Selection Boards; Submission of Reports.--Section 261(d) of 
title 14, United States Code, is amended by striking ``selection 
board'' and inserting ``selection board, including a special selection 
board convened under section 263,''.
    (c) Failure of Selection for Promotion.--Section 262 of title 14, 
United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 262. Failure of selection for promotion
    ``An officer, other than an officer serving in the grade of 
captain, who is, or is senior to, the junior officer in the promotion 
zone established for his grade under section 256 of this title, fails 
of selection if he is not selected for promotion by the selection board 
which considered him, or if having been recommended for promotion by 
the board, his name is thereafter removed from the report of the board 
by the President.''.
    (d) Clerical Amendment.--The analysis for chapter 11 of title 14, 
United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to 
section 262 the following:

``263. Special selection boards; correction of errors.''.
    (e) Applicability.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect on the date of enactment of this Act and the Secretary may 
convene a special selection board on or after that date under section 
263 of title 14, United States Code, with respect to any error or other 
action for which such a board may be convened if that error or other 
action occurred on or after the date that is 1 year before the date of 
enactment of this Act.

SEC. 203. PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN INVOLUNTARY ADMINISTRATIVE 
              SEPARATIONS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 11 of title 14, United States Code, as 
amended by this Act, is further amended by inserting after section 426 
the following:
``Sec. 427. Prohibition of certain involuntary administrative 
              separations
    ``(a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), the 
Secretary may not authorize the involuntary administrative separation 
of a covered individual based on a determination that the covered 
individual is unsuitable for deployment or other assignment due to a 
medical condition of the covered individual considered by a Physical 
Evaluation Board during an evaluation of the covered individual that 
resulted in the covered individual being determined to be fit for duty.
    ``(b) Reevaluation.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary may require a Physical 
        Evaluation Board to reevaluate any covered individual if the 
        Secretary determines there is reason to believe that a medical 
        condition of the covered individual considered by a Physical 
        Evaluation Board during an evaluation of the covered individual 
        renders the covered individual unsuitable for continued duty.
            ``(2) Retirements and separations.--A covered individual 
        who is determined, based on a reevaluation under paragraph (1), 
        to be unfit to perform the duties of the covered individual's 
        office, grade, rank, or rating may be retired or separated for 
        physical disability under this chapter.
    ``(c) Covered Individual Defined.--In this section, the term 
`covered individual' means any member of the Coast Guard who has been 
determined by a Physical Evaluation Board, pursuant to a physical 
evaluation by that board, to be fit for duty.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The analysis for chapter 11 of title 14, 
United States Code, as amended by this Act, is further amended by 
inserting after the item relating to section 426 the following:

``427. Prohibition of certain involuntary administrative 
                            separations.''.

SEC. 204. ANNUAL REPORT ON COAST GUARD UNFUNDED PRIORITIES.

    (a) In General.--Section 663 of title 14, United States Code, is 
amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 663. Submission of reports and plans to Congress
    ``(a) In General.--On the date on which the President submits to 
Congress a budget pursuant to section 1105 of title 31, the Commandant 
shall submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of 
the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
and Transportation of the Senate--
            ``(1) a capital investment plan for the Coast Guard that 
        identifies for each capital asset for which appropriations are 
        proposed in that budget--
                    ``(A) the proposed appropriations included in that 
                budget;
                    ``(B) the total estimated cost of completion;
                    ``(C) projected funding levels for each fiscal year 
                for the next 5 fiscal years or until project 
                completion, whichever is earlier;
                    ``(D) an estimated completion date at the projected 
                funding levels; and
                    ``(E) an acquisition program baseline, as 
                applicable; and
            ``(2) a list of each unfunded priority for the Coast Guard.
    ``(b) Unfunded Priority Defined.--In this section, the term 
`unfunded priority' means a program or mission requirement that--
            ``(1) has not been selected for funding in the applicable 
        proposed budget;
            ``(2) is necessary to fulfill a requirement associated with 
        an operational need; and
            ``(3) the Commandant would have recommended for inclusion 
        in the applicable proposed budget had additional resources been 
        available or had the requirement emerged before the budget was 
        submitted.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The analysis for chapter 17 of title 14, 
United States Code, is amended by striking the item relating to section 
663 and inserting the following:

``663. Submission of reports and plans to Congress.''.
    (c) Conforming Amendment.--Section 918 of the Coast Guard 
Authorization Act of 2010 (14 U.S.C. 663 note), and the item relating 
to that section in the table of contents in section 1(b) of that Act, 
are repealed.

                        TITLE III--MISCELLANEOUS

SEC. 301. TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.

    Title 14, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in section 259(c)(1) by striking ``After selecting'' 
        and inserting ``In selecting'';
            (2) in section 286a(d) by striking ``severance pay'' each 
        place it appears and inserting ``separation pay'';
            (3) in the second sentence of section 290(a) by striking 
        ``in the grade of vice admiral'' and inserting ``in or above 
        the grade of vice admiral'';
            (4) in section 516(a) by striking ``of Homeland Security'';
            (5) in section 666(a) by striking ``of Homeland Security'' 
        and inserting ``of the department in which the Coast Guard is 
        operating'';
            (6) in section 673(a)(3) by striking ``of Homeland Security 
        (when the Coast Guard is not operating as a service in the 
        Navy)'';
            (7) in section 674 by striking ``of Homeland Security'';
            (8) in section 675(a) by striking ``of Homeland Security''; 
        and
            (9) in the first sentence of section 740(d) by striking 
        ``that appointment'' and inserting ``that appointment to the 
        Reserve''.

SEC. 302. FISHING VESSEL CERTIFICATION.

    Section 4503(c) of title 46, United States Code, is amended by 
striking ``July 1, 2012'' and inserting ``the date that is 1 year after 
the date on which the Secretary publishes in the Federal Register a 
definition of the term ``built'' for purposes of this subsection''.

SEC. 303. RESPONSE BOAT-MEDIUM PROCUREMENT.

    (a) Requirement To Fulfill Approved Program of Record.--Except as 
provided in subsection (b), the Commandant of the Coast Guard shall 
maintain the schedule and requirements for the total acquisition of 180 
boats as specified in the approved program of record for the Response 
Boat-Medium acquisition program in effect on June 1, 2012.
    (b) Applicability.--Subsection (a) shall not apply on and after the 
date on which the Commandant submits to the Committee on Transportation 
and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate such documentation 
as the Coast Guard Major Systems Acquisition Manual requires to justify 
reducing the approved program of record for Response Boat-Medium to a 
total acquisition of less than 180 boats.

SEC. 304. USCGC ``POLAR SEA''.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the department in which the 
Coast Guard is operating shall submit to the Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and 
the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a 
report providing a business-case analysis of the options for and costs 
of reactivating and extending the service life of the USCGC Polar Sea 
until the estimated date on which a new polar-class icebreaker is 
commissioned. The Secretary shall include in the report--
            (1) an assessment of the current condition of the USCGC 
        Polar Sea and a determination of the vessel's operational 
        capabilities with respect to fulfilling the Coast Guard's high 
        latitude operating requirements;
            (2) a detailed estimate of costs with respect to 
        reactivating and extending the service life of the USCGC Polar 
        Sea to a condition at least comparable to the condition of the 
        USCGC Polar Star when it enters service in 2013; and
            (3) a life cycle cost estimate with respect to operating 
        and maintaining the USCGC Polar Sea for the duration of its 
        extended service life.
    (b) Restriction.--The Secretary shall not remove any major 
equipment, systems, or other appurtenances from the USCGC Polar Sea for 
planned or potential work to refurbish the USCGC Polar Star until the 
Secretary submits the report required under subsection (a).
                                 <all>