[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1031 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1031

   To implement recommendations related to the safety of amphibious 
               passenger vessels, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 4, 2019

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To implement recommendations related to the safety of amphibious 
               passenger 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. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Duck Boat Safety Enhancement Act of 
2019''.

SEC. 2. SAFETY REQUIREMENTS FOR AMPHIBIOUS PASSENGER VESSELS.

    (a) Remaining Afloat and Upright in the Event of Flooding.--
            (1) Regulations required.--Not later than 180 days after 
        the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commandant of the 
        Coast Guard shall prescribe in regulations that operators of 
        amphibious passenger vessels provide reserve buoyancy for such 
        vessels through passive means, including watertight 
        compartmentalization, built-in flotation, or such other means 
        as the Commandant shall specify in the regulations, in order to 
        ensure that such vessels remain afloat and upright in the event 
        of flooding, including when carrying a full complement of 
        passengers and crew.
            (2) Interim requirements.--Commencing as of the date the 
        regulations required by paragraph (1) are prescribed, the 
        Commandant of the Coast Guard shall require that operators of 
        amphibious passenger vessels that are not in compliance with 
        the requirements in the regulations do the following:
                    (A) Remove the canopies of such vessels for 
                waterborne operations, or install in such vessels a 
                Coast Guard-approved canopy that does not restrict 
                either horizontal or vertical escape by passengers in 
                the event of flooding or sinking.
                    (B) If the canopy is removed from any such vessel 
                pursuant to subparagraph (A), require that all 
                passengers don a Coast Guard type-approved personal 
                flotation device before the onset of waterborne 
                operations of such vessel.
                    (C) Reengineer such vessels to permanently close 
                all unnecessary access plugs and to reduce all through-
                hull penetrations to the minimum number and size 
                necessary for operation.
                    (D) Install in such vessels independently powered 
                electric bilge pumps that are capable of dewatering 
                such vessels at the volume of the largest remaining 
                penetration in order to supplement either an operable 
                Higgins pump or a dewatering pump of equivalent or 
                greater capacity.
                    (E) Install in such vessels not fewer than four 
                independently powered bilge alarms.
                    (F) Inspect any such vessel in water after each 
                time a through-hull penetration of such vessel has been 
                removed or uncovered.
                    (G) Verify the watertight integrity of any such 
                vessel in the water at the outset of each waterborne 
                departure of such vessel.
            (3) Prohibition on operation of noncompliant vessels.--The 
        following amphibious passenger vessels may not operate on 
        United States waterways:
                    (A) Commencing as of the date the regulations 
                required by paragraph (1) are prescribed, any 
                amphibious passenger vessel whose configuration or 
                operation does not comply with the requirements in 
                paragraph (2).
                    (B) Commencing as of the date specified by the 
                Commandant of the Coast Guard pursuant to subsection 
                (d), any amphibious passenger vessel whose 
                configuration or operation does not comply with the 
                requirements in the regulations under paragraph (1).
    (b) Severe Weather Emergency Preparedness.--Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commandant of the 
Coast Guard shall prescribe in regulations--
            (1) the limiting environmental conditions, such as weather, 
        in which amphibious passenger vessels may safely operate, and a 
        requirement that such limiting conditions be described in the 
        certificate of inspection of each amphibious passenger vessel;
            (2) that an operator of an amphibious passenger vessel--
                    (A) check the National Weather Service forecast 
                before getting underway and periodically while 
                underway; and
                    (B) in the case of a watch or warning issued for 
                wind speeds exceeding the wind speed equivalent used to 
                certify the stability of an amphibious passenger 
                vessel, proceed to the nearest harbor or safe refuge; 
                and
            (3) that an amphibious passenger vessel certified to 
        operate on partially protected waters have a weather monitor 
        radio receiver at the operator station that may be 
        automatically activated by the warning alarm device of the 
        National Weather Service.
    (c) Additional Safety Measures.--Not later than 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Commandant of the Coast Guard 
shall prescribe in regulations that--
            (1) operators of amphibious passenger vessels inform 
        passengers that seat belts may not be worn during waterborne 
        operations; and
            (2) before the commencement of waterborne operations, a 
        crew member visually check that each passenger has unbuckled 
        his or her seatbelt.
    (d) Deadline for Compliance.--The regulations required by 
subsections (a) through (c) shall require compliance with the 
requirements in the regulations by operators of amphibious passenger 
vessels by such date, not later than 2 years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, as the Commandant shall specify in the 
regulations.
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