117 HR 5885 IH: To establish an interagency task force to address the backlog of cargo ships at the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach and in the coastal waters of Orange County, California, and for other purposes. U.S. House of Representatives 2021-11-04 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

I117th CONGRESS1st SessionH. R. 5885IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESNovember 4, 2021Mrs. Steel (for herself, Mr. Harder of California, and Mrs. Kim of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and InfrastructureA BILLTo establish an interagency task force to address the backlog of cargo ships at the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach and in the coastal waters of Orange County, California, and for other purposes.

1.

Interagency task force

(a)

Establishment

The Commandant of the Coast Guard shall establish an interagency task force (in this section referred to as the task force) to address the vessel backlogs at the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach and in the coastal waters of Orange County, California.(b)

Membership

(1)

Chair

The Commandant of the Coast Guard shall serve as the Chair of the task force.(2)

Composition

The task force shall be composed of at least 1 representative from the following agencies, to be appointed by the head of each respective agency:(A)The Environmental Protection Agency.(B)The Department of Agriculture.(C)The Department of Commerce.(D)The Department of Defense.(E)The Department of Energy.(F)The Department of Health and Human Services.(G)The Department of the Interior.(H)The Department of Justice.(I)The Department of Labor.(J)The Department of State.(K)The Department of Transportation.(L)The Federal Emergency Management Agency.(M)The Federal Maritime Commission.(N)The General Services Administration.(3)

Additional members

The Chair of the task force may appoint a representative from any of the following entities to serve on the task force:(A)The government of Orange County, California.(B)The Port Authority of Los Angeles.(C)The Port Authority of Long Beach.(D)The State of California.(c)

Duties

The task force shall—(1)evaluate and quantify the impact of the vessel backlogs at the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach;(2)evaluate and quantify the costs incurred by other Federal, State, and local governments due to such vessel backlogs; (3)evaluate the responses of Federal agencies to such vessel backlogs and the extent to which vessels are complying with the requirements of chapter 700 of title 46, United States Code; (4)investigate the cause of the oil spill that occurred in October 2021 in the coastal waters of Orange County, California, including the impact of, and events that led to, an oil pipeline being dragged more than 100 feet in such coastal waters; and(5)not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act—(A)develop a plan to solve the vessel backlog and oil spill crises along the coast of southern California, including a plan to address—(i)safety concerns with ongoing idling of waiting ships; (ii)the environmental impacts of waiting ships; and(iii)delays withing the ports; and(B)submit to Congress a report containing such plan.(d)

Authority

The task force may obtain from a Federal agency any information the task force determines is necessary to carry out this Act.