[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 140 (Thursday, August 5, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S5964]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 2576. Mr. HAWLEY (for himself, Mr. Blunt, and Mr. Cotton)
submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 2137
proposed by Mr. Schumer (for Ms. Sinema (for herself, Mr. Portman, Mr.
Manchin, Mr. Cassidy, Mrs. Shaheen, Ms. Collins, Mr. Tester, Ms.
Murkowski, Mr. Warner, and Mr. Romney)) to the bill H.R. 3684, to
authorize funds for Federal-aid highways, highway safety programs, and
transit programs, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on
the table; as follows:
At the end of division I, add the following:
SEC. 90009. SAFETY REQUIREMENTS FOR AMPHIBIOUS PASSENGER
VESSELS.
(a) Safety Improvements.--
(1) Buoyancy requirements.--Not later than 1 year after
the date of completion of a Coast Guard contracted assessment
by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and
Medicine of the technical feasibility, practicality, and
safety benefits of providing reserve buoyancy through passive
means on amphibious passenger vessels, the Secretary of the
department in which the Coast Guard is operating may initiate
a rulemaking to 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 Secretary may 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.--Not later than 90 days after
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the
department in which the Coast Guard is operating shall
initiate a rulemaking to implement interim safety policies or
other measures to require that operators of amphibious
passenger vessels operating in waters subject to the
jurisdiction of the United States, as defined in section 2.38
of title 33, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor
regulation) comply with the following:
(A) Remove the canopies of such vessels for waterborne
operations, or install in such vessels a 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 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) Install in such vessels at least one independently
powered electric bilge pump that is capable of dewatering
such vessels at the volume of the largest remaining
penetration in order to supplement the vessel's existing
bilge pump required under section 182.520 of title 46, Code
of Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation).
(D) Verify the watertight integrity of such vessel in the
water at the outset of each waterborne departure of such
vessel.
(b) Regulations Required.--Not later than 2 years after
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the
department in which the Coast Guard is operating shall
initiate a rulemaking for amphibious passenger vessels
operating in waters subject to the jurisdiction of the United
States, as defined in section 2.38 of title 33, Code of
Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation). The
regulations shall include, at a minimum, the following:
(1) Severe weather emergency preparedness.--Requirements
that an operator of an amphibious passenger vessel--
(A) check and notate in the vessel's logbook the National
Weather Service forecast before getting underway and
periodically while underway;
(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
(C) maintain and monitor a weather monitor radio receiver
at the operator station that may be automatically activated
by the warning alarm device of the National Weather Service.
(2) Passenger safety.--Requirements--
(A) concerning whether personal flotation devices should
be required for the duration of an amphibious passenger
vessel's waterborne transit, which shall be considered and
determined by the Secretary;
(B) that operators of amphibious passenger vessels inform
passengers that seat belts may not be worn during waterborne
operations;
(C) that before the commencement of waterborne
operations, a crew member visually check that each passenger
has unbuckled the passenger's seatbelt; and
(D) that operators or crew maintain a log recording the
actions described in subparagraphs (B) and (C).
(3) Training.--Requirement for annual training for
operators and crew of amphibious passengers vessels,
including--
(A) training for personal flotation and seat belt
requirements, verifying the integrity of the vessel at the
onset of each waterborne departure, identification of weather
hazards, and use of National Weather Service resources prior
to operation; and
(B) training for crewmembers to respond to emergency
situations, including flooding, engine compartment fires, man
overboard situations, and in water emergency egress
procedures.
(4) Recommendations from reports.--Requirements to
address recommendations from the following reports, as
practicable and to the extent that such recommendations are
under the jurisdiction of the Coast Guard:
(A) The National Transportation Safety Board's Safety
Recommendation Reports on the Amphibious Passenger Vessel
incidents in Table Rock, Missouri, Hot Springs, Arkansas, and
Seattle, Washington.
(B) The Coast Guard's Marine Investigation Board reports
on the Stretch Duck 7 sinkings at Table Rock, Missouri, and
the Miss Majestic sinking near Hot Springs, Arkansas.
(5) Interim requirements.--The interim requirements
described in subsection (a)(2), as appropriate.
(c) Prohibition on Operation of Noncompliant Vessels.--
Commencing as of the date specified by the Secretary of the
department in which the Coast Guard is operating pursuant to
subsection (d), any amphibious passenger vessel whose
configuration or operation does not comply with the
requirements under subsection (a)(2) (or subsection (a)(1),
if prescribed) may not operate in waters subject to the
jurisdiction of the United States, as defined in section 2.38
of title 33, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor
regulation).
(d) Deadline for Compliance.--The regulations and interim
requirements described in subsections (a) and (b) shall
require compliance with the requirements in the regulations
not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this
Act, as the Secretary of the department in which the Coast
Guard is operating may specify in the regulations.
(e) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the
promulgation of the regulations required under subsection
(a), the Commandant of the Coast Guard shall provide 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 regarding the
status of the implementation of the requirements included in
such regulations.
______