[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.
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