Coast Guard Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 1996 and 1997

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Title I: Authorizations

Title II: Personnel Management Amendments

Title III: Navigation Safety and Waterway Services

Management

Title IV: Marine Safety and Environmental Protection

Title V: Establishment of Alternate Convention Tonnage (ITC)

Thresholds

Title VI: Miscellaneous Amendments

Title VII: State Recreational Boating Safety Funding

Title VIII: Personnel Management Improvement

Title IX: Navigation Safety and Waterway Services Management

Title X: Marine Safety Management Improvements

Title XI: Coast Guard Regulatory Reform

Title XII: Law Enforcement Enhancement

Title XIII: Coast Guard Auxiliary Amendments

Coast Guard Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 1996 and 1997 - Title I: Authorizations - Authorizes appropriations for the Coast Guard for FY 1996 and 1997 for: (1) operation and maintenance; (2) acquisition, construction, renovation, and improvement of aids to navigation, shore and offshore facilities, vessels, and aircraft; (3) research, development, testing, and evaluation; (4) retired pay, payments under the Retired Serviceman's Family Protection and Survivor Benefit Plans, and payments for medical care of retired personnel and their dependents; (5) alteration or removal of bridges; and (6) environmental compliance and restoration at Coast Guard facilities.

Amends Federal law to authorize the funding of highway bridges that are determined to be unreasonable obstructions to navigation under the Truman-Hobbs Act from amounts set aside from the discretionary bridge program. Limits the amounts available in specified fiscal years.

(Sec. 102) Authorizes Coast Guard end-of-year strength and military training student loads.

Title II: Personnel Management Amendments - Amends Federal law to authorize the Coast Guard Commandant to require that Coast Guard and Coast Guard Reserve personnel (including cadets and applicants) request that all information on the individual in the National Driver Register be made available to the Commandant.

(Sec. 202) Amends Federal law relating to the Coast Guard to clarify that provisions mandating confidentiality of medical quality assurance records applies to activities before, on, and after the date the confidentiality requirements were enacted. Shields from civil liability an individual who in good faith provides information to a person (currently, to an individual) that reviews or creates quality assurance records.

(Sec. 203) Authorizes the Commandant to enter into personal services and other contracts to provide health care to Coast Guard personnel and covered beneficiaries.

(Sec. 204) Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1995 to prohibit providing, by grant or contract, any Department of Transportation funds to any higher education institution that prevents campus military recruiting.

Title III: Navigation Safety and Waterway Services Management - Amends the Inland Navigational Rules to modify specified rules.

(Sec. 302) Amends Federal law to declare that: (1) provisions relating to recreational boating safety do not apply to an undocumented barge numbering system established under specified provisions; and (2) the system and the issuing authority for the system shall be determined by regulations promulgated by the head of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating.

(Sec. 303) Amends the Inland Navigational Rules Act of 1980 to extend the termination date of the Navigation Safety Advisory Council.

(Sec. 304) Amends Federal law to extend the termination date of the Commercial Fishing Industry Vessel Advisory Committee.

Title IV: Marine Safety and Environmental Protection - Amends Federal law to declare that provisions relating to court sales of documented vessels do not apply to a documented vessel that has been operated only as a fishing vessel, a fish processing vessel, a fish tender vessel, or a documented vessel operated only for pleasure.

(Sec. 402) Amends the Ports and Waterways Safety Act to prohibit general or public disclosure or inspection of information regarding security for passenger vessels or passenger terminals authorized under the Act.

(Sec. 403) Amends Federal law to impose a civil penalty for failing to implement or conduct drug or alcohol testing prescribed by provisions relating to vessels and seamen or prescribed by the head of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating.

(Sec. 404) Amends Federal law relating to transportation of hazardous material, the Ports and Waterways Safety Act, the Inland Navigational Rules Act, and Federal law relating to carriage of liquid bulk dangerous cargoes to mandate refusal or revocation of customs clearance to leave a port or a permit (under the Tariff Act of 1930) to depart if there is reasonable cause to believe that the owner, operator, or person in charge of a vessel may be subject to various penalties or fines under those Acts.

(Sec. 405) Allows evaluation (notwithstanding specified provisions) of the service of an applicant for a license, certificate of registry, or merchant mariner's document by using the tonnage on which service was acquired.

(Sec. 406) Amends Federal law to increase the penalties for failing to report a marine casualty or violating small vessel manning provisions.

Title V: Establishment of Alternate Convention Tonnage (ITC) Thresholds - Amends Federal law relating to measurement of vessels to authorize the head of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to prescribe, where a statute allows, an alternate tonnage.

(Sec. 502) Allows alternate tonnage measurement by amending the Longshore and Harbor Workers Act, the Vessel Bridge-to-Bridge Radiotelephone Act, the Port and Tanker Safety Act, the Merchant Marine Act, 1920, the Maritime Education and Training Act of 1980, and numerous provisions of Federal law relating to vessels and seamen.

Title VI: Miscellaneous Amendments - Amends the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act to define "vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States" as the term is defined in the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act.

Makes it: (1) unlawful for any person on a vessel of the United States or subject to U.S. jurisdiction to engage in large-scale driftnet fishing beyond the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of any nation or within the U.S. EEZ; (2) a rebuttable presumption that any vessel in such areas with gear capable of use for that type of fishing is engaged in such fishing.

(Sec. 602) Amends Federal law to allow the sale, by a modified negotiated sale, of recyclable Coast Guard materials when the estimated proceeds will not exceed a specified amount.

(Sec. 603) Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require ships of a certain tonnage to have a radio station complying with the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea. Ends certain exemptions from that requirement. Modifies the authority of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to exempt ships. Removes provisions allowing exemptions related to unforeseeable equipment failures and radio direction finding apparatus requirements. Specifies the FCC's authorities regarding ship radio installations for passenger and cargo vessels. Removes provisions relating to: (1) technical requirements of equipment on radiotelephone equipped ships; (2) survival craft; (3) approval of installations by the FCC; (4) safety information; and (5) master's control over operations.

Title VII: State Recreational Boating Safety Funding - Amends Federal law (popularly known as the Federal Aid in Fish Restoration Act, the Fish Restoration and Management Projects Act, and the Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act) to mandate the distribution from the Sport Fish Restoration Account of certain amounts in specified fiscal years for grants under the Clean Vessel Act of 1992 and State recreational boating safety programs.

Authorizes the head of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to spend, under contracts with States, certain amounts for State recreational boating safety programs. Authorizes appropriations.

Title VIII: Personnel Management Improvement - Amends Federal law to allow the Coast Guard to expend operating funds for recruiting.

(Sec. 802) Authorizes the head of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to make child development services available for members of the armed forces and Federal civilian employees. Authorizes expenditures.

(Sec. 803) Declares that provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993 relating to homeowners' assistance for individuals affected by hurricane Andrew apply to Coast Guard military personnel in the vicinity of Homestead Air Force Base, Florida. Requires that Coast Guard funds, limited in amount, be used.

(Sec. 804) Amends Federal law relating to continuation of Coast Guard captains on active duty to remove provisions requiring dissemination to the service at large of the names of those selected for continuation.

(Sec. 805) Prohibits counting, in computing authorized strength, Coast Guard Ready Reserve members ordered to active duty in an emergency.

(Sec. 806) Requires lieutenants, selected for separation for failure of promotion and then selected (for the needs of the service) for continuation for two to four years, to further continue until they have completed 20 years of service if they have completed at least 18 years of service on the date specified for discharge.

(Sec. 807) Authorizes the Coast Guard Commandant to: (1) obtain research on personnel resource and training needs; and (2) employ special programs for recruiting women and minorities, including using grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts. Terminates this authority on a specified date.

Title IX: Navigation Safety and Waterway Services Management - Amends Federal law to remove provisions relating to fees for certain foreign vessel inspection.

(Sec. 902) Amends Federal law relating to documentation of vessels to increase civil penalties for violations. Allows seizure and forfeiture of a documented vessel placed under the command of a non-U.S. citizen.

(Sec. 903) Requires documented uninspected fishing vessels, fish processing vessels, and fish tender vessels to be operated by an individual licensed to operate that type of vessel.

(Sec. 904) Amends the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to mandate a civil penalty for failure to comply with or violation of a regulation issued under the Act.

(Sec. 905) Amends Federal law to authorize the head of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to conduct informal investigations of marine casualties. Makes opinions, recommendations, deliberations, and conclusions in a report of a marine casualty investigation inadmissible as evidence and not subject to discovery in any civil, administrative, or State criminal proceeding arising from a marine casualty without the consent of the Secretary of Transportation.

Title X: Marine Safety Management Improvements - Amends Federal law relating to uninspected commercial fishing industry vessels to add a requirement that vessels that operate beyond three miles from the coastline of the Great Lakes be equipped with alerting and locating equipment, including emergency position indicating radio beacons.

(Sec. 1002) Declares that a person commits a class D felony if the person services or alters lifesaving, fire safety, or any other equipment subject to provisions relating to inspection and regulation of vessels so that the equipment is so defective as to be insufficient for its purpose.

(Sec. 1003) Adds a requirement that, in order to be eligible for documentation, a vessel must be over a specified length.

Title XI: Coast Guard Regulatory Reform - Coast Guard Regulatory Reform Act of 1995 - Authorizes the head of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating (the Secretary), in order to implement the International Management Code for the Safe Operation of Ships and for Pollution Prevention adopted by the International Maritime Organization and to establish voluntary alternative compliance programs, to prescribe regulations governing the U.S. merchant marine, merchant marine personnel, and shore-based management of vessels.

(Sec. 1103) Authorizes the Secretary, in carrying out provisions relating to inspection and regulation of vessels, to use reports, documents, and certificates issued by persons the Secretary determines may be relied on regarding marine safety, security, and environmental protection.

(Sec. 1104) Authorizes the Secretary to accept certain approvals of fire and life safety equipment and materials by foreign governments.

(Sec. 1105) Modifies the required inspection frequency of specified types of vessels.

(Sec. 1106) Eliminates the maximum time limit before an inspection certificate expires that the Secretary must be notified that inspection will be required or the vessel will not be operated so as to require inspection.

(Sec. 1107) Allows the use of the American Bureau of Shipping or other classification society (currently, or a similar U.S. classification society) in connection with conducting and certifying vessel inspections.

Title XII: Law Enforcement Enhancement - Amends Federal criminal law to make it unlawful to: (1) fail to land an aircraft or bring to a vessel of the United States or a vessel subject to U.S. jurisdiction on order of a Federal law enforcement officer; or (2) resist vessel boarding, arrest, or other law enforcement action authorized by Federal law. Allows a foreign nation to consent or waive objection to enforcement of U.S. law by radio, telephone, or similar oral or electronic means. Mandates imprisonment and fines for violation and authorizes aircraft and vessel seizure and forfeiture and liability in rem.

(Sec. 1202) Amends Federal transportation law to require revocation of an aircraft's registration and the airman certificate of any person on failure to land.

(Sec. 1203) Amends Federal law to authorize the Coast Guard to issue orders and make inquiries, searches, seizures, and arrests regarding U.S. law violations aboard any aircraft subject to U.S. jurisdiction.

(Sec. 1204) Imposes a civil penalty upon a person, and in rem liability of a vessel or aircraft, for violations.

(Sec. 1205) Amends provisions of the Tariff Act of 1930 relating to boarding vessels to define "authorized place" with respect to vehicles and aircraft.

(Sec. 1206) Mandates a civil penalty for a person, makes an aircraft liable in rem, and provides for seizure, forfeiture, and sale of an aircraft for failure to comply with an order of a Federal law enforcement officer to land.

Title XIII: Coast Guard Auxiliary Amendments - Amends Federal law to specify the Coast Guard Commandant's authorities regarding the Coast Guard Auxiliary. Deems the Auxiliary a U.S. instrumentality except when it acts outside its legislated purpose or forms a corporation under State law.

(Sec. 1302) Declares that the Auxiliary's purpose is to assist the Coast Guard.

(Sec. 1403 (sic)) Declares that Auxiliary members are not Federal employees except for certain situations.

(Sec. 1304) Removes the word "specific" from provisions: (1) authorizing the use of Coast Guard appropriations for certain expenses of Auxiliary members assigned to authorized specific duties; and (2) relating to assignment of Auxiliary members to specific duties and related vesting in the Auxiliary members of the same power and authority as members of the regular Coast Guard assigned to similar duty.

(Sec. 1305) Authorizes the Coast Guard to use Auxiliary members and facilities in assisting Federal agencies, States, Territories, possessions, or political subdivisions.

(Sec. 1306) Deems motorboats, yachts, or aircraft, while assigned to Coast Guard duty, to be public vessels of the United States and vessels of the Coast Guard or Coast Guard aircraft. Deems (subject to specified provisions) Auxiliary pilots to be Coast Guard pilots.

(Sec. 1308) Authorizes disposal of obsolete or unneeded Coast Guard material to the Auxiliary.