Supply Chain Emergency Response Act

Supply Chain Emergency Response Act

This bill directs the Maritime Administration to establish a program to provide grants to certain owners of cargo vessels to cover toll costs associated with rerouting cargo vessels from ports along the western seaboard of the United States through the Panama Canal to ports along the Gulf of Mexico and the eastern seaboard of the United States.

To receive a grant, an owner of a cargo vessel shall submit documentation that such owner intends to reroute a cargo vessel and has the corresponding docking agreements.

The bill allows states and localities to use COVID-19 relief funds for costs related to rerouting cargo vessels.

Any marine terminal operator that is located along the western seaboard of the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, may not collect port fees from a recipient of a grant who has rerouted a cargo vessel from such port due to the inability of such port to receive such vessel.

Any individual who is a member of the Chinese Communist Party or any company owned, in whole or in part, by the Chinese Communist Party may not receive a grant under this bill.