Panama Canal Treaty of 1977 and Related Agreements Implementation Act of 1979

Panama Canal Treaty of 1977 and Related Agreements Implementation Act of 1979 - Redesignates the Canal Zone Code as the Panama Canal Code. Enacts technical amendments in such Code and in the laws of the United States to reflect the administration of the Canal by the Panama Canal Commission and the transfer of the Canal to Panama pursuant to the Panama Canal Treaty of 1977. Directs the President to submit to Congress proposed legislation to revise laws which are applicable only during the Canal transition period and to incorporate the remaining provisions of the Panama Canal Code into the United States Code.

Title I: Panamanian Relations and Security Matters - Directs the President to appoint the United States representatives to the Joint Commission on the Environment and the Consultative Committee between the United States and Panama.

Makes the U.S. Ambassador to Panama responsible for coordinating the transfer of functions to be assumed by Panama pursuant to the Treaty. Stipulates that the Administrator of the Panama Canal Commission shall not be subject to the direction or supervision of the Ambassador.

Repeals security legislation with respect to use of the Canal during a national emergency. Amends the Arms Export Control Act to repeal the applicability of arms export or import licensing requirements to the Panama Canal. Directs the Secretary of State to periodically furnish Panama with a list of persons entitled to the privileges and immunities specified in the Panama Canal Treaty of 1977.

Repeals the designation as the Canal Zone of areas specified in the 1903 treaty with Panama. Repeals the President's authorization: (1) to acquire or exchange land for the operation of the Panama Canal and the Canal Zone; and (2) to designate towns and subdivisions of the Zone. Terminates the Canal Zone Government and the position of Canal Zone Governor. Repeals procedures regulating revocable licenses for lands in the Canal Zone.

Repeals all provisions in the Panama Canal Code with respect to extradition of fugitives in the Canal Zone to Panama. Authorizes the Panama Canal Commission, other agencies and departments, and the United States courts in Panama, to transfer their records to other agencies, departments, or courts of the United States, and (with the approval of the agency head and the Ambassador) to the Government of Panama.

Repeals the requirement that the Secretary of Treasury make annual payments to Panama pursuant to the Treaty of 1955.

Title II: Panama Canal Commission - Establishes the Panama Canal Commission as a corporation and agency of the United States to succeed the Panama Canal Company. Repeals provisions of the Panama Canal Code relating to interest payments by the Panama Canal Company on the direct investment of the United States in such company. Revises procedures by which the Panama Canal Commission shall account for its capital surplus and pay dividends on such investment. Requires the Panama Canal Commission to make certain payments from the Canal operating revenues, as required by the Panama Canal Treaty of 1977, to Panama. Defines payments by the Commission to Panama for public services as an operating cost of the Commission.

Sets forth procedures for the appointments of the Commission Board of Directors and administrative officers. Revises the amenability of the Commission to suits.

Makes the powers of the Commission subject to the Panama Canal Treaty of 1977. Repeals the subjection of the Commission to other treaties and laws of the United States. Repeals the "deemed acceptance" by the Panama Canal Company of certain property, facilities, and personnel, transferred to the Company by the President. Directs the transfer of certain assets and liabilities of the Panama Canal Company and the Canal Zone Government to the Commission.

Transfers from the President to the Commission the authority to prescribe regulations governing Canal navigation. Repeals the authorization for the consolidation of the funds of the Commission and the Canal Zone Government. Directs the Department of Defense to reimburse the Commission for Commission expenditures for the maintenance of defense facilities.

Authorizes Federal agencies, as designated by the President, to provide educational and health care services, formerly carried out by the Canal Zone Government. Authorizes the funds of the Commission to be used for reimbursing such agencies for providing such services to employees and other authorized individuals. Prohibits the funds of the Commission to be expended to furnish free health services to Commission employees.

Requires Panama to continue to pay for water supplied by the Commission. Authorizes the Commission to utilize funds for disaster relief when a disaster poses hazards to health, safety, security, or property in the Canal Zone.

Repeals the authority of the Governor of the Canal Zone to acquire equipment for the Canal Zone. Permits property transfers and cross-servicing agreements between the Commission and the United States departments and agencies, including the Smithsonian Institution.

Permits the Commission to prescribe Canal tolls which shall be calculated to cover the maintenance and operation costs of the Canal, subject to the Panama Canal Treaty of 1977. Requires United States vessels to pay tolls.

Repeals settlement authority with respect to claims against the civil government of the Canal Zone. Revises: (1) the procedures for investigating claims against the Commission; (2) the elements of recognizable claims; and (3) the measure of damages of such claims.

Imposes a two-year statute of limitations on such claims. Establishes a Board of Local Inspectors of the Panama Canal Commission to inspect claims against the Commission. Requires an action on such a claim to be brought in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

Directs the President to appoint the U.S. representatives to a joint committee with Panama to study the possibility of a sea-level canal. Prohibits construction of such a canal without express congressional authorization.

Title III: Employees and Postal Matters - Repeals provisions of the Panama Canal Code relating to the appointment and compensation of Canal Zone Government employees and teachers. Repeals the authorization for deductions from the compensation of Panama Canal Commission employees for amounts due for supplies and services. Repeals restrictions on the hours of work for telegraph operators and train dispatchers of the Commission. Permits the Commission to appoint and compensate its employees. Makes provisions regulating wage and employment practices governing United States employees in the Canal Zone applicable to the Commission. Directs the establishment of a Panama Canal Employment System governing Commission employees and certain United States employees in Panama. Exempts the Commission and its employees from the U.S. Code provisions concerning Federal employee organizations. Directs the President to establish a form of collective bargaining applicable to the Commission's employees.

Repeals the extension of additional compensation for tax differentials. Permits the payment of overseas recruitment and retention differentials to certain individuals, including doctors. Permits the transfer of Federal employees to the Commission. Makes the preceding provisions applicable to Federal employees of the Smithsonian Institution.

States that conditions of employment, placement, and retirement shall not be affected by the transfer of employees of the Panama Canal Company, or the Canal Zone Government, to the Commission or United States agencies in Panama. Sets forth the rights of such employees with respect to placement, educational travel benefits, insurance, compensation adjustment, and early retirement. Specifies that certain law enforcement officers be treated as employees of the Commission. Excludes Commission employees from the health and life insurance provisions of the U.S. Code if they are not U.S. citizens and were not employed by a Federal agency before the effective date of the Treaty. Directs payment of the Social Security System of Panama funds to purchase retirement equity in that system for certain non-United States citizens retiring under special Treaty provisions.

Make provisions for the pay scale of the Administrator of the Commission. Exempts Federal employees whose pay is fixed by the Panama Canal Employment System from the pay provisions generally applicable to Federal employees.

Discontinues the postal service established by the Panama Canal Code. Directs the Panama Canal Commission to assume the funds and obligations of the postal service.

Title IV: Courts and Related Functions - Continues the applicability of the Panama Canal Code in conformity to the Treaty. Limits court jurisdiction to that prescribed by the Treaty.

Permits the continued operation of the United States District Court for the District of the Canal Zone within Treaty limitations. Repeals the division of such court. Repeals Canal Zone residency for a special district judge. Revises the operational procedures and continuation contingencies of the magistrates courts established by the Panama Canal Code.

Vests in the Panama Canal Commission the authority necessary to carry out United States rights and responsibilities specified in Article XI of the Treaty.

Redefines "special immigrants" under the Immigration and Nationality Act to include certain employees and retirees of the Panama Canal Company or the Canal Zone Government who are Canal Zone residents on the date of the exchange of Treaty ratification instruments. Waives specified conditions of inadmissibility for such immigrant applicants for 30 months after the Treaty enters into force.

Provides for the transfer of custody of all prisoners sentenced to more than one year imprisonment by the U.S. District Court for the Canal Zone to the Attorney General. Provides for the transfer of all prisoners sentenced to less than one year of imprisonment to the Panama Canal Commission.

Title V: Miscellaneous Provisions - Deems references to "hospitals," "Health Bureau," and "health director," in the Panama Canal Code to apply to the hospitals operated by the United States in Panama.

Authorizes appropriations for the disinterment, transportation, and reinterment of remains of U.S. citizens buried in the Canal Zone.