[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1561 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1561
To amend title 14, United States Code, to require the Coast Guard to
conduct icebreaking operations in the Great Lakes to minimize
commercial disruption in the winter months, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 3, 2021
Mr. Gallagher (for himself, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Gibbs, Mrs. Dingell, Mrs.
McClain, Mr. Bergman, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Mr. Huizenga, Mr. Joyce
of Ohio, and Mr. Stauber) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
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A BILL
To amend title 14, United States Code, to require the Coast Guard to
conduct icebreaking operations in the Great Lakes to minimize
commercial disruption in the winter months, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Great Lakes Winter Commerce Act of
2021''.
SEC. 2. GREAT LAKES ICEBREAKING OPERATIONS.
(a) In General.--Subchapter IV of chapter 5 of title 14, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 564. Great Lakes icebreaking operations
``(a) Icebreaking Operations.--The Commandant shall conduct
icebreaking operations in the Great Lakes in accordance with the
standard for icebreaking operations under subsection (b).
``(b) Standard for Icebreaking Operations.--In carrying out
subsection (a)--
``(1) except as provided in paragraph (2), the Commandant
shall keep ice-covered waterways in the Great Lakes open to
navigation not less than 90 percent of the hours that
commercial vessels and ferries attempt to transit such ice-
covered waterways; and
``(2) in a year in which the Great Lakes are not open to
navigation because of ice of a thickness that occurs on average
only once every 10 years, the Coast Guard shall keep ice-
covered waterways in the Great Lakes open to navigation at
least 70 percent of the hours that commercial vessels and
ferries attempt to transit such ice-covered waterways.
``(c) Report to Congress.--
``(1) Deadline.--Not later than July 1 of each year, the
Commandant shall submit to Congress a report on the icebreaking
operations conducted by the Coast Guard in the Great Lakes for
the fiscal year.
``(2) Content.--The report required under paragraph (1)
shall include the total number of hours that United States
icebreakers conducted icebreaking operations in each of the
types of Great Lakes waters described in paragraph (3) and the
total number of hours that Canadian icebreakers conducted
icebreaking operations in the type of Great Lakes waters
described in subparagraphs (3)(A) and (3)(C).
``(3) Types of great lakes waters.--The types of waters
described in this paragraph are--
``(A) United States waters, excluding waters
described in subparagraph (C);
``(B) Canadian waters, excluding waters described
in subparagraph (C); and
``(C) frequent border crossing waters.
``(d) Coordination With Industry.--The Commandant shall coordinate
Great Lakes icebreaking operations with operators of commercial
vessels.
``(e) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Commercial vessel.--The term `commercial vessel'
means any privately owned cargo vessel of at least 500 tons, as
measured under section 14502 of title 46 or an alternate
tonnage measured under section 14302 of such title as
prescribed by the Secretary under section 14104 of such title,
operating in the Great Lakes during the winter season.
``(2) Great lakes.--The term `Great Lakes'--
``(A) has the meaning given such term in section
118 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33
U.S.C. 1268); and
``(B) includes harbors.
``(3) Ice-covered waterway.--The term `ice-covered
waterway' means any portion of the Great Lakes in which
commercial vessels operate that is 70 percent or greater
covered by ice, but does not include any waters adjacent to
piers or docks for which commercial icebreaking services are
available and adequate for the ice conditions.
``(4) Open to navigation.--The term `open to navigation'
means navigable to the extent necessary to meet the reasonable
demands of commerce, minimize delays to passenger ferries,
extricate vessels and persons from danger, prevent damage due
to flooding, and conduct other Coast Guard missions as
required.
``(5) Reasonable demands of commerce.--The term `reasonable
demands of commerce' means the safe movement of commercial
vessels transiting ice-covered waterways in the Great Lakes,
regardless of type of cargo, at a speed consistent with the
design capability of Coast Guard icebreakers operating in the
Great Lakes.
``(6) Frequent border crossing waters.--The term `frequent
border crossing waters' means the United States waters and
Canadian waters of--
``(A) Whitefish Bay in Lake Superior;
``(B) the St. Mary's River;
``(C) the Detroit and St. Clair rivers system; and
``(D) Western Lake Erie from the Detroit River to
Pelee Passage.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of analysis for chapter 5 of
title 14, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``564. Great Lakes icebreaking operations.''.
(c) Report.--Not later than the first July 1 after the first winter
in which the Commandant of the Coast Guard is subject to the
requirements of section 564 of title 14, United States Code, the
Commandant shall submit to the Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report on the
cost to the Coast Guard of meeting the requirements of such section.
SEC. 3. GREAT LAKES ICEBREAKER ACQUISITION.
(a) Authorization.--Section 8107(a) of the Elijah E. Cummings Coast
Guard Authorization Act of 2020 (Public law 116-283) is amended by
striking ``$160,000,000'' and inserting ``$350,000,000''.
(b) Exemption.--Notwithstanding sections 1105(a)(2), 1131, and 1132
of title 14, United States Code, and the requirements in the
Competition in Contracting Act (10 U.S.C. 2304), and subject to the
availability of appropriations, the Commandant shall acquire the
icebreaker described in section 8107(a) of the Elijah E. Cummings Coast
Guard Authorization Act of 2020 (Public law 116-283) through other than
full and open competition in an accelerated timeframe and award the
contract on the basis of contractor qualification and price.
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