Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2015

Summary

Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2015 This bill authorizes appropriations for the Coast Guard for FY2016-FY2017. Specified senior officers of the Coast Guard shall be upgraded, and a plan shall be developed for biennial multirater assessments of Coast Guard officers. The Coast Guard may contract for the acquisition of Polar Icebreakers and associated equipment using incremental funding. The Department in which the Coast Guard is operating (Department in this Act, unless otherwise noted) shall: complete a materiel condition assessment with respect to the USCGC (U.S. Coast Guard Cutter) Polar Sea, and determine whether it is cost effective to reactivate the USCGC Polar Sea when compared with other options to provide icebreaking services as part of a strategy to maintain polar icebreaking services. The Coast Guard may contract on a sole source basis with a tax-exempt nonprofit organization that the Coast Guard Academy Alumni Association may establish in order to apply for and administer federal, state, or other educational research grants on behalf of the Coast Guard Academy. The bill repeals the prohibition against expending appropriated federal funds for the engineering, design, or construction of a National Coast Guard Museum. The Coast Guard shall consult with the Department of Defense anytime a report of allegations of misconduct are made against senior officials (flag officers and Senior Executive Service). Whistleblower protections for seamen reporting possible violations of a maritime safety or environmental protection law or regulation shall extend to those reporting to a vessel owner, a vessel operator, or the seaman's employer. The bill prescribes criminal penalties for destruction of evidence during maritime counter-drug operations and maritime bulk cash smuggling. Requirements and prohibitions for the carriage of liquid bulk dangerous cargoes shall apply to fishing or fish tender vessels of 500 gross tons or less if they carry flammable or combustible liquid cargoes in bulk. The Department and the Department of Transportation shall establish policies and practices to ensure that the authorities, including those for civil and criminal penalties, relating to maritime transportation of hazardous materials are enforced in the same manner and to the same extent. The Department may develop and propose a model for a national recreational vessel training curriculum and education standards for operators of recreational vessels equipped with propulsion machinery of any kind. Freedom of Information requirements for federal agencies shall not apply to a question from any examination for a merchant seamen license, certificate, or document, let alone the answer. The Department shall develop a sample merchant mariner exam and outline of merchant mariner exam topics on an annual basis. The Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010 is revised with regard to the application to Cape Flattery, Washington, of certain requirements for tank vessel response plans. The Department may treat as one of its own any assessment of the effectiveness of a foreign port's antiterrorism measures conducted by a foreign government or by an international organization if certain requirements are met. In establishing a model year for recreational vessels and associated equipment, the Department shall begin the model year on June 1 of one year and end it on July 31 of the following year, which shall also be the year designated. The Department shall amend regulations relating to weights of outboard motor and related equipment for various boat horsepower ratings to reflect Standard 30-Outboard Engine and Related Equipment Weights published by the American Boat and Yacht Council. The Department shall make a minimum of $59 million of direct loan obligations available each fiscal year for repairs or replacements of fishing vessels according to historic uses. The prohibition against federal direct loans or loan guarantees for the construction or rebuilding of fishing vessels exceeding specified dimensions shall not apply to vessels in specified fisheries. Certain fishing or fish tender vessels of between 50 and 190 feet in length, which are built after January 1, 2016, and which meet other specified criteria shall be exempted from American Bureau of Shipping certification requirements. The Federal Maritime Commission is reauthorized for FY2016-FY2017. Sport Fish Restoration and Recreational Boating Safety Act The Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act is amended to: revise a formula for the amount of unexpended or unobligated funds available for a project; increase percentages in the division of appropriations for coastal wetlands, boating safety, and boating infrastructure, among other things; and require a special set-aside to the Department in charge of the Coast Guard for recreational boating safety. The Internal Revenue Code is amended to extend through FY2023 the exception to the limit on transfers to the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund for payment of certain contracts. The bill repeals specified limitations of the use of funds for certain boating safety activities. The National Boating Safety Advisory Council is reauthorized through FY2023. The Department of the Interior shall convey the surface and subsurface estates of certain tracts on the "Point Spencer Land Retention and Conveyance Map," to the Bering Straits Native Corporation and the estates of another specified tract to Alaska. The Port Coordination Advisory Council for the Port of Point Spencer is established. The Coast Guard shall convey certain federal land in: Point Reyes Station to Marin County, California, for affordable housing or another public benefit, and Tok, Alaska, upon payment to the United States of the property's fair market value. The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 is amended to revise the membership of the Interagency Coordinating Committee on Oil Pollution Research. The Department may issue a certificate of documentation with a coastwise endorsement for the F/V RONDYS. The Coast Guard shall report to Congress on current operations to perform the International Ice Patrol mission as well as alternatives for carrying out that mission, including satellite surveillance technology.

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Documents

6 official files

• Reported to Senate (text)

  Reported to Senate · EN · 30 November 2015

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• Reported to Senate (PDF)

  Reported to Senate · EN · 30 November 2015

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• Reported to Senate with amendment(s)

  summary · EN · 30 November 2015

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• Introduced in Senate (text)

  Introduced in Senate · EN · 18 June 2015

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• Introduced in Senate (PDF)

  Introduced in Senate · EN · 18 June 2015

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• Introduced in Senate

  summary · EN · 18 June 2015

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