[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1177 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1177
To establish a congressionally chartered seaway development corporation
in the Arctic, consistent with customary international law, with the
intention of uniting Arctic nations in a cooperative Arctic shipping
union, where voluntary collective maritime shipping fees will help fund
the infrastructural and environmental demands of safe and reliable
shipping in the region.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 11, 2019
Ms. Murkowski (for herself, Mr. Sullivan, and Mr. King) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Commerce, Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a congressionally chartered seaway development corporation
in the Arctic, consistent with customary international law, with the
intention of uniting Arctic nations in a cooperative Arctic shipping
union, where voluntary collective maritime shipping fees will help fund
the infrastructural and environmental demands of safe and reliable
shipping in the region.
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 ``Shipping and Environmental Arctic
Leadership Act'' or the ``SEAL Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Arctic.--The term ``Arctic'' has the meaning given the
term in section 112 of the Arctic Research and Policy Act of
1984 (15 U.S.C. 4111).
(2) Arctic sea routes.--The term ``Arctic Sea Routes''
means the international Northern Sea Route, the Transpolar Sea
Route, and the Northwest Passage.
SEC. 3. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The Arctic seas have historically been considered
impassable and impractical maritime routes, but diminishing
Arctic sea ice, better icebreaking technology, and global
demand for Arctic resources has opened up opportunity for
international trade routes through Arctic Ocean waters.
(2) According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, over the last 20 years atmospheric temperatures
have increased at a rate at least 3 times the global average,
and as of 2011 sea ice thickness was 42 percent below what it
was in 1979. If trends continue, summers may produce ice-free
waters in the Arctic Ocean by the late 2030s.
(3) The Bering Strait is experiencing significant increases
in international traffic from vessels using the Arctic Sea
Routes. Increases in international traffic are projected to
continue.
(4) While the Arctic Council's agreements on search and
rescue, spill prevention and response, and initiatives through
the International Maritime Organization to bring about a
mandatory polar code are significant, little or no cooperation
yet exists in the Arctic region to bring about needed maritime
infrastructure, nor do Arctic coastal states and user states
cooperate in establishing common seaway administration.
International coordination and investment in infrastructure for
shipping routes, icebreaker service and refuge, ports, spill
prevention and response, salvage, and LNG bunkering, would be
collectively beneficial for all associated states, the
environment, and global commerce.
(5) Trans-Arctic shipping brings substantial commercial
benefits. Shipping distance between Europe and Asia could be
reduced by 4,500 nautical miles, saving a week's time and 40
percent in freight shipping distances compared to alternative
routes. Through a voluntary tariff model, user nations from the
remainder of the world can be invited to share with Arctic
nations the capital and operating costs necessary for safe and
reliable infrastructure in the Arctic Ocean and its approaches.
(6) As this new frontier emerges, the United States should
assume leadership to ensure safe, secure, and reliable Arctic
seaway development, and further to ensure that the Arctic
becomes a place of international cooperation rather than
competition or conflict.
(7) Setting precedent for cooperative infrastructure
investment and greater reliability in domestic and
international shipping is the St. Lawrence Seaway between the
United States and Canada, which links the Great Lakes to the
Atlantic Ocean. The Seaway operates in internal waters, rather
than international waters, but offers ship operators a
coordinated suite of services, similar to what is needed in the
Arctic Ocean and its approaches.
(8) The St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation,
established in 1954, is a model for a United States Government
corporation that constructs, operates, and maintains sea
passage infrastructure in water bodies shared with another
nation. It corresponds with its Canadian counterpart, the St.
Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation. In 2010 the Great
Lakes-Seaway system generated--
(A) 226,833 United States and Canadian jobs;
(B) $33,600,000,000 in business revenue from
maritime activity; and
(C) $4,600,000,000 in Federal, State, provincial,
and local tax revenue from maritime activity.
(9) In 2012 the Russian Duma passed legislation to create a
single management agency called the Northern Sea Route
Administration, to manage all infrastructural and navigational
services across what Russia claims to be its Arctic territorial
waters. This is a claim the United States and many other
nations do not recognize. Russia is investing heavily into
Northern Sea Route infrastructure, anticipating an increase in
cargo transport from 1,800,000 tons in 2010 to 64,000,000 tons
by 2020. The Russian Northern Sea Route Administration charges
escort fees for international cargo ships as high as $500,000,
and aims to collect a share of revenues that might otherwise be
paid as tariffs on the Suez Canal where collections totaled
$5,300,000,000 in 2017.
(10) The Russian Federation has considered legislation to
require all energy traffic on the Northern Sea Route to be
carried by Russian-flagged ships.
(11) Rising transit in United States Arctic region waters
necessitates a management agency and infrastructure investment
in a transportation system. As identified in the Ten-Year
Prioritization of Infrastructure Needs in the United States
Arctic prepared by the United States Committee on the Marine
Transportation System Arctic Transportation Integrated Action
Team for the United States Department of Transportation, there
is a significant infrastructure gap in the Arctic in the areas
of--
(A) navigable waterways, such as waterway
coordination with international stakeholders;
(B) physical infrastructure, such as infrastructure
around Port Clarence and Port of Nome in Alaska to
support commercial activity;
(C) informational infrastructure, such as up-to-
date nautical charts and electronic aids to navigation;
(D) MTS Response Services, such as emergency
response and rescue capabilities; and
(E) vessel operations, such as United States
icebreaking capabilities.
(12) The Arctic offers economic value to the United States
through commercial shipping and international trade routes,
energy, mining, commercial fishing, tourism, and tug and barge
operations. The Arctic offers environmental and cultural value
through ecological significance, unique wildlife, indigenous
peoples and Alaskan communities, and scientific research. The
Arctic offers security value to the United States as a way to
move United States vessels and forces between the world's
oceans, and through other waters. While the United States does
not support mandatory tariffs in this region, it does not
currently have a way to collect voluntary tariffs for providing
assistance to vessels crossing through the Bering Strait or the
Arctic Ocean.
(13) Reinvesting into infrastructural and environmental
demands with funds collected from international shipping fees
will be essential to the long-term viability of the Arctic.
(14) Environmental protection of the Arctic takes the form
of pollution prevention, clean-up, and accident response.
(15) Arctic prevention and clean-up involves all feasible
efforts to remove or mitigate pollutants from the environment.
Arctic ecosystems are more susceptible to biological damage
from pollutants than more temperate climates. Existing
removable hazards, such as dumped radioactive waste and other
toxic substances, must be handled.
(16) Arctic pollution prevention takes collective adherence
to regulations and best practices. United States leadership on
clean practices in the Arctic will be essential in the
ecosystem's sustainability. Provision of bunkering facilities
to enable the use of clean LNG fuels for ships will strengthen
pollution prevention.
(17) Environmental response capabilities in the Arctic are
weak, sparse, and have only begun to be internationally
coordinated. Transportation of oil and gas and maritime traffic
is expected to increase significantly in the Arctic, which will
increase the risk of accidents. The Arctic region is
particularly vulnerable to pollution from oil and gas shipping.
Because oil spills in ice are considerably more complicated to
address than oil spills in open waters, effects of oil spills
could remain in the region for periods of 50 years or more. In
2010 the International Maritime Organization passed Guidelines
for Ships Operating in Polar Waters, citing, ``the need to
ensure that all ship systems both are capable of functioning
effectively under anticipated operating conditions and provide
adequate levels of safety in accident and emergency
situations''.
(18) In June 2014, the Government Accountability Office
(GAO) reported that the Coast Guard was experiencing a gap in
its heavy icebreaking capacity and was without a heavy
icebreaker from 2010 to 2013. Tariffs collected through this
system can help United States public and private icebreaker
capacity grow, and induce additional private investment in
marine safety and services.
(19) During the most recent United States Chairmanship of
the Arctic Council, May 2017, the Arctic Council's Protection
of the Arctic Marine Environment Working Group established an
Arctic Shipping Best Practices Information Forum to help serve
as a resource hub of information, guidance, and guidelines that
aid decision-makers involved in Arctic maritime navigation and
those affected by maritime operations related to the Polar
Code. Insurers of Arctic shipping encouraged this Forum to help
bring about safer and more reliable shipping in the Arctic
region, and to reduce losses. This Act is in support of the
same goals.
SEC. 4. CREATION OF THE ARCTIC SEAWAY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION.
There is hereby created, subject to the direction and supervision
of the Secretary of Transportation, in conjunction with the Secretary
of State, the Secretary of Defense operating through the Secretary of
the Army, and the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard
is operating, a body corporate to be known as the Arctic Seaway
Development Corporation (hereinafter referred to as the
``Corporation'').
SEC. 5. SERVICES.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Transportation, in conjunction
with the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is
operating, the Secretary of Defense acting through the Secretary of the
Army, and the Secretary of State, shall approve services for which the
Corporation established under section 4 may charge a toll to vessels.
(b) Management.--
(1) Board of directors.--
(A) Establishment.--There is established the Board
of Directors of the Corporation (hereinafter referred
to as the ``Board of Directors''), which shall be
composed of 9 members as described in subparagraph (B).
(B) Composition.--The Board of Directors shall
consist of--
(i) the Chair of the Board of Directors to
be appointed and designated by the President of
the United States;
(ii) the Administrator of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration;
(iii) the Secretary of State;
(iv) the Secretary of Transportation;
(v) the Secretary of the Department in
which the Coast Guard is operating; and
(vi) 4 senior representatives nominated by
the Governor of Alaska and designated by the
Secretary of Transportation, of whom--
(I) 1 shall represent the
government of the State of Alaska;
(II) 1 shall represent the Alaska
business community;
(III) 1 shall represent the Alaskan
coastal and subsistence communities
affected by the Corporation; and
(IV) 1 shall represent Alaskan
maritime labor organizations.
(C) Terms.--Each member of the Board of Directors
described in subparagraph (B)(vi) shall serve for a 4-
year term or until a new member is designated.
(D) Meetings.--The Board of Directors shall--
(i) meet at the call of the Chair, not less
often than once every 90 days; and
(ii) conduct an annual meeting of the
Corporation in the State of Alaska.
(E) Functions.--The Board of Directors shall
develop a set of policy recommendations regarding the
facilities and infrastructure necessary to provide
services related to safety and environmental protection
and response for vessels transiting the Arctic Sea
Routes, including--
(i) the establishment of rules of
measurement for vessels and cargo on which
rates of charges or tolls for the services
provided by the Corporation are based; and
(ii) all other matters which the Board of
Directors determines to be relevant.
(2) Administrator.--The management of the Corporation shall
be vested in an Administrator who shall be appointed by the
Board of Directors with the approval of the Secretary of
Transportation.
SEC. 6. FUNCTIONS OF THE ARCTIC SEAWAY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION.
The functions of the Corporation are to provide services related to
safety and environmental protection and response approved by the
Secretary under section 5, including--
(1) constructing deep water port facilities in the Arctic
to provide services necessary to manage and facilitate
increased marine traffic, including cargo, tugs, commercial
fuel bunkering, and icebreaker vessels in the Arctic;
(2) maintaining a relationship with east and west coast
ports serving Arctic trade;
(3) collaborating with the State of Alaska and the United
States Coast Guard in the provision of icebreaker services,
including the provision of facilities, necessary for safe
navigation of the Arctic;
(4) leasing private icebreakers and cooperating in offering
services with icebreakers of other nations;
(5) where necessary, constructing places of refuge and aids
to navigation within the Arctic;
(6) making charts showing the locations of places of refuge
readily available to all vessels operating in the Arctic; and
(7) establishing strong ties among United States residents
of the Arctic region, Arctic shippers, and the maritime
insurance industry by creating a system of maritime
transportation in the Arctic that prevents loss of life,
vessels, and cargo, and increases reliability of shipping in
the Arctic.
SEC. 7. GENERAL POWERS OF THE CORPORATION.
For the purpose of carrying out its functions under this Act, the
Corporation--
(1) shall have succession in its corporate name;
(2) may adopt and use a corporate seal, which shall be
judicially noticed;
(3) may sue and be sued in its corporate name;
(4) may adopt, amend, and repeal bylaws, rules, and
regulations governing the manner in which its business may be
conducted and the powers vested in it may be exercised;
(5) may make and carry out contracts or agreements as are
necessary or advisable in the conduct of its business;
(6) shall be held to be an inhabitant and resident of the
third judicial district of the State of Alaska within the
meaning on the laws of the United States relating to the venue
of civil suits;
(7) may appoint and fix compensation, in accordance with
the provisions of subpart D of part III of title 5, United
States Code, for such officers, attorneys, and employees as may
be necessary for the conduct of its business, defining their
authority and duties, and delegating to them such powers vested
in the Corporation as the Administrator may determine;
(8) may acquire, by purchase, lease, property, and any
interest therein, and may sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of
such property, as the Administrator deems necessary for the
conduct of its business;
(9) shall determine the character and necessity for its
obligations and expenditures, and the manner in which they
shall be incurred, allowed, and paid, subject to provisions of
law specifically applicable to government corporations;
(10) may impose, retain and expend a toll to provide for
safety and environmental protection and response services
provided by the Corporation and to carry out services approved
by the Secretary under section 5;
(11) may provide services and facilities, at reasonable
prices, to vessels operating in the Arctic;
(12) if the United States portion of the revenue from the
tolls charged to the users of any services provided under this
section is applied solely towards the safety and environmental
protection and response services to vessels operating on the
Arctic Sea Routes as specified in paragraph (11), may
participate with international entities in the ownership and
operation of a tolling company, and may lease icebreakers, and
enlist and return assets;
(13) shall be credited with amounts received from any of
the activities authorized under paragraphs (10) and (11);
(14) shall publish charts of locations of places of refuge
to be made readily available to all vessel voyaging north of
the Bering Straight in the interest of ensuring vessel safety;
and
(15) shall carry out other functions considered relevant by
the Secretary of Transportation, in conjunction with the
Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is
operating, the Secretary of Defense acting through the
Secretary of the Army, and the Secretary of State.
SEC. 8. BONDS; ISSUANCE; MATURITY; REDEMPTION; INTEREST; PURCHASE OF
OBLIGATIONS BY THE SECRETARY OF TREASURY.
(a) In General.--To finance its activities, the Corporation may
issue revenue bonds payable from corporate revenue to the Secretary of
the Treasury.
(b) Total Value.--The total value of all bonds issued as described
in subsection (a) shall not exceed a sum that shall be determined by
the Secretary of Transportation in conjunction with the Secretary of
the Treasury.
(c) Maturity Dates.--Bonds issued as described in subsection (a)
shall have maturity dates agreed upon by the Corporation and the
Secretary of the Treasury that shall not be in excess of 50 years. The
obligations on such bonds may be redeemable at the option of the
Corporation before the maturity in such a manner as may be stipulated
in such obligations, but the obligations thus redeemed shall not be
refinanced by the Corporation.
(d) Coordination With Title 31.--
(1) Authority to use proceeds from sale of treasury
securities.--For the purpose of purchasing obligations of the
Corporation, the Secretary of the Treasury may use as a public
debt transaction the proceeds from the sale by the Secretary of
any securities issued under chapter 31 of title 31, United
States Code, and the purposes for which securities may be
issued under such chapter are extended to include such
purchases.
(2) Treatment of transactions.--All purchases and sales by
the Secretary of the Treasury of obligations issued by the
Corporation under this section shall be treated as public debt
transactions of the United States.
SEC. 9. REPORTS.
(a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the outset of
corporate activities of the Corporation, the Corporation shall submit a
special report to Congress regarding its general operations.
(b) Additional Reports.--
(1) New proposals.--In addition to the report described in
subsection (a), the Corporation shall submit to Congress a
special report whenever there is proposed a new feature,
facility, design, or phase of the Corporation involving an
estimated value exceeding $1,000,000, that shall include
justification for the new feature, facility, design, or phase.
(2) Progress reports.--The Corporation shall submit reports
upon the request of the Board of Directors, the President, or
Congress regarding progress of the Corporation, including
financial reports regarding expenses or revenues, extreme
weather patterns in the Arctic region, or reports as determined
necessary by Congress. Such reports shall be submitted not
later than 180 days after the date of the initial request.
(3) Environmental impact reports.--The Board of Directors
may direct the Corporation to compile detailed reports
regarding the environmental impact of increased marine shipping
within the Arctic region. Such reports shall be submitted not
later than 180 days after the date of the initial request from
the Board of Directors.
SEC. 10. THE ROLE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE IN FACILITATING
INTERNATIONAL ENGAGEMENT.
(a) Promoting International Cooperation.--The Secretary of State
shall undertake a leadership role in engaging in multilateral dialogues
with member and observer nations of the Arctic Council with the
intention of encouraging cooperation in providing coordinated services
for shipping in the Arctic Ocean and its approaches. The Corporation
shall encourage cooperative and collaborative relationships with the
member and observer nations of the Arctic Council in order to establish
fair and reasonable tolls and, where applicable, joint facilities, as
described in section 7.
(b) International Fees and Tolls.--The Corporation is hereby
authorized and instructed to waive fees and tolls as necessary for
international cooperation.
<all>
SEAL Act
#1177 | S Congress #116
Policy Area: Transportation and Public Works
Subjects: AlaskaArctic and polar regionsCoast guardCongressional oversightDepartment of Homeland SecurityDepartment of TransportationDiplomacy, foreign officials, Americans abroadEnvironmental assessment, monitoring, researchExecutive agency funding and structureGeography and mappingGovernment corporations and government-sponsored enterprisesInternational organizations and cooperationMarine and inland water transportationMarine pollutionNavigation, waterways, harborsTransportation safety and securityUser charges and fees
Last Action: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. (4/11/2019)
Bill Text Source: Congress.gov
Summary and Impacts
Original Text