1 Calendar No. 568 110TH CONGRESS " ! REPORT 2d Session SENATE 110–261 COAST GUARD AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2007 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION ON S. 1892 FEBRUARY 5, 2008.—Ordered to be printed U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 69–010 WASHINGTON : 2008 VerDate Aug 31 2005 14:33 Feb 06, 2008 Jkt 069010 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4012 Sfmt 4012 E:\HR\OC\SR261.XXX SR261 cprice-sewell on PROD1PC72 with HEARING congress.#13 SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii, Chairman TED STEVENS, Alaska, Vice-Chairman JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West Virginia JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, Maine BARBARA BOXER, California GORDON H. SMITH, Oregon BILL NELSON, Florida JOHN ENSIGN, Nevada MARIA CANTWELL, Washington JOHN E. SUNUNU, New Hampshire FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey JIM DEMINT, South Carolina MARK PRYOR, Arkansas DAVID VITTER, Louisiana THOMAS CARPER, Delaware JOHN THUNE, South Dakota CLAIRE MCCASKILL, Missouri ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota MARGARET CUMMISKY, Staff Director and Chief Counsel LILA HELMS, Deputy Staff Director and Policy Director JEAN TOAL EISEN, Senior Advisor and Deputy Policy Director CHRISTINE KURTH, Republican Staff Director and General Counsel PAUL J. NAGLE, Republican Chief Counsel MIMI BRANIFF, Republican Deputy Chief Counsel (II) VerDate Aug 31 2005 14:33 Feb 06, 2008 Jkt 069010 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 E:\HR\OC\SR261.XXX SR261 cprice-sewell on PROD1PC72 with HEARING Calendar No. 568 110TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! 2d Session SENATE 110–261 COAST GUARD AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2007 FEBRUARY 5, 2008.—Ordered to be printed Mr. INOUYE, from the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. 1892] The Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, to which was referred the bill (S. 1892) to reauthorize the Coast Guard for fiscal year 2008, and for other purposes, having consid- ered the same, reports favorably thereon with amendments and recommends that the bill (as amended) do pass. PURPOSE OF THE BILL The purpose of S. 1892, the Coast Guard Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, as amended, is to authorize appropriations for fiscal year (FY) 2008 for the United States Coast Guard (Coast Guard) covering six accounts: (1) operation and maintenance ex- penses; (2) acquisition, construction, and improvement of facilities and equipment (AC&I); (3) retired pay; (4) environmental compli- ance and restoration; (5) research, development, testing and eval- uation (RDT&E); and (6) reserve program. The bill also authorizes end-of-year military strength, training loads, and construction of the Chelsea Street Bridge in Chelsea, Massachusetts, and includes other provisions to address issues related to the Coast Guard. BACKGROUND AND NEEDS The Coast Guard was established on January 28, 1915, as part of the Department of the Treasury, through the consolidation of the Revenue Cutter Service (established in 1790) and the Lifesaving Service (established in 1848). The Coast Guard later assumed the duties of three other agencies: the Lighthouse Service (established in 1789), the Steamboat Inspection Service (established in 1838), and the Bureau of Navigation (established in 1884). VerDate Aug 31 2005 14:37 Feb 06, 2008 Jkt 069010 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6601 E:\HR\OC\SR261.XXX SR261 cprice-sewell on PROD1PC72 with HEARING 2 The Coast Guard remained a part of the Department of the Treasury until 1967, when it was transferred to the newly created Department of Transportation. Under the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Public Law 107–296), the Coast Guard was transferred to the new Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003. The Coast Guard provides many critical services for our Nation grouped into five fundamental roles: maritime security; maritime safety; maritime mobility; protection of natural resources; and national de- fense. The Coast Guard, the Federal government’s principal maritime law-enforcement agency, is also a branch of the armed forces. As the fifth armed force of the United States, the Coast Guard main- tains defense readiness to operate as a specialized service in the Navy upon the declaration of war or when the President so directs. The Coast Guard has defended the Nation in every war since 1790. During the recent combat operations in Iraq, the Coast Guard de- ployed two 378-foot high endurance cutters, one 225-foot ocean going buoy tender, and one Port Security Team. It continues to op- erate six 110-foot Island Class patrol boats in the Persian Gulf. This was the first deployment of Coast Guard cutters in support of a wartime contingency since the Vietnam War. Under title 14, United States Code, the Coast Guard has primary responsibility for enforcing or assisting in the enforcement of all applicable Federal laws on, under, and over the high seas and wa- ters subject to the jurisdiction of the United States; to ensure safe- ty of life and property at sea; to protect the marine environment; to carry out domestic and international icebreaking activities; and to ensure the safety and security of vessels, ports, waterways, and related facilities. In carrying out these responsibilities Coast Guard activities include commercial and recreational vessel safety inspec- tion, the rescue of life and property at sea, fisheries law enforce- ment, marine environmental protection, and the interdiction of drug traffickers and illegal alien migrants. Since September 11, 2001, the Coast Guard’s security responsibilities have increased significantly, with new authorities provided under the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 (MTSA, Public Law 107–295). The Coast Guard is composed of approximately 41,500 active duty military personnel, 8,100 reservists, 7,400 civilian employees, and 28,300 Coast Guard Auxiliary volunteers. In 2006, the Coast Guard responded to more than 28,300 calls for assistance, boarded 70,300 vessels, saved 4,400 lives, seized 319,908 pounds of illegal narcotics and stopped 7,886 illegal migrants from reaching our shores. The Coast Guard conducted waterborne, aerial, and shore side security patrols, including approximately 193,000 to critical in- frastructure and key assets. Additionally, the Coast Guard con- ducted more than 32,000 security zone patrols near critical infra- structure. The Coast Guard escorted more than 7,800 naval ves- sels, vessels engaged in military outloads, vessels carrying certain dangerous cargoes in bulk, and high capacity passenger vessels, in- cluding cruise ships and ferry vessels. Coast Guard assets also pa- trolled to protect our fisheries stocks and responded to approxi- mately 12,459 pollution incidents (7,374 from vessels and 5,085 from facilities). Further improvements in the Coast Guard’s authority will better enable it to achieve its missions. VerDate Aug 31 2005 14:37 Feb 06, 2008 Jkt 069010 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6601 E:\HR\OC\SR261.XXX SR261 cprice-sewell on PROD1PC72 with HEARING 3 Further improvements in the Coast Guard’s authority will better enable it to achieve its missions. Each year, maritime smugglers transport thousands of aliens to the United States with virtual impunity because the existing law does not sufficiently punish or deter such conduct. According to Coast Guard data, more than 6,000 migrants were interdicted in 2006 and 40 percent of those interdictions were suspected smug- gling events. However, the prosecution rate for smugglers since 2005 is only 10 percent. Additional authority would better enable the Coast Guard to combat this problem. Oil pollution from vessels continues to be a major risk our Nation faces. In 2006, the United States had net imports of 12.2 million barrels of oil per day, more than twice as much as Japan and more than three times as much as China, the world’s next largest im- porters. The transport of oil into the United States occurs primarily by sea with ports throughout the United States receiving over 40,000 shipments of oil in 2005. In addition, vessels not trans- porting oil, such as cargo and freight vessels, fishing vessels, and passenger ships, often carry tens of thousands of gallons of fuel oil to power their engines. According to Coast Guard data, while the number of oil spills from vessels has decreased notably since pas- sage of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90), the volume of oil spilled nationwide is still significant. The government Account- ability Office (GAO), in its September 2007 report entitled ‘‘Major Oil Spills Occur Infrequently, but Risks to the Federal Oil Spill Fund Remain’’ (GAO-07-1085), found that 51 spills with costs above $1 million have occurred since 1990, costing a total of between $860 million and $1.1 billion. A comparison of data from 1992 and 2004 is telling. In 1992, there were 5,310 reported vessel spills in U.S. waters, amounting to 665,432 gallons of oil; in 2004, the total was higher, at 722,768 gallons, and a considerable number of spills are still occurring. In 2004, there were 3,897 reported vessel spills in U.S. waters, includ- ing 35 spills from tank ships, 143 spills from barges, and 1,527 spills from other vessels, including cargo ships. Another 1,055 were from unknown sources. Furthermore, even though the number of spills from tankers declined from 193 spills in 1992 to 35 spills in 2004, a single incident from a vessel like the Exxon Valdez can be devastating, both environmentally and economically. The transportation of hazardous cargo in the maritime domain, particularly the transportation of highly combustible liquid energy products, poses a unique threat to the safety and security of our nation’s ports and the urban populations surrounding them.