H.R. 4813

119 HR 4813 IH: Noncontiguous Disaster Shipping Act
 U.S. House of Representatives
 2025-07-29
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 I  119th CONGRESS  1st Session  H. R. 4813  IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES   July 29, 2025   Mr. Moylan  (for himself,  Mr. Case ,  Ms. King-Hinds ,  Mrs. Radewagen , and  Mr. Torres of New York ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the  Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure    A BILL
To amend title 46, United States Code, to provide for a waiver of navigation or vessel-inspection laws in noncontiguous areas upon a declaration of a major disaster or emergency, and for other purposes.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Noncontiguous Disaster Shipping Act  .
2.
Waiver in a noncontiguous area
Section 501 of title 46, United States Code, is amended—
(1)
by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and
(2)
by inserting after subsection (b) the following new subsection:
(c)
In a Noncontiguous Area
(1)
In general
Upon a declaration by the President pursuant to section 401 or 501 the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act ( 42 U.S.C. 5170 ; 5191) that a major disaster or emergency exists in a noncontiguous area of the United States, the head of an agency responsible for the administration of the navigation or vessel-inspection laws shall waive compliance with such laws for a vessel transporting cargo to or from the noncontiguous area affected by such major disaster or emergency for the purpose of disaster relief.
(2)
Duration of waiver
(A)
In general
Subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C), a waiver issued under this subsection shall be for a period of not more than 10 days.
(B)
Waiver extension
Upon the termination of a waiver issued under this subsection, the head of the agency referred to in paragraph (1), in consultation with the Governor of the noncontiguous area affected by such major disaster or emergency, may extend the waiver for an additional period of not more than 10 days.
(C)
Aggregate duration
The aggregate duration of the period of all waivers and extensions of waivers under this subsection with respect to any one major disaster or emergency shall not exceed 45 days.
(3)
Notice to congress
(A)
In general
The head of the agency referred to in paragraph (1) shall notify the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate of the issuance of any waiver of the navigation or vessel-inspection laws under this subsection not later than 48 hours after such issuance.
(B)
Notification required for extensions
For the purposes of this paragraph, an extension issued under paragraph (2)(B) shall be treated in the same manner as a waiver issued under this subsection.
(4)
Noncontiguous area of the United States defined
For the purposes of this subsection, the term  noncontiguous area of the United States  means Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Hawaii, and Alaska.
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