
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 46USC12106]

 
                           TITLE 46--SHIPPING
 
                     Subtitle II--Vessels and Seamen
 
                    Part H--Identification of Vessels
 
                  CHAPTER 121--DOCUMENTATION OF VESSELS
 
Sec. 12106. Coastwise endorsements

    (a) A certificate of documentation may be endorsed with a coastwise 
endorsement for a vessel that--
        (1) is eligible for documentation;
        (2)(A) was built in the United States; or
        (B) if not built in the United States, was captured in war by 
    citizens of the United States and lawfully condemned as prize, was 
    adjudged to be forfeited for a breach of the laws of the United 
    States, or qualified for documentation under section 4136 of the 
    Revised Statutes (46 App. U.S.C. 14); and
        (3) otherwise qualifies under laws of the United States to be 
    employed in the coastwise trade.

    (b) Subject to the laws of the United States regulating the 
coastwise trade, only a vessel for which a certificate of documentation 
with a coastwise endorsement is issued may be employed in the coastwise 
trade.
    (c) A coastwise endorsement to engage in the coastwise trade of 
fisheries products between places in Guam, American Samoa, and the 
Northern Mariana Islands may be issued for a vessel that--
        (1) is less than 200 gross tons as measured under section 14502 
    of this title, or an alternate tonnage measured under section 14302 
    of this title as prescribed by the Secretary under section 14104 of 
    this title;
        (2) was not built in the United States;
        (3) is eligible for documentation; and
        (4) otherwise qualifies under the laws of the United States to 
    be employed in the coastwide trade.

    (d)(1) A vessel may be issued a certificate of documentation with a 
coastwise endorsement if--
        (A) the vessel is owned by a not-for-profit oil spill response 
    cooperative or by members of such a cooperative who dedicate the 
    vessel to use by the cooperative;
        (B) the vessel is at least 50 percent owned by persons or 
    entities described in section 12102(a) of this title;
        (C) the vessel otherwise qualifies under section 12106 to be 
    employed in the coastwise trade; and
        (D) use of the vessel is restricted to--
            (i) the deployment of equipment, supplies, and personnel to 
        recover, contain, or transport oil discharged into the navigable 
        waters of the United States, or within the Exclusive Economic 
        Zone, or
            (ii) for training exercises to prepare to respond to such a 
        discharge.

    (2) For purposes of the first proviso of section 27 of the Merchant 
Marine Act, 1920, section 2 of the Shipping Act of 1916, and section 
12102(a) of this title, a vessel meeting the criteria of this subsection 
shall be considered to be owned exclusively by citizens of the United 
States.
    (e)(1) A certificate of documentation for a vessel may be endorsed 
with a coastwise endorsement if--
        (A) the vessel is eligible for documentation;
        (B) the person that owns the vessel, a parent entity of that 
    person, or a subsidiary of a parent entity of that person, is 
    primarily engaged in leasing or other financing transactions;
        (C) the vessel is under a demise charter to a person that 
    certifies to the Secretary that the person is a citizen of the 
    United States for engaging in the coastwise trade under section 2 of 
    the Shipping Act, 1916;
        (D) the demise charter is for a period of at least 3 years or a 
    shorter period as may be prescribed by the Secretary; and
        (E) the vessel is otherwise eligible for documentation under 
    this section.

    (2) The demise charter and any amendments to that charter shall be 
filed with the certificate required by this subsection, or within 10 
days following the filing of an amendment to the charter, and such 
charter and amendments shall be made available to the public.
    (3) Upon termination by a demise charterer required under paragraph 
(1)(C), the coastwise endorsement of the vessel may, in the sole 
discretion of the Secretary, be continued after the termination for 
default of the demise charter for a period not to exceed 6 months on 
such terms and conditions as the Secretary may prescribe.
    (4) For purposes of section 2 of the Shipping Act, 1916, and section 
12102(a) of this title, a vessel meeting the criteria of this subsection 
is deemed to be owned exclusively by citizens of the United States.

(Pub. L. 98-89, Aug. 26, 1983, 97 Stat. 586; Pub. L. 98-454, title III, 
Sec. 301(b), Oct. 5, 1984, 98 Stat. 1734; Pub. L. 100-239, Sec. 6(a)(2), 
(3), Jan. 11, 1988, 101 Stat. 1781; Pub. L. 101-225, title III, 
Sec. 301(a)(6), Dec. 12, 1989, 103 Stat. 1921; Pub. L. 101-380, title 
IV, Sec. 4205, Aug. 18, 1990, 104 Stat. 533; Pub. L. 104-324, title VII, 
Sec. 743, title XI, Sec. 1113(d), Oct. 19, 1996, 110 Stat. 3942, 3971.)

                      Historical and Revision Notes
------------------------------------------------------------------------
          Revised section                Source section (U.S. Code)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
12106.............................  46:65i
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Section 12106 provides for the issuance of a certificate of 
documentation in the form of a coastwise license or an appropriately 
endorsed registry for any vessel that is eligible for documentation, is 
built in the United States, and qualifies under the laws of the United 
States to be employed in the coastwise trade. It also provides for the 
documentation of certain vessels captured during war that have not been 
built in the United States.

                       References in Text

    Section 27 of the Merchant Marine Act, 1920, referred to in subsec. 
(d)(2), is classified to section 883 of the Appendix to this title.
    Section 2 of the Shipping Act of 1916, referred to in subsecs. 
(d)(2) and (e)(1)(C), (4), is classified to sections 802 and 803 of the 
Appendix to this title.


                               Amendments

    1996--Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 104-324, Sec. 743, substituted ``200 
gross tons as measured under section 14502 of this title, or an 
alternate tonnage measured under section 14302 of this title as 
prescribed by the Secretary under section 14104 of this title'' for 
``two hundred gross tons''.
    Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 104-324, Sec. 1113(d), added subsec. (e).
    1990--Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 101-380 added subsec. (d).
    1989--Pub. L. 101-225, Sec. 301(a)(6)(E), substituted 
``endorsements'' for ``licenses and registry'' in section catchline.
    Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 101-225, Sec. 301(a)(6)(A), substituted 
``certificate of documentation may be endorsed with a coastwise 
endorsement'' for ``coastwise license or, as provided in section 
12105(c) of this title, an appropriately endorsed registry, may be 
issued''.
    Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 101-225, Sec. 301(a)(6)(B), substituted 
``certificate of documentation with a coastwise endorsement'' for 
``coastwise license or an appropriately endorsed registry''.
    Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 101-225, Sec. 301(a)(6)(C), substituted 
``endorsement'' for ``license''.
    Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 101-225, Sec. 301(a)(6)(D), struck out subsec. 
(d) which read as follows: ``On application of the owner of a vessel 
that qualifies for a Great Lakes license under section 12107 or a 
fishery license under section 12108 of this title, the Secretary may 
issue an endorsement authorizing the vessel to be employed in the Great 
Lakes trade or fisheries, as the case may be.''
    1988--Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 100-239, Sec. 6(a)(2), amended subsec. 
(b) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (b) read as follows: 
``Subject to the laws of the United States regulating the coastwise 
trade and the fisheries, only a vessel for which a coastwise license or 
an appropriately endorsed registry is issued may be employed in--
        ``(1) the coastwise trade; and
        ``(2) the fisheries.''
    Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 100-239, Sec. 6(a)(3), added subsec. (d).
    1984--Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 98-454 added subsec. (c).


                    Effective Date of 1990 Amendment

    Amendment by Pub. L. 101-380 applicable to incidents occurring after 
Aug. 18, 1990, see section 1020 of Pub. L. 101-380, set out as an 
Effective Date note under section 2701 of Title 33, Navigation and 
Navigable Waters.


              Administrative Process for Jones Act Waivers

    Pub. L. 105-383, title V, Nov. 13, 1998, 112 Stat. 3445, provided 
that:
``SEC. 501. FINDINGS.
    ``The Congress finds that--
        ``(1) current coastwise trade laws provide no administrative 
    authority to waive the United-States-built requirement of those laws 
    for the limited carriage of passengers for hire on vessels built or 
    rebuilt outside the United States;
        ``(2) requests for such waivers require the enactment of 
    legislation by the Congress;
        ``(3) each Congress routinely approves numerous such requests 
    for waiver and rarely rejects any such request; and
        ``(4) the review and approval of such waiver requests is a 
    ministerial function which properly should be executed by an 
    administrative agency with appropriate expertise.
``SEC. 502. ADMINISTRATIVE WAIVER OF COASTWISE TRADE LAWS.
    ``Notwithstanding sections 12106 and 12108 of title 46, United 
States Code, section 8 of the Act of June 19, 1886 (46 U.S.C. App. 289), 
and section 27 of the Merchant Marine Act, 1920 (46 U.S.C. App. 883), 
the Secretary of Transportation may issue a certificate of documentation 
with appropriate endorsement for employment in the coastwise trade as a 
small passenger vessel or an uninspected passenger vessel for an 
eligible vessel authorized to carry no more than 12 passengers for hire 
if the Secretary, after notice and an opportunity for public comment, 
determines that the employment of the vessel in the coastwise trade will 
not adversely affect--
        ``(1) United States vessel builders; or
        ``(2) the coastwise trade business of any person who employs 
    vessels built in the United States in that business.
``SEC. 503. REVOCATION.
    ``The Secretary may revoke an endorsement issued under section 502, 
after notice and an opportunity for public comment, if the Secretary 
determines that the employment of the vessel in the coastwise trade has 
substantially changed since the issuance of the endorsement, and--
        ``(1) the vessel is employed other than as a small passenger 
    vessel or an uninspected passenger vessel; or
        ``(2) the employment of the vessel adversely affects--
            ``(A) United States vessel builders; or
            ``(B) the coastwise trade business of any person who employs 
        vessels built in the United States.
``SEC. 504. DEFINITIONS.
    ``In this title:
        ``(1) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the Secretary of 
    Transportation.
        ``(2) Eligible vessel.--The term `eligible vessel' means a 
    vessel that--
            ``(A) was not built in the United States and is at least 3 
        years of age; or
            ``(B) if rebuilt, was rebuilt outside the United States at 
        least 3 years before the certification requested under section 
        502, if granted, would take effect.
        ``(3) Small passenger vessel; uninspected passenger vessel; 
    passenger for hire.--The terms `small passenger vessel', 
    `uninspected passenger vessel', and `passenger for hire' have the 
    meaning given such terms by section 2101 of title 46, United States 
    Code.
``SEC. 505. SUNSET.
    ``(a) In General.--Subject to subsection (b), this title (other than 
this section) shall have no force or effect on or after September 30, 
2002.
    ``(b) Endorsements Continue.--Any certificate or endorsement issued 
under section 502 before the date referred to in subsection (a) of this 
section shall continue in effect until otherwise invalidated or revoked 
under chapter 121 of title 46, United States Code.''


                  Study and Report on Financing Methods

    Section 1113(f) of Pub. L. 104-324 provided that:
    ``(1) Study.--The Secretary of Transportation shall conduct a study 
of the methods for leasing, demise chartering, and financing of vessels 
operating in the coastal trades of other countries and whether the laws 
of other countries provide reciprocity for United States banks, leasing 
companies, or other financial institutions with respect to the rights 
granted under the amendment made by subsection (d) [amending this 
section]. The study shall develop recommendations whether additional 
laws requiring reciprocity should be considered for non-United States 
banks, leasing companies, or other financial institutions.
    ``(2) Report.--The Secretary shall submit to the Congress a report 1 
year after the date of enactment of this Act [Oct. 19, 1996] of the 
results of the study required under paragraph (1), including 
recommendations developed in the study.''


      Application of Weight Limitations to Northern Mariana Islands

    Section 303 of Pub. L. 98-454 provided that: ``The weight 
limitations contained in subsections (b) and (c) of section 301 above 
[amending sections 12106 and 12108 of this title] shall not apply to the 
Northern Mariana Islands until the termination of the Trusteeship 
Agreement for the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (61 Stat. 
3301).'' [For termination of Trusteeship Agreement for Trust Territory 
of the Pacific Islands, see note set out preceding section 1681 of Title 
48, Territories and Insular Possessions.]

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 12101, 12103, 14305 of this 
title; sections 316, 808 of Appendix to this title.
