H.R. 2518 — what changed

“104. Coast Guard health-care professionals; licensure portability

“(a) Notwithstanding any law regarding the licensure of health-care providers, a health-care professional described in subsection (b) may practice the health profession or professions of the health-care professional at any location in any State, the District of Columbia, or a Commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States, regardless of where such health-care professional or the patient are located, if the practice is within the scope of the authorized Federal duties of such health-care professional.

“(b) A health-care professional described in this subsection is an individual—

“(1) who is—

“(A) a member of the Coast Guard;

“(B) a civilian employee of the Coast Guard;

“(C) a member of the Public Health Service who is assigned to the Coast Guard;

“(D) a personal services contractor under section 1091 of title 10; or

“(E) any other health-care professional credentialed and privileged at a Federal health-care institution or location specially designated by the Secretary; and

“(2) who—

“(A) has a current license to practice medicine, osteopathic medicine, dentistry, or another health profession; and

“(B) is performing authorized duties for the Coast Guard.

changed “(c) In this section each of the terms “license” and “health-care professional” has the meaning that term has in section 1094(e) of title 10, United States Code.”10.”

“62. Congressional affairs; director

“The Commandant shall appoint a Director of Congressional Affairs from among officers of the Coast Guard who are in a grade above captain.”

“580. Contracting for major acquisitions programs

“(a) In general—The Commandant of the Coast Guard may enter into contracts for major acquisition programs.

“(b) Authorized methods—Such contracts—

“(1) may be block buy contracts;

“(2) may be incrementally funded;

“(3) may include combined purchases, also known as economic order quantity purchases, of—

“(A) materials and components; and

“(B) long lead time materials; and

“(4) may be multiyear contracts that comply with section 2306b of title 10.

changed “(c) Subject to appropriations—Any contract entered into under subsection (a) shall provide that any obligation of the United States to make a payment under the contract is subject to the availability of appropriations amounts specifically provided in advance for that purpose.”purpose in subsequent appropriations Acts.”

changed “(b) Except Limitation on Application—Except pursuant to an international treaty, convention, or agreement, to which the United States is a party, this section shall not apply to any foreign vessel that is not destined for, or departing from, a port or place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and that is in—

“(1) innocent passage through the territorial sea of the United States; or

“(2) transit through the navigable waters of the United States that form a part of an international strait.”

added “(c) Definitions, administration, and enforcement—This section shall be treated as part of chapter 700 for purposes of sections 70031, 70032, 70034, 70035, and 70036.”

Section 12114 of title 46, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(d) Effective period—A recreational endorsement for a vessel—

“(1) except as provided in paragraph (3), shall be effective for 5 years;

“(2) shall require the owner of the vessel to notify the Coast Guard of each change in the information on which the issuance of the certificate of documentation is based that occurs before the expiration of the certificate under this subsection, by not later than 30 days after such change; and

“(3) shall terminate upon the expiration of such 30-day period if the owner has not notified the Coast Guard of such change before the end of such period.

changed “(e) State and local authority To remove abandoned and derelict vessels—Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the authority of a State or local authority from taking action to remove an abandoned or derelict vessel.”vessel.

added “(f) Authority

added “(1) Requirement—The Secretary shall assess and collect a fee for the issuance or renewal of a recreational endorsement, that is equivalent to the fee established for the issuance or renewal, respectively, of a fishery endorsement pursuant to section 2110.

added “(2) Treatment—Fees collected under this subsection—

added “(A) shall be credited to the account from which the costs of such issuance or renewal were paid; and

added “(B) may remain available until expended.”

“807 Position, Navigation, and Timing

“80701. Land-based complementary and backup positioning, navigation, and timing system

“(a) eLORAN—Subject to the availability of appropriations, the Secretary shall provide for the establishment, sustainment, and operation of a reliable land-based enhanced LORAN, or eLORAN, positioning, navigation, and timing system.

“(b) Purpose—The purpose of the system established under subsection (a) is to provide a complement to, and backup for, the Global Positioning System (in this section referred to as “GPS”) to ensure the availability of uncorrupted and nondegraded positioning, navigation, and timing signals for military and civilian users in the event that GPS signals are corrupted, degraded, unreliable, or otherwise unavailable.

“(c) Requirements—The system established under subsection (a) shall—

“(1) be wireless;

“(2) be terrestrial;

“(3) provide wide-area coverage;

“(4) transmit a precise, high-power 100 kilohertz signal and meet the one microsecond accuracy requirement specified in the Federal Radio Navigation Plan;

“(5) be synchronized with coordinated universal time;

“(6) be resilient and extremely difficult to disrupt or degrade;

“(7) be able to penetrate underground and inside buildings;

“(8) be capable of deployment to remote locations;

“(9) take full advantage of the infrastructure of the existing, unused Coast Guard long-range navigation system (commonly known as “LORAN–C”), and subject to the concurrence and agreement of other agencies, unused facilities associated with the Ground Wave Emergency Network and Nationwide Differential GPS systems;

“(10) utilize and leverage the capabilities of the entity for development, building, and operation of the system;

“(11) function in an interoperable and complementary manner with other similar positioning, navigation, and timing systems;

“(12) be made available by the Secretary for use by other Federal agencies for public purposes at no cost; and

changed “(13) incorporate such other requirements determined necessary by the Secretary.Secretary with respect to such agencies.

changed “(d) Secretary defined—In this section, the term “Secretary” means the Secretary of Transportation, acting through the Commandant of the Coast Guard.”Request for proposals

added “(1) In general—Under authority granted by section 93(a)(25) of title 14, United States Code, and not later than three months after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall publish a request for proposals by non-Federal persons for the development, building, and operation of the system described in subsection (c).

added “(2) Elements—Proposals submitted under this subsection shall include, at a minimum—

added “(A) an eLORAN system architecture; and

added “(B) a timetable for the delivery of—

added “(i) a nationwide backup timing signal not later than two years after the last date on which proposals are accepted under the request published under paragraph (1); and

added “(ii) a nationwide position and navigation signal not later than three years after such date.

added “(e) Selection—Using competitive procedures similar to those authorized under section 2667 of title 10, the Secretary may select a proposal from proposals received in response to the request for proposals under subsection (d).

added “(f) Agreement

added “(1) In general—The Secretary may enter into a cooperative agreement (as that term is used in section 6305 of title 31) with an entity upon such terms as the Secretary determines will carry out the purpose of the system under subsection (b).

added “(2) Content—An agreement under this subsection shall—

added “(A) require the Secretary to provide the entity—

added “(i) access to existing infrastructure and facilities described in subsection (c)(9) and provided as Government-furnished property (as that term is defined in section 45.101 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, as in effect on the date of the enactment of the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2017), for a minimum of 20 years;

added “(ii) full use of the necessary electromagnetic spectrum wavelength associated with the LORAN-C system for use by the system required under subsection (a) and provided as such Government-furnished property; and

added “(iii) approval for the reconstruction of towers that are part of the infrastructure described in subsection (c)(9);

added “(B) specify that all necessary capital expenditures be made by the entity;

added “(C) set performance standards for the signals transmitted by the system;

added “(D) require the Secretary to monitor and ensure the signals transmitted by the system conform to the performance standards of the agreement and are safe for use;

added “(E) set the terms under which the Secretary has access to such signals;

added “(F) subject to any national security requirements established by the Secretary of Defense and so long as activities described in clauses (i) and (ii) of subsection (B) do not interfere with the primary purpose of providing positioning, navigation, and timing services, allow the entity to—

added “(i) market, promote, and sell eLORAN positioning, navigation, and timing services to commercial and noncommercial third parties; and

added “(ii) generate revenue from such sale to non-Federal third parties of communications and other related services that result from the use of Government facilities and spectrum provided under this paragraph;

added “(G) require the entity pay to the United States a portion of revenue received by the entity under subparagraph (F);

added “(H) require the entity to assume all financial risk for the completion and operational capability of the eLORAN system and may require a performance bond from the entity to guarantee that risk;

added “(I) require the entity to assist international organizations and foreign governments on issues related to eLORAN and similar systems; and

added “(J) include such other terms and conditions as the Secretary determines to be necessary to carry out the purposes of this section.

added “(3) Revenue sharing requirement

added “(A) In general—The requirement under paragraph (2)(G) shall require the entity to pay to the United States an equitable share of the revenue generated by the entity under paragraph (2)(F), in the fiscal year following the fiscal year in which such revenue is generated.

added “(B) Amount—The amount of such payments shall take into account—

added “(i) the capital investment by the entity to build the system and annual costs incurred by the entity to operate and maintain the system; and

added “(ii) the capital and operating expenses incurred by the entity to upgrade the eLORAN system and related systems over the effective period of the agreement.

added “(4) Effective date of risk requirement—The requirement in paragraph (2)(H) shall be contingent upon, and take effect upon, the Secretary determining that the requirements under paragraph (2)(A) have been fulfilled.

added “(g) CERCLA not affected—This section shall not be construed to limit the application of or otherwise affect section 120(h) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9620(h)) for Federal Government facilities described in subsection (c)(9).

added “(h) Biennial report to Congress—Not later than one year after the date on which an agreement with an entity is entered into under subsection (f), and biennially thereafter, the Secretary shall provide to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate—

added “(1) a report on the performance and progress of the entity in fulfilling its obligations under the agreement to build, operate and maintain the system established under subsection (a); and

added “(2) an accounting of finances, expenses, and revenue associated with such performance, including payments made to the Secretary under section (f)(3).

added “(i) Definitions—In this section:

added “(1) The term “entity” means a non-Federal entity whose proposal is selected under subsection (e).

added “(2) The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of Transportation, acting through the Commandant of the Coast Guard.”

changed Section 604(b) of the Howard Coble Coast Guard and Maritime Authorization Transportation Act of 2014 (Public Law 113–281; 128 Stat. 3061) is amended by inserting “and fishery endorsement” after “endorsement”.