S. 1430: Maritime Administration Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012
Before you vote › Federal bills
S. 1430: Maritime Administration Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012
112th Congress · introduced 2011-07-27 · Transportation and Public Works · Latest: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 252.
federal
Follow this bill, step by step
- Where it came from: introduced 2011-07-27 · official record
- Who proposed it: Sen. Lautenberg, Frank R. [D-NJ] · what a sponsor is
- What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
- Where it stands now: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 252. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
- If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.
Official title
Maritime Administration Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012
Plain summary
Maritime Administration Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 - (Sec. 2) Requires the Secretary of Transportation (DOT), with the concurrence of the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard (CG) is operating, to report to Congress on the status of the nation's coastal and inland waterways infrastructure. Authorizes the Secretary to investigate, make determinations concerning, and develop a repository of statistical information relating to marine transportation (i.e. intercoastal and intracoastal transportation, inland waterway transportation, ports, and marine facilities.) Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Maritime Administration to assess, and report its findings, conclusions, and recommendations to Congress on, the potential for using container-on-barge transportation on the inland waterways system. (Sec. 3) Revises the purposes of the short sea transportation program to include promoting more efficient use of the U.S. navigable waters. (Sec. 4) Amends the Merchant Ship Sales Act of 1946 to allow, with the concurrence of the Secretary of Defense (DOD), the Secretary to use National Defense Reserve Fleet and Ready Reserve Force vessels for civil contingency operations and Maritime Administration promotional and media events when in the best interests of the U.S. government. (Sec. 5) Authorizes the Secretary to establish a green ships program to identify, evaluate, test, demonstrate, or improve emerging marine technologies and practices likely to achieve environmental improvements by reducing air or water emissions or other ship discharges, increasing fuel economy or use of alternative fuels and alternative energy, or controlling aquatic invasive species. Authorizes the Secretary to promulgate regulations establishing fees to recover reasonable costs for services rendered by the Secretary and academic, public, and non-governmental entities. Requires such fees to be deposited in a special fund to carry out the activities for which the fees were collected. Directs the Secretary to report to Congress on the green ships program. (Sec. 6) Requires the agency head responsible for the administration of U.S. navigation or vessel-inspection laws and the Administrator of the Maritime Administration to certify to Congress of the non-availability of qualified U.S. flag vessels to meet national defense requirements in the event that the agency head considers it in the national interest to waive such laws. (Sec. 7) Amends the Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 to direct the Secretary to provide briefings, upon request, to Congress on progress made to recycle National Defense Reserve Fleet vessels. (Sec. 8) Extends through FY2025 the Maritime Security Fleet Program. Authorizes the Secretary, subject to the concurrence with the DOD Secretary, to acquire certain Maritime Security Fleet vessels being retired for inclusion in the National Defense Reserve Fleet. (Sec. 9) Directs the Comptroller General to study, and report the results to Congress on, the training needs of the maritime workforce. (Sec. 10) Directs the DOT Inspector General to assess: (1) the source selection procedures and practices used to award Maritime Administration's National Defense Reserve Fleet vessel recycling contracts, and (2) the process, procedures, and practices used for the Maritime Administration's qualification of recycling facilities. (Sec. 11) Prohibits the Administrator of the Maritime Administration and the CG Commandant from receiving, maintaining, dismantling, recycling, or taking any other specified action with respect to the CG's icebreakers Cutter POLAR SEA (WAGB 11) and Cutter POLAR STAR (WAGB 10) until: (1) two years after the appropriate congressional committees receive the polar icebreaker business case analysis for replacing or performing service life extensions on the icebreakers, or (2) the CG has replaced those icebreakers with two "in commission, active" heavy polar icebreakers. (Sec. 12) Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary for FY2012 for the Maritime Administration for: (1) operations and training activities, including U.S. Merchant Marine Academy capital improvements and maintenance and repair for State Maritime Schools training ships; (2) administrative expenses related to maritime guaranteed loan commitments; and (3) the disposal of non-retention vessels in the National Defense Reserve Fleet.
Congressional Research Service summary (Reported to Senate with amendment(s)), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.
What a vote does
A “Yea” vote
If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.
A “Nay” vote
If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.
PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).
What does this mean? (plain words)
Official text
Maritime Administration Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012
Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Reported to Senate with amendment(s))
AI explanation – may be wrong, check the official text
No AI explanation yet. It takes up to a minute to write and is then saved for everyone.
Limited to a few requests an hour per person.
The strongest published arguments
Arguments for (supporters)
Needs sources: no published arguments on this side yet. We only show items backed by a published source. Suggest one.
Arguments against (opponents)
Needs sources: no published arguments on this side yet. We only show items backed by a published source. Suggest one.
Alternatives
Needs sources: no published alternatives yet (for example a different bill, a law instead of an amendment, or keeping current law). We only show items backed by a published source. Suggest one.
How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes
Officials and money
Sponsor: Sen. Lautenberg, Frank R. [D-NJ] · 1 cosponsors
Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.
Cosponsors on this site
No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.
Words on this page, explained (5)
- Appropriation
- Money a legislature sets aside by law for a specific purpose. Government agencies may spend public money only as it has been appropriated.
- Authorization
- A law that creates or continues a government program and says what it may do, often with a suggested spending ceiling. An authorization alone does not provide money; a separate appropriation does.
- Fiscal year
- The 12-month period a government uses for its budget. The federal fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30 and is named for the calendar year in which it ends. Most states use July 1 to June 30.
- Rulemaking
- The process agencies use to write regulations that carry out laws passed by Congress or a legislature. Usually an agency publishes a proposed rule, takes public comments, then publishes a final rule.
- Securities
- Financial investments that can be bought and sold, such as stocks and bonds.
Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.
Sources
- Congressional Research Service summary (Reported to Senate with amendment(s))
- Congress.gov
- Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-112s1430.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/112/s>
Record fed-us-cong112-s1430 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong112 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong112