Sponsors
The bill clarifies and expands coastwise endorsement eligibility and pushes quick safety-rule issuance—simplifying law and potentially improving safety—while imposing new compliance costs, risking rushed regulations, and removing a statutory enforcement tool.
Vessel owners and operators (especially small-business owners) can obtain coastwise endorsements for any vessel that meets U.S. law, clarifying eligibility and potentially expanding commercial shipping opportunities.
Transportation workers and passengers may see improved maritime safety because the Coast Guard must issue implementing safety and security regulations within 90 days.
Vessel owners/operators and courts benefit from simplified maritime law through removal of duplicative or outdated statutory references, reducing legal uncertainty around coastwise eligibility and sales of undocumented vessels.
Small-business vessel owners and operators may incur new compliance costs to meet Coast Guard-prescribed safety and security requirements under the implementing regulations.
The 90-day deadline for Coast Guard rulemaking could produce rushed or unclear regulations, creating administrative burden and uncertainty for the Coast Guard and vessel owners/operators.
Repealing the loss-of-privileges enforcement provision may remove a statutory tool for enforcing coastwise trade rules, complicating penalties for violations and affecting state and local governments and courts.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Repeals a statute and revises coastwise endorsement rules so eligible vessels may receive endorsements; directs the Coast Guard to issue safety and security regulations within 90 days.
Introduced June 12, 2025 by Mike Lee · Last progress June 12, 2025
Repeals an existing statutory provision and changes who can receive a coastwise endorsement so that any vessel that otherwise qualifies under U.S. law to engage in coastwise trade may be issued an endorsement. The Coast Guard Commandant is required to issue implementing safety and security regulations within 90 days of enactment. The bill also makes conforming edits across several U.S. Code provisions — striking cross-references to the repealed provision in statutes that govern tank vessel construction, liquefied gas tankers, small passenger vessels, oil spill response vessels, measurement rules, court sales of undocumented vessels, and the chapter table of sections. No new funding is provided; enforcement and technical detail are left to Coast Guard rulemaking and existing statutes.