VESSEL EXCHANGE PROGRAM AND OTHER MARITIME MATTERS FRIDAY, JUNE 11, 1965 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON MERCHANT MARINE AND FISHERIES, Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met at 10 a.m., in room 5110, New Senate Office Building, the Honorable E. L. Bartlett presiding. Senator BARTLETT. The subcommittee will be in order. The purpose of the hearing this morning is to consider three bills relating to the U.S. merchant marine. The subcommittee will hear testimony on the following bills: S. 945, a bill creating a joint commission of the United States and the State of Alaska to make administrative determinations of navigability of inland nontidal waters in the State of Alaska for State selections. S. 1917, a bill to amend the Merchant Marine Act, 1936, in order to protect and promote the health of seamen on vessels of the United States, and for other purposes. S. 2069, a bill to broaden the vessel exchange provisions of section 510(i) of the Merchant Marine Act, 1936, to extend such provisions for an additional 5 years, and for other purposes. (The bills follow:) [S. 2069, 89th Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL To broaden the vessel exchange provisions of section 510 (1) of the Merchant Marine Act, 1936, to extend such provisions for an additional five years, and for other purposes Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the first sentence of subsection (i) of section 510 of the Merchant Marine Act, 1936, as amended (46 U.S.C. 1160 (i)), is amended as follows: (1) By striking out "within five years from the date of enactment of this Act war-built vessels (which are defined for purposes of this subsection as oceangoing" and inserting in lieu thereof the following: "before July 5, 1970,". (2) By striking out "during the period beginning September 3, 1939, and ending September 2, 1945)" and inserting in lieu thereof the following: "before September 3, 1945,". (3) By inserting immediately before the words "owned by the United States" the following: “(which are defined for purposes of this subsection as oceangoing vessels of one thousand five hundred gross tons or over which were constructed or contracted for by the United States shipyards during the period beginning September 3, 1939, and ending September 2, 1945)". Staff counsel assigned to this hearing: William C. Foster. SEC. 2. Subsection (i) (9) of section 510 of the Merchant Marine Act, 1936, as amended (46 U.S.C. 1160 (i) (9)), is amended to read as follows: "(9) No tanker vessels shall be traded out under the provisions of this subsection unless it has been determined by the Secretary of Commerce: "(A) After consultation with the Secretary of Defense that the vessel is no longer required in the reserve fleet for national defense purposes; and "(B) That the vessel will be operated only in the domestic trade for a period of at least five years from the date of acquisition; and "(C) That the vessel will not be employed in the tanker vessel trade for five years from the date of acquisition." [S. 1917, 89th Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL To amend the Merchant Marine Act, 1936, in order to protect and promote the health of seamen on vessels of the United States, and for other purposes Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That title IX of the Merchant Marine Act, 1936 (46 U.S.C., ch. 27, subch. IX) is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new section: "SEC. 908. The responsibility and function of providing medical, surgical, and dental treatment and hospitalization for seamen and other beneficiaries placed in the Public Health Service by section 322 of the Public Health Service Act shall not be transferred or assigned, in whole or in part, to any other department or agency of the United States, nor shall the provision of any such service at any institution, hospital, or station of the Public Health Service be terminated without the consent of the appropriate committees of the Congress." [S. 945, 89th Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL Creating a joint commission of the United States and the State of Alaska to make administrative determinations of navigability of inland nontidal waters in the State of Alaska for State selections Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That it is the policy of the United States to cooperate with the State of Alaska in making a joint administrative determination, for purposes of State selections only, of the navigability of inland nontidal waters within the State of Alaska. SEC. 2. (a) The Secretary of the Interior shall designate, for such terms as he deems proper, not less than two and not more than five officers or employees of the Department of the Interior to comprise, together with a similar number of officers or employees of the Department of Natural Resources of the State of Alaska designated by the commissioner of that department, a joint commission of the United States and the State of Alaska for the determination of the navigability of inland nontidal waters within the State of Alaska, to be known as the "Navigable Waters Commission". (b) The commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources of the State of Alaska may designate an officer or employee of the Department of Law of the State of Alaska as a member of the Navigable Waters Commission in lieu of the designation of an officer or employee from the Department of Natural Resources of the State of Alaska. SEC. 3. The Navigable Waters Commission shall meet at a suitable place in the State of Alaska at the call of the Chairman. The Chairman for the first meeting of the Commission shall be designated by the Secretary of the Interior. During the course of each meeting, the Commission shall elect a chairman for the next meeting, and the chairmanship shall alternate between members from the Department of the Interior and members from the State of Alaska. Salaries and expenses of Federal and State members shall be borne by their respective governments. Joint expenses of the Commission shall be borne equally by the two governments. SEC. 4. At each meeting the Department of the Interior of the United States and the Department of Natural Resources of the State of Alaska shall, either jointly or separately, propose to the Navigable Waters Commission, a determination of the navigability or nonnavigability of particular waters, or of ail waters contained in particular areas described with reference to the public land survey wherever possible, situated in whole or in part within the State of Alaska. The members of the Commission shall not take part in the making of such proposals by their respective departments. The Commission shall hear from (1) representatives of the two departments, (2) any expert witnesses hired by the Commission, and (3) any person who first establishes to the satisfaction of one-half of the membership of the Commission a sufficient interest in the proceedings, evidence bearing on the question of navigability. As soon as practicable, the Commission shall make a determination of the navigability or nonnavigability of the inland nontidal waters so proposed. No determination of navigability or nonnavigability shall be made with respect to particular waters or areas containing waters unless concurred in by a majority of the members of the Navigable Waters Commission. The expenses of the Department of the Interior and of the Department of Natural Resources incurred in investigating and proposing the navigability or nonnavigability of waters shall be borne by the respective governments. SEC. 5. In making its determinations the Navigable Waters Commission shall be guided by statutory, common law, and judicial authorities on the subject of navigability of waters. SEC. 6. Determinations of the Navigable Waters Commission shall be binding, insofar as State selection rights of the State of Alaska are concerned, upon all departments, agencies, officers, and employees of both the United States and the State of Alaska, and upon all persons deriving title from either or both governments subsequent to the effective date of this Act: Provided, That the United States, the State of Alaska, or any other affected party may obtain judicial review of any determination by filing a petition for that purpose in the United States District Court for the District of Alaska within one year after the publication of such determination in the Federal Register. review shall be on the basis of the record. Such judicial (The agency comments follow:) Hon. WARREN G. MAGNUSON, DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Reference is made to your request to the Secretary of Defense for the views of the Department of Defense on S. 945, 89th Congress, a bill creating a Joint Commission of the United States and the State of Alaska to make administrative determinations of navigability of inland nontidal waters in the State of Alaska for State selections. The Department of the Army has been assigned responsibility for expressing the views of the Department of Defense on this bill. This bill would establish a Joint Commission to determine, for purposes of State selections only, the navigability of inland nontidal waters within the State of Alaska. Members of the Commission would be appointed respectively by the Secretary of the Interior and the Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources of the State of Alaska. The appointees would come from the existing staff of officers and employees of the Department of the Interior and the Department of Natural Resources. Not less than two nor more than five members will be appointed each by the Secretary and the Commissioner. The Commission will be known as the "Navigable Waters Commission." In making its determinations the Commission would be guided by statutory, common law, and judicial authorities on the subject of navigability of waters. It is the understanding of the Department of the Army that the scope of the bill is limited to determinations of navigability with respect to State selections from the public lands of the United States as provided for in section 6 of the Alaska Statehood Act (72 Stat. 339, 340). The determinations are not binding upon and do not affect administrative determinations on the navigability of waters made by the Department of the Army in connection with its administration for the preservation and protection of the navigable waters of the United States. The Department of the Army has no objection to S. 945. Enactment of this legislation will cause no increase in budgetary requirements of the Department of the Army. The Bureau of the Budget advises that, while there would be no objection to the presentation of this report to the committee, its views on S. 945 will be furnished to the committee in connection with the report of the Department of Justice on the bill. Sincerely yours, STEPHEN AILES, Secretary of the Army. GENERAL COUNSEL OF THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, Hon. WARREN G. MAGNUSON, Chairman, Committee on Commerce, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in further reply to your request for Department views on S. 945, a bill creating a joint commission of the United States and the State of Alaska to make administrative determinations of navigability of inland nontidal waters in the State of Alaska for State selections. The purpose of this bill is to create a commission composed of an equal number of members from the Department of Interior and from the Department of Natural Resources of the State of Alaska to determine whether inland nontidal waters within areas of Federal land in Alaska being selected for transfer to State ownership are navigable so as not to be counted against the acreage authorized in the Alaska Statehood Act for selection. This Department interposes no objection to enactment of this legislation. The Alaska Statehood Act provided that the territorial waters of the Territory of Alaska became property of the new State immediately upon its entrance into the Union. Another provision of the Statehood Act granted to the State the right under certain conditions to select for itself certain Federal lands over a 25-year period. As the selection of this acreage proceeds, the question of navigability of waters within the areas selected must be determined since navigable waters should not be charged against the State's selection quota. This bill would provide the machinery for making such determination. The Bureau of the Budget advises that while there would be no objection to the presentation of this report to the committee, its views on S. 945 will be furnished to the committee in connection with the report of the Department of Justice on the bill. Sincerely, ROBERT E. GILES. COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES, Hon. WARREN G. MAGNUSON, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: By letter dated February 4, 1965, you requested our comments on S. 945. This measure would create a joint commission of the United States and the State of Alaska to make administrative determinations of navigability of inland waters in the State of Alaska for State selections. We note that the last sentence of section 3 provides that joint expenses of the commission shall be borne equally by the two governments. In this regard, S. 945 contains no provision as to how the joint expenses shall be financed or who shall account for the funds so used. It is suggested that a provision specifically providing therefor be added to S. 945. We have no further comments to make concerning this measure. Sincerely yours, JOSEPH CAMPBELL, Comptroller General of the United States. FEDERAL MARITIME COMMISSION, Hon. WARREN G. MAGNUSON, Chairman, Committee on Commerce, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in reply to your request of February 4, 1965, for the views of the Federal Maritime Commission with respect to S. 945, a bill creating a joint commission of the United States and the State of Alaska to make administrative determinations of navigability of inland nontidal waters in the State of Alaska for State selections. Inasmuch as the bill does not affect the responsibilities or jurisdiction of the Commission, we express no views as to its enactment. The Bureau of the Budget has advised that there would be no objection to the submission of this letter from the standpoint of the administration's program. Sincerely yours, ASHTON C. BARRETT, Hon. WARREN G. MAGNUSON, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, Washington, D.C., May 25, 1965. Chairman, Committee on Commerce, DEAR SENATOR MAGNUSON: This responds to your committee's request for our views on S. 945, a bill creating a joint commission of the United States and the State of Alaska to make administrative determinations of navigability of inland nontidal waters in the State of Alaska for State selections. We recommend that the bill be enacted with our amendments. The purpose of the bill is to assist the State of Alaska in its selection of 103,350,000 acres of public lands, under the Statehood Act of July 7, 1958 (72 Stat. 339), as amended, and to assist this Department in the discharge of its duties as the processing agent of the Federal Government with respect to such selections. More particularly, the bill is designed to facilitate the identification of navigable bodies of water so that the acreage thereof will not be computed against the State's selection rights. The State has 25 years from January 5, 1959 (the date of admission), within which to make its selections. S. 945 establishes a joint commission of the United States and the State of Alaska to make administrative determinations with respect to State selections. The Commission, which will meet in Alaska, will consist of not less than two and not more than five officers or employees of this Department, selected by the Secretary of the Interior, and a similar number of officers or employees of the Department of Natural Resources of the State of Alaska, designated by the commissioner thereof. The commissioner may designate an officer or employee of the department of law in lieu of one from his department. Salaries and expenses of Federal and State members will be borne by their respective governments. Joint expenses of the commission will be borne equally by the two governments. The bill also provides that the meetings of the Commission will be held at the call of the Chairman. The Chairman for the first meeting will be designated by the Secretary and subsequent Chairmen will be elected by the Commission. The chairmanship is to alternate between members appointed by the Secretary and those from the State of Alaska. In making determinations, the Commission is to be guided by statutory, common law, and judicial pronouncements on the subject of navigability of waters. The Commission is empowered to hear evidence bearing upon the question of navigability from representatives of the two departments, or from any expert witnesses hired by the Commission. Any party who has an interest in a determination of the Commission may be authorized to present evidence to the Commission if he first establishes to the satisfaction of half of the members of the Commission a sufficient interest in the proceedings. The bill also envisages that, as soon as practicable, the Commission shall make a determination of the navigability or nonnavigability of a body of water proposed for selection by the State. The bill provides that determinations of the Commission shall be binding upon all departments, agencies, officers, and employees of both the United States and |