Protecting Access to American Products Act

Temporary coastwise waivers for shippers

If enacted, businesses that move bulk goods by ship would be able to request a temporary waiver of coastwise endorsement rules when no compliant product carrier is available. A requester would have to show there is no product carrier available for the specified good and that they made a good faith effort to find one. The agency head would have to approve or deny the request within 60 days. If the agency does not act by day 60, the request would be deemed granted on day 61 and that waiver would last 30 days. Any granted waiver would be limited in time and must expire on a date at least 30 days after issuance, and the agency could grant extensions of not less than 15 days each if conditions have not substantially changed. The agency head would need to notify Congress within 48 hours of receiving any waiver request and within 48 hours of issuing any waiver, and issuance notices must explain why the waiver is necessary. The bill defines "product carrier" as a vessel built or adapted mainly to carry the specified good in bulk and defines who may act as the "head of an agency."