§1472 Deep Seabed Revenue Sharing Trust Fund; Establishment

Summary

Creates a trust fund in the U.S. Treasury called the Deep Seabed Revenue Sharing Trust Fund. The Treasury Secretary must put into the fund amounts equal to the taxes collected under section 4495 of title 26. Transfers from the general fund must happen at least quarterly using Treasury estimates, with later corrections if the estimates were wrong. The Treasury Secretary must hold the fund, report each year (starting with the fiscal year ending September 30, 1980) on the fund’s past and expected finances for the current year and the next five fiscal years, and print that report for Congress. Money not needed for current withdrawals must be invested only in interest‑bearing U.S. obligations, which can be bought or sold at market or issue price. Interest and sale proceeds go back into the fund. If an international deep seabed treaty is ratified and in effect for the United States on or before the date ten years after June 28, 1980, the fund’s money may be used, as provided by appropriations Acts, to pay treaty-required contributions for sharing deep seabed mining revenues among nations. If no such treaty is in effect by that date, Congress may later pass laws that decide how to use the money. International deep seabed treaty — meaning given in section 4498(b) of title 26.