§50308 Maritime Transportation System Emergency Relief Program

Summary

The Maritime Administrator can give grants and make contracts with eligible State, Tribal, and other eligible entities to pay for big repairs, replacements, or protection of U.S. maritime equipment and facilities that are at risk or were seriously damaged by an emergency. The Administrator can also pay eligible operating costs in an area directly hit by an emergency for the one-year period starting when the emergency is declared, and for one more year if the Administrator and the FEMA Administrator agree there is a strong need. The Administrator must set a fair way to divide the money and should, when possible, give priority to State or Tribal applicants. Applicants must apply in the form and time the Administrator requires. These funds are in addition to other available money and do not stop other agencies or programs from giving aid. Grants tied to certain declared emergencies must follow conditions the Administrator sets and can only pay costs that are not reimbursed under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, any other federal, state, or local program, or marine insurance. The federal share is 100 percent. No more than 2 percent of available funds may be used for administration. The Administrator must have strong controls to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse and must report each year to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure about the aid given and how it helped the maritime system, reduced financial harm, and protected critical infrastructure. Defined terms (one line each): Eligible State or Tribal entity — a port authority or a State/Tribal-owned vessel and its related facilities. Eligible entity — a U.S.-created public or private group with most employees in the U.S. that does vessel building, water transportation, or related support work with NAICS codes starting with 3366, 483, 4883, 6113, or 3117 for fish-processing vessels; the Secretary of Transportation can also include related construction, transport, or maritime education and training. Eligible operating costs — things like emergency response, cleaning and sanitization, janitorial, staffing and workforce retention, paid leave, protective health equipment and testing, training, debt service, repairs, fuel, and other similar maritime operations. Emergency — a large natural disaster or catastrophic failure that affects the maritime system and is tied to one of these official actions: a Governor declaration with the Maritime Administrator’s concurrence; a Presidential major disaster declaration under section 401 of the Stafford Act; a national emergency under the National Emergencies Act; or a public health emergency under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act.