49 U.S.C. § 109: Maritime Administration

The Maritime Administration is an administration in the Department of Transportation. The mission of the Maritime Administration is to foster, promote, and develop the merchant maritime industry of the United States. The head of the Maritime Administration is the Maritime Administrator, who is appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Administrator shall report directly to the Secretary of Transportation and carry out the duties prescribed by the Secretary. The Maritime Administration shall have a Deputy Maritime Administrator, who is appointed in the competitive service by the Secretary, after consultation with the Administrator. The Deputy Administrator shall carry out the duties prescribed by the Administrator. The Deputy Administrator shall be Acting Administrator during the absence or disability of the Administrator and, unless the Secretary designates another individual, during a vacancy in the office of Administrator. All duties and powers of the Maritime Administration are vested in the Secretary. The Maritime Administration shall have regional offices for the Atlantic, Gulf, Great Lakes, and Pacific port ranges, and may have other regional offices as necessary. The Secretary shall appoint a qualified individual as Director of each regional office. The Secretary shall carry out appropriate activities and programs of the Maritime Administration through the regional offices. The Secretary shall establish and maintain liaison with other agencies, and with representative trade organizations throughout the United States, concerned with the transportation of commodities by water in the export and import foreign commerce of the United States, for the purpose of securing preference to vessels of the United States for the transportation of those commodities. To assist the Secretary in carrying out duties and powers relating to the Maritime Administration, not more than five officers of the armed forces may be detailed to the Secretary at any one time, in addition to details authorized by any other law. During the period of a detail, the Secretary shall pay the officer an amount that, when added to the officer’s pay and allowances as an officer in the armed forces, makes the officer’s total pay and allowances equal to the amount that would be paid to an individual performing work the Secretary considers to be of similar importance, difficulty, and responsibility as that performed by the officer during the detail. carry out the Secretary’s duties and powers under this section, subtitle V of title 46, and all other Maritime Administration programs; and protect, preserve, and improve collateral held by the Secretary to secure indebtedness. The financial transactions of the Secretary under paragraph (1) shall be audited by the Comptroller General. The Comptroller General shall allow credit for an expenditure shown to be necessary because of the nature of the business activities authorized by this section or subtitle V of title 46. At least once a year, the Comptroller General shall report to Congress any departure by the Secretary from this section or subtitle V of title 46. Except as otherwise provided by law, the administrative and related expenses for the administration of any grant programs by the Maritime Administrator may not exceed 3 percent. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, there are authorized to be appropriated such amounts as may be necessary to carry out the duties and powers of the Secretary relating to the Maritime Administration. acquisition, construction, or reconstruction of vessels; construction-differential subsidies incident to the construction, reconstruction, or reconditioning of vessels; costs of national defense features; payments of obligations incurred for operating-differential subsidies; expenses necessary for research and development activities, including reimbursement of the Vessel Operations Revolving Fund for losses resulting from expenses of experimental vessel operations; the Vessel Operations Revolving Fund; National Defense Reserve Fleet expenses; expenses necessary to carry out part B of subtitle V of title 46; and other operations and training expenses related to the development of waterborne transportation systems, the use of waterborne transportation systems, and general administration. leadership positions; human resources positions; and transportation specialist positions. review the Maritime Administration’s policies related to new hire orientation, training, and misconduct; align the onboarding policies and procedures at headquarters and the field offices to ensure consistent implementation and provision of critical information across the Maritime Administration; and update the Maritime Administration’s training policies and training systems to include controls that ensure that all completed training is tracked in a standardized training repository. Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Maritime Administrator shall submit a report to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives that describes the Maritime Administration’s compliance with the requirements under this section.” review the Maritime Administration’s drug and alcohol policies, procedures, and training practices; ensure that all fleet managers have received training on the Department of Transportation’s drug and alcohol policy, including the testing procedures used by the Department and the Maritime Administration in cases of reasonable suspicion; and institute a system for tracking all drug and alcohol policy training conducted under paragraph (2) in a standardized training repository. Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Maritime Administrator shall submit a report to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives that describes the Maritime Administration’s compliance with the requirements under this section.” The term ‘marine transportation system’ means the navigable water transportation system of the United States, including the vessels, ports (and intermodal connections thereto), and shipyards and other vessel repair facilities that are components of that system. The term ‘Marine View system’ means the information system of the Maritime Administration known as Marine View. to expand the Marine View system; and to provide support for the strategic requirements of the marine transportation system and its contribution to the economic viability of the United States. provides access to many disparate marine transportation system data sources; enables a system-wide view of the marine transportation system; fosters partnerships between the Government of the United States and private entities; facilitates accurate and efficient modeling of the entire marine transportation system environment; monitors and tracks threats to the marine transportation system, including areas of severe weather or reported piracy; and provides vessel tracking and rerouting, as appropriate, to ensure that the economic viability of the United States waterways is maintained.”