(e) The Commission may initiate a rule or regulation under subsection (a)(2) of this section either on its own motion or pursuant to a petition. Any person, including a common carrier, tramp operator, bulk operator, shipper, shippers' association, ocean transportation intermediary, marine terminal operator, or any component of the Government of the United States, may file a petition for relief under subsection (a)(2) of this section. (f) In furtherance of the purposes of subsection (a)(2) of this section (1) the Commission may, by order, require any person (including any common carrier, tramp operator, bulk operator, shipper, shippers' association, ocean transportation intermediary, or marine terminal operator, or an officer, receiver, trustee, lessee, agent, or employee thereof) to file with the Commission a report, answers to questions, documentary material, or other information which the Commission considers necessary or appropriate; (2) the Commission may require a report or answers to questions to be made under oath; (3) the Commission may prescribe the form and the time for response to a report and answers to questions; and (4) a person who fails to file a report, answer, documentary material, or other information required under this paragraph shall be liable to the United States Government for a civil penalty of not more than $5,000 for each day that the information is not provided. (g) In proceedings under subsection (a)(2) of this section (1) the Commission may authorize a party to use depositions, written interrogatories, and discovery procedures that, to the extent practicable, are in conformity with the rules applicable in civil proceedings in the district courts of the United States; (2) the Commission may by subpoena compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of books, papers, documents, and other evidence; (3) subject to funds being provided by appropriations Acts, witnesses are, unless otherwise prohibited by law, entitled to the same fees and mileage as in the courts of the United States; (4) for failure to supply information ordered to be produced or compelled by subpoena under paragraph (2), the Commission may (A) after notice and an opportunity for hearing, suspend tariffs and service contracts of a common carrier or that common carrier's right to use tariffs of conferences and service contracts of agreements of which it is a member, or (B) assess a civil penalty of not more than $5,000 for each day that the information is not provided; and (5) when a person violates an order of the Commission or fails to comply with a subpoena, the Commission may seek enforcement by a United States district court having jurisdiction over the parties, and if, after hearing, the court determines that the order was regularly made and duly issued, it shall enforce the order by an appropriate injunction or other (h) Notwithstanding any other law, the Commission may refuse to disclose to the public a response or other information provided under the terms of this section. (i) If the Commission finds that conditions that are unfavorable to shipping under subsection (a)(2) of this section exist, the Commission may (1) limit sailings to and from United States ports or the amount or type of cargo carried; (2) suspend, in whole or in part, tariffs and service contracts for carriage to or from United States ports, including a common carrier's right to use tariffs of conferences and service contracts of agreements in United States trades of which it is a member for any period the Commission specifies; (3) suspend, in whole or in part, an ocean common carrier's (4) impose a fee, not to exceed $1,000,000 per voyage; or (1) the collector of customs at the port or place of destination in the United States shall refuse the clearance required by section 4197 of the Revised Statutes (46 App. U.S.C. 91) to a vessel of a country that is named in a rule or regulation issued by the Commission under subsection (a)(2) of this section, and shall collect any fees imposed by the Commission under subsection (i)(4) of this section; and (2) the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating shall deny entry for purpose of oceanborne trade, of a vessel of a country that is named in a rule or regulation issued by the Commission under subsection (a)(2) of this section, to any port or place in the United States or the navigable waters of the United States, or shall detain that vessel at the port or place in the United States from which it is about to depart for another port or place in the United States. (k) A common carrier that accepts or handles cargo for carriage under a tariff or service contract that has been suspended under subsection (g)(4) or (i)(2) of this section, or after its right to use another tariff or service contract has been suspended under those paragraphs, is subject to a civil penalty of not more than $50,000 for each day that it is found to be operating under a suspended tariff or service contract. 1 (1) The Commission may consult with, seek the cooperation of, or make recommendations to other appropriate Government agencies prior to taking any action under this section. [Section 20 repealed by section 20(a) of Public Law 98–237] SEC. 21. [46 App. U.S.C. 877] That from and after February 1, 1922, the coastwise laws of the United States shall extend to the island Territories and possessions of the United States not now covered thereby, and the Secretary of Transportation is directed prior to the expiration of such year to have established adequate steamship service at reasonable rates to accommodate the commerce and the passenger travel of said islands and to maintain and operate such service until it can be taken over and operated and maintained upon satisfactory terms by private capital and enterprise: Provided, That if adequate shipping service is not established by February 1, 1922, the President shall extend the period herein allowed for the establishment of such service in the case of any island Territory or possession for such time as may be necessary for the establishment of adequate shipping facilities therefor: Provided further, That, until Congress shall have authorized the registry as vessels of the United States of vessels owned in the Philippine Islands, the Government of the Philippine Islands is hereby authorized to adopt, from time to time, and enforce regulations governing the transportation of merchandise and passengers between ports or places in the Philippine Archipelago: And provided further, That the foregoing provisions of this section shall not take effect with reference to the Philippine Islands until the President of the United States after a full investigation of the local needs and conditions shall, by proclamation, declare that an adequate shipping service has been established as herein provided and fix a date for the going into effect of the same: And further provided, That the coastwise laws of the United States shall not extend to the Virgin Islands of the United States until the President of the United States shall, by proclamation, declare that such coastwise laws shall extend to the Virgin Islands and fix a date for the going into effect of same. [Sections 22 and 23 repealed by section 202(4) of Public Law 100-710] [Section 24 repealed by section 12(c) of Public Law 86-682] [Sections 25 and 26 repealed by section 4(b) of Public Law 98-89] SEC. 27.1 [46 App. U.S.C. 883] That no merchandise, including merchandise owned by the United States Government, a State (as defined in section 2101 of the 2 title 46, United States Code), or a subdivision of a State, shall be transported by water, or by land and water, on penalty of forfeiture of the merchandise (or a monetary amount up to the value thereof as determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, or the actual cost of the transportation, 1 Section 8 of the Act of June 19, 1886, provides as follows: SEC. 8. No foreign vessel shall transport passengers between ports or places in the United States, either directly or by way of a foreign port, under a penalty of two hundred dollars for each passenger so transported and landed. 2 So in original. The word "the" probably should not appear. whichever is greater, to be recovered from any cosignor, seller, owner, importer, consignee, agent, or other person or persons so transporting or causing said merchandise to be transported), between points in the United States, including Districts, Territories, and possessions thereof embraced within the coastwise laws, either directly or via a foreign port, or for any part of the transportation, in any other vessel than a vessel built in and documented under the laws of the United States and owned by persons who are citizens of the United States, or vessels to which the privilege of engaging in the coastwise trade is extended by section 18 or 22 of this Act: Provided, That no vessel of more than 200 gross tons (as measured under chapter 143 of title 46, United States Code) having at any time acquired the lawful right to engage in the coastwise trade, either by virtue of having been built in or documented under the laws of the United States, and later sold foreign in whole or in part, or placed under foreign registry, shall hereafter acquire the right to engage in the coastwise trade: Provided further, That no vessel which has acquired the lawful right to engage in the coastwise trade, by virtue of having been built in or documented under the laws of the United States, and which has later been rebuilt, shall have the right thereafter to engage in the coastwise trade, unless the entire rebuilding, including the construction of any major components of the hull or superstructure of the vessel, is effected within the United States, its Territories (not including trust territories), or its possessions: Provided further, That this section shall not apply to merchandise transported between points within the continental United States, including Alaska, over through routes heretofore or hereafter recognized by the Surface Transportation Board for which routes rate tariffs have been or shall hereafter be filed with the Board when such routes are in part over Canadian rail lines and their own or other connecting water facilities: Provided further, That this section shall not become effective upon the Yukon River until the Alaska Railroad shall be completed and the Secretary of Transportation shall find that proper facilities will be furnished for transportation by persons citizens of the United States for properly handling the traffic: Provided further, That this section shall not apply to the transportation of merchandise loaded on railroad cars or to motor vehicles with or without trailers, and with their passengers or contents when accompanied by the operator thereof, when such railroad cars or motor vehicles are transported in any railroad car ferry operated between fixed termini on the Great Lakes as a part of a rail route, if such car ferry is owned by a common carrier by water and operated as part of a rail route with the approval of the Surface Transportation Board, and if the stock of such common carrier by water, or its predecessor, was owned or controlled by a common carrier by rail prior to June 5, 1920, and if the stock of the common carrier owning such car ferry is, with the approval of the Board, now owned or controlled by any common carrier by rail and if such car ferry is built in and documented under the laws of the United States: Provided further, That upon such terms and conditions as the Secretary of the Treasury by regulation may prescribe, and, if the transporting vessel is of foreign registry, upon a finding by the Secretary of the Treasury, pursuant to information obtained and furnished by the Secretary of State, that the government of the nation of registry extends reciprocal privileges to vessels of the United States, this section shall not apply to the transportation by vessels of the United States not qualified to engage in the coastwise trade, or by vessels of foreign registry, of (a) empty cargo vans, empty lift vans, and empty shipping tanks, (b) equipment for use with cargo vans, lift vans, or shipping tanks, (c) empty barges specifically designed for carriage aboard a vessel and equipment, excluding propulsion equipment, for use with such barges, and (d) any empty instrument for international traffic exempted from application of the customs laws by the Secretary of the Treasury pursuant to the provisions of section 322(a), Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1322(a)), if the articles described in clauses (a) through (d) are owned or leased by the owner or operator of the transporting vessel and are transported for his use in handling his cargo in foreign trade; and (e) stevedoring equipment and material, if such equipment and material is owned or leased by the owner or operator of the transporting vessel, or is owned or leased by the stevedoring company contracting for the lading or unlading of that vessel, and is transported without charge for use in the handling of cargo in foreign trade: Provided further, That upon such terms and conditions as the Secretary of the Treasury by regulation may prescribe, and, if the transporting vessel is of foreign registry, upon his finding, pursuant to information furnished by the Secretary of State, that the government of the nation of registry extends reciprocal privileges to vessels of the United States, the Secretary of the Treasury may suspend the application of this section to the transportation of merchandise between points in the United States (excluding transportation between the continental United States and noncontiguous states, districts, territories, and possessions embraced within the coastwise laws) which, while moving in the foreign trade of the United States, is transferred from a non-self-propelled barge certified by the owner or operator to be specifically designed for carriage aboard a vessel and regularly carried aboard a vessel in foreign trade to another such barge owned or leased by the same owner or operator, without regard to whether any such barge is under foreign registry or qualifed to engage in the coastwise trade: Provided further, That until April 1, 1984, and notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, any vessel documented under the laws of the United States and owned by persons who are citizens of the United States may, when operated upon a voyage in foreign trade, transport merchandise in cargo vans, lift vans, and shipping-tanks between points embraced within the coastwise laws for transfer to or when transferred from another vessel or vessels, so documented and owned, of the same operator when the merchandise movement has either a foreign origin or a foreign destination; but this proviso (1) shall apply only to vessels which that same operator owned, chartered or contracted for the construction of prior to the date of the enactment of this proviso, and (2) shall not apply to movements between points in the contiguous United States and points in Hawaii, Alaska, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and United States territories and possessions. For the purposes of this section, after December 31, 1983, or after such time as an appropriate vessel has been constructed and documented as a vessel of the United States, |