Introduction of Legislation to Implement Safety Regulations Related to Amphibious Passenger Vessels and for Other Purposes

Floor Speech

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Mr. CARSON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce a bill to implement safety regulations for amphibious passenger vessels, including those known as duck boats. These safety recommendations were made by federal agencies to address known problems associated with duck boats that have resulted in far too many injuries and fatalities.

I became aware of these problems when my constituents, the Coleman family, were involved in a horrible duck boat accident on July 19, 2018 in Branson, Missouri. Tia Coleman was one of only two survivors from her family of 11, losing her husband Glenn and her children Reece (nine years old), Evan (seven years old), and Arya (one year old). Tia's 13 year old nephew, Donovan Coleman, was the other surviving family member, losing his mother Angela, his younger brother Maxwell (two years old), his uncles Ervin (76 years old) and Butch (70 years old), and his aunt Belinda (69 years old). Boarding a duck boat on Table Rock Lake started out as a fun outing for family members but turned into an unspeakable tragedy when the boat capsized and sank. Seventeen of the 31 passengers on board were killed.

Investigations by state and federal authorities are still underway and lawsuits are pending over the specifics of this incident. But there is a long record of problems associated with duck boat operations that can be addressed now. Since 1999 more than 40 people have died in duck boats accidents, the vast majority of them from drowning when the vessel sinks. In 2002, the Natonal Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued recommendations to improve the safety of the vessels in cases of flooding or sinking, but little has been done to implement those measures. We know from these past incidents that more can be done to make these vessels safe. Congress does not need to wait to act.

While we wait to learn more about the specific circumstances and causes that led to the tragedy on Table Rock Lake, this legislation would implement the NTSB's past recommendations to improve the ability of duck boats (officially referred to as ``amphibious passenger vessels'') to stay afloat in a flooding or sinking situation.

Specifically, this bill would direct the Coast Guard to issue regulations within 180 days to require operators of amphibious passenger vessels to retrofit their vessels to provide reserve buoyancy. Vessel operators would have no longer than two years to comply with the requirements.

While vessel operators work to comply with the reserve buoyancy requirements, this bill directs them to implement interim measures to improve vessel safety, including:

a. Remove canopies from vessels for waterborne operations, or replacing canopies with structures that do not restrict escape in the event of flooding or sinking;

b. If canopies are removed, require that all passengers wear a personal flotation device while the vessel is on the water;

c. Permanently close all unnecessary access plugs and reduce through- hull penetrations to the minimum number and size necessary;

d. Install independently-powered electric bilge pumps;

e. Install not fewer than four independently-powered bilge alarms;

f. Mandate inspection of vessels in water after each through-hull penetration;

g. Verify watertight integrity of vessels in the water at the outset of each waterborne departure; and

h. Otherwise comply with existing Coast Guard regulations related to the inspection, configuration, and operation of such vessels.

Those vessels that do not meet the 180-day deadline to implement interim safety measures, as well as those that do not meet the two-year deadline to install reserve buoyancy systems, would be prohibited from operating on U.S. waterways until they are in compliance.

Mr. Speaker, I hope my colleagues will join me in supporting this bill to make common-sense corrections to the persistent safety problems facing duck boats so that no other family must face the kind of tragedy faced by my constituents on Table Rock Lake. I want to thank my colleague, Senator McCaskill, for introducing the companion measure, S. 3301, and I urge the House to support this bill.

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