Collapse to view only § 9101. Congressional declaration of policy
§ 9101. Congressional declaration of policy
(a) It is declared to be the purposes of the Congress in this chapter to—
(1) authorize and regulate the construction, location, ownership, and operation of ocean thermal energy conversion facilities connected to the United States by pipeline or cable, or located in whole or in part between the highwater mark and the seaward boundary of the territorial sea of the United States consistent with the Convention on the High Seas, and general principles of international law;
(2) authorize and regulate the construction, location, ownership, and operation of ocean thermal energy conversion plantships documented under the laws of the United States, consistent with the Convention on the High Seas and general principles of international law;
(3) authorize and regulate the construction, location, ownership, and operation of ocean thermal energy conversion plantships by United States citizens, consistent with the Convention on the High Seas and general principles of international law;
(4) establish a legal regime which will permit and encourage the development of ocean thermal energy conversion as a commercial energy technology;
(5) provide for the protection of the marine and coastal environment, and consideration of the interests of ocean users, to prevent or minimize any adverse impact which might occur as a consequence of the development of such ocean thermal energy conversion facilities or plantships;
(6) make applicable certain provisions of the Merchant Marine Act, 1936 (46 U.S.C. 1177 et seq.) 1
1 See References in Text note below.
to assist in financing of ocean thermal energy conversion facilities and plantships;(7) protect the interests of the United States in the location, construction, and operation of ocean thermal energy conversion facilities and plantships; and
(8) protect the rights and responsibilities of adjacent coastal States in ensuring that Federal actions are consistent with approved State coastal zone management programs and other applicable State and local laws.
(b) The Congress declares that nothing in this chapter shall be construed to affect the legal status of the high seas, the superjacent airspace, or the seabed and subsoil, including the Continental Shelf.
(Pub. L. 96–320, § 2, Aug. 3, 1980, 94 Stat. 974; Pub. L. 98–623, title VI, § 602(a)(1), Nov. 8, 1984, 98 Stat. 3410.)
§ 9102. Definitions
As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires, the term—
(1) “adjacent coastal State” means any coastal State which is required to be designated as such by section 9115(a)(1) of this title or is designated as such by the Administrator in accordance with section 9115(a)(2) of this title;
(2) “Administrator” means the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration;
(3) “antitrust laws” includes the Act of July 2, 1890, as amended [15 U.S.C. 1 et seq.], the Act of October 15, 1914, as amended [15 U.S.C. 12 et seq.], and sections 73 and 74 of the Act of August 27, 1894, as amended [15 U.S.C. 8 and 9];
(4) “application” means any application submitted under this chapter (A) for issuance of a license for the ownership, construction, and operation of an ocean thermal energy conversion facility or plantship; (B) for transfer or renewal of any such license; or (C) for any substantial change in any of the conditions and provisions of any such license;
(5) “coastal State” means a State in, or bordering on, the Atlantic, Pacific, or Arctic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, Long Island Sound, or one or more of the Great Lakes;
(6) “construction” means any activities conducted at sea to supervise, inspect, actually build, or perform other functions incidental to the building, repairing, or expanding of an ocean thermal energy conversion facility or plantship or any of its components, including but not limited to, piledriving, emplacement of mooring devices, emplacement of cables and pipelines, and deployment of the cold water pipe, and alterations, modifications, or additions to an ocean thermal energy conversion facility or plantship;
(7) “facility” means an ocean thermal energy conversion facility;
(8) “Governor” means the Governor of a State or the person designated by law to exercise the powers granted to the Governor pursuant to this chapter;
(9) “high seas” means that part of the oceans lying seaward of the territorial sea of the United States and outside the territorial sea, as recognized by the United States, of any other nation;
(10) “licensee” means the holder of a valid license for the ownership, construction, and operation of an ocean thermal energy conversion facility or plantship that was issued, transferred, or renewed pursuant to this chapter;
(11) “ocean thermal energy conversion facility” means any facility which is standing, fixed or moored in whole or in part seaward of the highwater mark and which is designed to use temperature differences in ocean water to produce electricity or another form of energy capable of being used directly to perform work, and includes any equipment installed on such facility to use such electricity or other form of energy to produce, process, refine, or manufacture a product, and any cable or pipeline used to deliver such electricity, fresh water, or product to shore, and all other associated equipment and appurtenances of such facility, to the extent they are located seaward of the highwater mark;
(12) “ocean thermal energy conversion plantship” means any vessel which is designed to use temperature differences in ocean water while floating unmoored or moving through such water, to produce electricity or another form of energy capable of being used directly to perform work, and includes any equipment installed on such vessel to use such electricity or other form of energy to produce, process, refine, or manufacture a product, and any equipment used to transfer such product to other vessels for transportation to users, and all other associated equipment and appurtenances of such vessel;
(13) “plantship” means an ocean thermal energy conversion plantship;
(14) “person” means any individual (whether or not a citizen of the United States), any corporation, partnership, association, or other entity organized or existing under the laws of any nation, and any Federal, State, local or foreign government or any entity of any such government;
(15) “State” means each of the several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, and any other Commonwealth, territory, or possession over which the United States has jurisdiction;
(16) “test platform” means any floating or moored platform, barge, ship, or other vessel which is designed for limited-scale, at sea operation in order to test or evaluate the operation of components or all of an ocean thermal energy conversion system and which will not operate as an ocean thermal energy conversion facility or plantship after the conclusion of such tests or evaluation;
(17) “thermal plume” means the area of the ocean in which a significant difference in temperature, as defined in regulations by the Administrator, occurs as a result of the operation of an ocean thermal energy conversion facility or plantship; and
(18) “United States citizen” means (A) any individual who is a citizen of the United States by law, birth, or naturalization; (B) any Federal, State, or local government in the United States, or any entity of any such government; or (C) any corporation, partnership, association, or other entity, organized or existing under the laws of the United States, or of any State, which has as its president or other executive officer and as its chairman of the board of directors, or holder of similar office, an individual who is a United States citizen and which has no more of its directors who are not United States citizens than constitute a minority of the number required for a quorum necessary to conduct the business of the board.
(Pub. L. 96–320, § 3, Aug. 3, 1980, 94 Stat. 975; Pub. L. 98–623, title VI, § 602(a)(2), (e)(7), Nov. 8, 1984, 98 Stat. 3410, 3412.)