A bill to direct the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to require alerting and locating equipment, including emergency position indicating radio beacons, on United States uninspected vessels, and for other purposes.
Public Law 100-540 · H.R. 4557 · 100th Congress · began in the House
Signed by Ronald Reagan (R) on Oct 28, 1988 · Transportation and Public Works
Sponsor: Rep. Earl Hutto (D-FL-1)
Cosponsors (2): Rep. Walter Jones, Rep. Robert Davis
Passage votes
- HouseVoice vote
- SenateVoice vote
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
Amends safety equipment requirements to require, subject to exemption by the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating, that each manned uninspected vessel operating on the high seas or beyond three nautical miles from the coastline of the Great Lakes be equipped with the prescribed number and type of alerting and locating equipment, including emergency position indicating radio beacons. (Current law applies similar requirements only on fishing, fish processing, or fish tender vessels.)
Increases the civil penalty which may be imposed for violation of this and other statutes and regulations relating to uninspected vessels.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee · House · markup by, referred to, reported bySubcommittee: Coast Guard and Navigation Subcommittee
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 13 actions.
- Oct 28, 1988Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 100-540.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Oct 21, 1988PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
- Oct 12, 1988FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
- Sep 26, 1988FloorFloor · Passed House (Amended) by Voice Vote.
- Sep 23, 1988CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee
- Sep 15, 1988CommitteeCommittee · Markup by House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee
- Sep 14, 1988CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Coast Guard and Navigation Subcommittee of the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Coast Guard and Navigation Subcommittee of the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee
- Aug 3, 1988CommitteeCommittee · Hearings by Coast Guard and Navigation Subcommittee of the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee
- May 16, 1988CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Coast Guard and Navigation Subcommittee of the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee
- May 10, 1988CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the House
Data notes
Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.
Official record
The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.