Chapter 301. To authorize additional aids to navigation in the Light-House Establishment, and to provide for a Bureau of Light-Houses in the Department of Commerce and Labor, and for other purposes
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CHAP. 301.— An Act To authorize additional aids to navigation in the Light-House Establishment, and to provide for a Bureau of Light-Houses in the Department of Commerce and Labor, and for other purposes. June 17, 1910.[[H. R. 24877](/us/bill/61/hr/24877).][[Public, No. 217](/us/pl/61/217).] *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*, Aids to navigation. That the Secretary of Commerce and Labor be, and he is hereby, authorized to establish and provide the following additional aids to navigation in the Light-House Establishment, under the Department of Commerce and Labor, in accordance with the respective limits of cost hereinafter respectively set forth, which shall in no case be exceeded:
General service. general service. Relief light-vessel. A relief light-vessel for general service, at a cost not to exceed one hundred and thirty thousand dollars. Post lights authorized. Post lantern lights may be established and maintained, in the discretion of the Light-House Board, out of the annual appropriations for lighting of rivers on the following waters: Dunns Creek and Crescent Lake, Florida; Atchafalaya River, Little Lake, Lake des Allemands, Bayou Barataria, Bayou Segnette, Bayou Perot, Bayou Villars, Bayou La Fourche, Lake Salvador, Louisiana;
Lake of the Woods, including Rainy River and Warroad Harbor, Minnesota; and Lake Traverse, Minnesota and South Dakota. First district. first light-house district. Otter Island, Me. A light and fog-signal station at Otter Island, Maine, at a cost not to exceed fourteen thousand dollars. Boon Island, Me. A fog-signal station, at or near the light-station on Boon Island, Maine, at a cost not to exceed twenty thousand dollars. 535 A light and signal or whistling buoy, with submarine signal, for Monhegan Island, Me. service near Monhegan Island, entrance to Penobscot Bay, Maine, and if, in the opinion of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, necessary, a relief buoy for same, at a cost not to exceed twenty thousand dollars. second light-house district.
Second district. The Secretary of Commerce and Labor is hereby authorized to Lovells Island depot, Mass. Removal to Governors Island. select a site for a light-house depot upon Governors Island, near Boston, to be approved by the Secretary of War, and when so approved the Secretary of War is authorized to transfer such site to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, with a view to moving the light-house depot now located on Lovells Island to such site on Governors Island, as may be hereafter authorized. third light-house district.
Third district. A light and fog-signal station at Hunts Point, New York, at a cost Hunts Point, N. Y. not to exceed five thousand dollars. A light and fog-signal station at or near the mouth of Rondout Hudson River, N. Y. Rondout Creek. Creek, Hudson River, New York, at a cost not to exceed forty thousand dollars. A park road and approaches thereto and footpaths and other Stony Point reservation. improvements on the light-house reservation at Stony Point on the Hudson River, New York, at a total cost not to exceed seven thousand five hundred dollars. fourth light-house district.
Fourth district. Additional improvements at Edgemoor light-house depot, Delaware, Edgemoor depot, Del. in accordance with the recommendations of the Light-House Board in the annual report for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and nine, at a cost not to exceed fifty-one thousand dollars. The limit of cost for light and fog-signal station at Miah Maull Miah Maull Shoal. Limit of cost increased. Vol. 34, p. 322. Shoal, Delaware Bay, authorized by an act approved June twentieth, nineteen hundred and six, is hereby increased by the sum of thirty thousand dollars, so as to make the total limit of cost one hundred and five thousand dollars instead of seventy-five thousand dollars as heretofore authorized.
The Cross Ledge light station, New Jersey, shall be discontinued Cross Ledge station, N. J., discontinued. upon the establishment and putting into service of the Elbow of Cross Ledge light station, New Jersey. The limit of cost for establishing light and fog-signal station at or Joe Flogger Shoal. Limit of cost increased. Vol. 34, p. 322. near Joe Flogger Shoal, Delaware River, authorized by Act approved June twentieth, nineteen hundred and six, is hereby increased by the sum of thirty thousand dollars, so as to make the total limit of cost one hundred and five thousand dollars instead of seventy-five thousand dollars as heretofore authorized.
Range lights at or near Eagle Point, in Horseshoe Curve, Delaware Eagle Point, N. J. Range lights. River, New Jersey, at a cost not to exceed two thousand nine hundred and fifty dollars. fifth light-house district. Fifth district. Range lights, Fort McHenry Channel, Maryland, at a cost not to Range lights. Fort McHenry Channel, Md. exceed one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. Range lights, Norfolk Harbor, Virginia, at a cost not to exceed Norfolk, Va., harbor. thirty-five thousand dollars.
Range light, Bogue Sound, North Carolina, at a cost not to exceed Bogue Sound, N. C. two thousand five hundred dollars. 536 Sixth district. sixth light-house district. Range lights. Savannah River, Ga., entrance. Range lights, Bloody Point, entrance to Savannah River, Georgia, at a cost not to exceed four thousand five hundred dollars. Cape Fear River, below Wilmington, N. C. Suitable lights and signals in Cape Fear River, below Wilmington, North Carolina, at a cost not to exceed twenty-one thousand dollars.
Saint Johns River, Fla. Light-vessel off mouth of. A light-vessel for service off the mouth of Saint Johns River, Florida, and elsewhere, as may be directed, at a cost not to exceed one hundred and thirty thousand dollars. Eighth district. eighth light-house district. Port Eads, La., depot. Removal to New Orleans. Authority is hereby given to move the light-house depot now located at Port Eads, Louisiana, to New Orleans, Louisiana, or its vicinity, to purchase a suitable site, erect wharf and depot buildings, complete, at a cost not to exceed twenty-seven thousand dollars.
Galveston Bay, Tex. Change of station, light-vessel. Galveston Light-Vessel Numbered Twenty-eight, no longer needed at the entrance to Galveston Bay, may be placed in commission and located elsewhere, as may be found desirable in the opinion of the Light-House Board. Ninth district. ninth light-house district. Lake Michigan. White Shoal light-vessel removed to Indiana Shoals. Upon the establishment and placing in service of the light and fog-signal station at White Shoal, Lake Michigan, White Shoal Light-Vessel Numbered Fifty-six may be removed to a location in Lake Michigan, off Gary Harbor, Indiana, and thereafter known as Indiana Shoals Light-Vessel Numbered Fifty-six.
Saint Joseph, Mich., depot. Barge. A barge for light-house depot, Saint Joseph, Michigan, at a cost not to exceed seven thousand dollars. North Manitou Island. Light-vessel. A light-vessel near North Manitou Island, Lake Michigan, at a cost not to exceed fifty thousand dollars. Tenth district. tenth light-house district. Range lights, Lorain, Ohio. Range lights, harbor of Lorain, Ohio, at a cost not to exceed nineteen thousand eight hundred dollars. Huron, Ohio. Range lights at the harbor of Huron, Ohio, at a cost not to exceed three thousand eight hundred dollars.
Lake Erie. Light-vessel. A light-vessel for service at or near a point between Point Abino and Sturgeon Point, in Lake Erie, at a cost not to exceed seventy-five thousand dollars. Sandusky, Ohio. Light at harbor entrance. A light and fog-signal station at the entrance to Sandusky Harbor, Ohio, at a cost not to exceed eighty thousand dollars. Eleventh district. eleventh light-house district. Detroit, Mich. Depot, oil house. An oil house at Detroit light-house depot, at a cost not to exceed three thousand five hundred dollars.
Lake Superior. Station, Michigan and Gull Islands. Light and fog-signal station at Michigan and Gull islands, Lake Superior, at a cost not to exceed one hundred and forty thousand dollars. Twelfth district. twelfth light-house district. New stations. Anacapa Island, Cal. Light and fog-signal station at Anacapa Island, California, at a cost not to exceed one hundred thousand dollars. Army Point, Cal. Light, and fog-signal station at Army Point, California, at a cost not to exceed ten thousand dollars.
Humboldt Bay, Cal., wharf. A coal shed on the light-house wharf at Humboldt Bay, California, at a cost not to exceed five thousand dollars. 537 A fog signal and keepers’ quarters at Point Loma, California, at a Point Loma, Cal. Fog signal, etc. cost not to exceed seventeen thousand five hundred dollars. A flashing light, fog signal, and keepers’ quarters at Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, Cal. Light station, etc. California, at a cost not to exceed twenty-nine thousand dollars. thirteenth light-house district.
Thirteenth district. A light and fog-signal station on Eliza Island, Bellingham Bay, Eliza Island, Wash. Light, etc., station. Washington, at a cost not to exceed thirty thousand dollars. The limit of cost of a light and fog-signal station to be established Battery Point, Wash. Limit of cost for station increased. Vol. 32, p. 431; Vol. 34, pp. 996, 1319. at Battery Point, Washington, heretofore authorized by the Acts approved June twenty-eighth, nineteen hundred and two, February twenty-six, nineteen hundred and seven, and March fourth, nineteen hundred and seven, is hereby increased by the sum of thirty-three thousand dollars, so as to make the total limit of cost forty-seven thousand dollars instead of fourteen thousand dollars, as heretofore authorized.
Additional aids to navigation in Alaskan waters, at a cost not to Alaskan waters. Additional aids in. exceed sixty thousand dollars. Sec. 2. That the Secretary of Commerce and Labor is hereby authorized Construction contracts authorized. to enter into contract or contracts for any or all of the items provided for in section one of this Act, within the limits of cost therein respectively provided. Sec. 3. That the provision in the Act entitled “An Act making Light-vessels. Restriction of changing stations of repealed.
Vol. 35, p. 331. appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the Government for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and nine, and for other purposes,” approved May twenty-seventh, nineteen hundred and eight, reading as follows, to wit: “Hereafter no light-ship shall be removed from the place designated for its station in the Act authorizing its construction and be stationed elsewhere except upon express authority of Congress,” is hereby repealed. Sec. 4. That hereafter there shall be in the Department of Commerce Bureau of light-houses.
Commissioner. Appointment and salary. and Labor a bureau of light-houses and a commissioner of light-houses, who shall be the head of said bureau, to be appointed by the President, who shall receive a salary of five thousand dollars per annum. There shall also be in the bureau a deputy commissioner, Deputy, chief clerk, inspectors, etc. to be appointed by the President, who shall receive a salary of four thousand dollars per annum, and a chief clerk, who shall perform the duties of chief clerk and such other duties as may be assigned to him by the Secretary of Commerce and Labor or by the commissioner.
There shall also be in the bureau such inspectors, clerical assistants, and other employees as may from time to time be authorized by Congress, and there shall also be employed one chief constructing Chief constructing engineer, and superintendent of naval construction. engineer at a salary of four thousand dollars per annum and one superintendent of naval construction at a salary of three thousand dollars per annum, both to be appointed by the President. The Annual report. commissioner of light-houses shall make an annual report to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, who shall transmit the same to Congress at the beginning of each regular session thereof; and such Damages from collisions with.
Adjustment of claims. commissioner, subject to the approval of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, is hereby authorized to consider, ascertain, adjust, and determine all claims for damages, where the amount of the claim does not exceed the sum of five hundred dollars, hereafter occasioned by collisions, for which collisions vessels of the Light-House Service shall be found to be responsible, and report the amounts so ascertained and determined to be due the claimants to Congress at each session thereof through the Treasury Department for payment as legal claims out of appropriations that may be made by Congress therefor.
Sec. 5. That all employees of or in the Light-House Board or the Employees transferred. Light-House Establishment are hereby transferred to the bureau of light-houses, excepting, however, army and navy officers. 538 Sec. 6. Light-House Board. Duties transferred. That all duties performed and all power and authority now possessed or exercised by the Light-House Board, under any provision of law not hereby repealed, are hereby transferred to and imposed and conferred upon and vested in the commissioner of light-houses, under the direction and control of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor.
Sec. 7. Light-House Service. Control, etc., of, transferred. That the commissioner of light-houses shall, under the direction and control of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, have charge and control of the construction, maintenance, repair, illumination, inspection, and superintendence of light-house depots, supply stations, light and signal stations, light-houses, light-vessels, light-house tenders, fog signals, submarine signals, beacons, buoys, day marks, post-lantern lights, and seamarks and their appendages, and Light-House Establishment.
Custody of records, etc., transferred. generally of the Light-House Service; and the charge and custody of all the archives, books, documents, drawings, models, returns, apparatus, and other things appertaining to the Light-House Establishment. Sec. 8. Contracts required for materials, etc. That all materials for construction, maintenance, repair, and operation shall be procured by public contracts, under such regulations as may from time to time be prescribed by the commissioner, subject to the approval of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, and no contract shall be made except after public advertisement for proposals in such form and manner as to secure general notice thereof, and the same shall only be made with the lowest and best bidder therefor, upon security deemed sufficient in the judgment of the commissioner of lighthouses, but all bids may at any time be rejected by the commissioner: *Proviso*.
Open market purchases. *Provided, however*, That the commissioner of light-houses may purchase illuminating oil, wicks, and chimneys for lights, and ground tackle for light-vessels and buoys, and to an amount not exceeding five hundred dollars at any one time, other materials and supplies when immediate delivery is required by an exigency, by private contract or in the open market, if he deems it for the best interests of the service so to do; but such purchases shall be set forth in the annual report of the commissioner with the reasons for purchasing other than upon bids after public advertisement.
Sec. 9. Purchase of sites. That the commissioner, under the direction of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, is authorized, whenever an appropriation is made by Congress for a new light-house, the proper site for which does not belong to the United States, to purchase the necessary land for such site, provided the purchase money be paid from the amount appropriated for such light-house without exceeding the limit of cost, if any, fixed in such case; and the commissioner of light-houses is authorized to employ temporarily draftsmen for the preparation of plans for tenders and light-vessels which may be authorized by Congress, to be paid from the respective appropriations therefor.
Sec. 10. Administrative regulations. That the commissioner of light-houses, under the direction and control of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, shall, from time to time, prescribe and distribute such regulations as he may deem proper for securing an efficient, uniform, and economic administration of the Light-House Service. Sec. 11. Light-house districts. Rearrangement. That the commissioner of light-houses, subject to the approval of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, as soon as practicable, shall rearrange the ocean, gulf, and lake coasts and the rivers of the United States, Porto Rico, and the naval station in Cuba into not exceeding nineteen light-house districts, and a light-house inspector Inspectors.
Salaries. shall be assigned in charge of each district. The light-house inspectors shall each receive a salary of two thousand four hundred dollars per annum, except the inspector of the third district, whose salary shall Temporary assignment of Army and Navy officers. be three thousand six hundred dollars per annum. The President may, for a period not exceeding three years from the taking effect 539 of this section, assign army and navy officers to act in lieu of the appointment of civilian light-house inspectors, but such army and navy officers shall not receive any salary or compensation in addition to the salary or compensation they are entitled to as such army or navy officers: *Provided*, That in the districts which include the *Proviso*.
Engineer officer for Mississippi River districts. Detail for construction, etc. Mississippi River and its tributaries the President may designate army engineers to perform the duties of and act as inspectors. The President may detail officers of the Engineer Corps of the United States Army for consultation or to superintend the construction or repair of any aid to navigation authorized by Congress. Sec. 12. That all unexpended appropriations which shall be Appropriations transferred. available at the time when this Act takes effect, in relation to the Light-House Board, the Light-House Establishment, and the Light-House Service, shall be available from the time that this Act takes effect for expenditures in and by the bureau of light-houses, and shall be treated the same as though the bureau of light-houses had been named directly in the Acts making said appropriations.
Sec. 13. That sections forty-six hundred and fifty-three, forty-six Laws repealed. [R. S., secs. 4653–4660, 4663–4667, 4669–4671, pp. 906–908](/us/rs/s4653–4660/4663–4667/4669–4671/pp906–908), repealed. hundred and fifty-four, forty-six hundred and fifty-five, forty-six hundred and fifty-six, forty-six hundred and fifty-seven, forty-six hundred and fifty-eight, forty-six hundred and fifty-nine, forty-six hundred and sixty, forty-six hundred and sixty-three, forty-six hundred and sixty-four, forty-six hundred and sixty-five, forty-six hundred and sixty-six, forty-six hundred and sixty-seven, forty-six hundred and sixty-nine, forty-six hundred and seventy, and forty-six hundred and seventy-one of the Revised Statues of the United States are hereby repealed.
Sec. 14. That sections four to thirteen, inclusive, of this Act, shall In effect July 1. take effect on the first day of July next succeeding its passage. Approved, June 17, 1910.