There is hereby established, within the Coast Guard, the America’s Waterway Watch Program.

The Secretary shall administer the Program in a manner that promotes voluntary reporting of activities that may indicate that a person or persons may be preparing to engage or engaging in a violation of law relating to a threat or an act of terrorism (as that term is defined in section 3077 of title 18) against a vessel, facility, port, or waterway.

The Secretary may provide training in—

(1) Information.— The Secretary may establish, as an element of the Program, a network of individuals and community-based organizations that encourage the public and industry to recognize activities referred to in subsection (b), promote voluntary reporting of such activity, and enhance the situational awareness within the Nation’s ports and waterways. Such network shall, to the extent practicable, be conducted in cooperation with Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies.

The Secretary may provide training in—

(A) observing and reporting on covered activities; and

(B) sharing such reports and coordinating the response by Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies.

Participation in the Program—

(1) shall be wholly voluntary;

(2) shall not be a prerequisite to eligibility for, or receipt of, any other service or assistance from, or to participation in, any other program of any kind; and

(3) shall not require disclosure of information regarding the individual reporting covered activities or, for proprietary purposes, the location of such individual.

The Secretary shall coordinate the Program with other like watch programs. The Secretary shall submit, concurrent with the President’s budget submission for each fiscal year, a report on coordination of the Program and like watch programs within the Department of Homeland Security to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives.

There are authorized to be appropriated for the purposes of this section $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2011 through 2016. Such funds shall remain available until expended.

(Added Pub. L. 111–281, title VIII, § 801(a), Oct. 15, 2010, 124 Stat. 2988; amended Pub. L. 114–120, title III, § 306(a)(11), Feb. 8, 2016, 130 Stat. 55.)