II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4433 

To authorize amounts to be made available for improvements to the Coast 

Guard Yard, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 16, 2022 

Mr. VAN HOLLEN (for himself and Mr. CARDIN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To authorize amounts to be made available for improvements 

to the Coast Guard Yard, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Service to the Fleet 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find8 ings: 

9 (1) For more than 100 years, the Coast Guard 

10 Yard has built, repaired, and renovated ships. 


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1 (2) The Coast Guard Yard— 

2 (A) is the sole shipbuilding facility, and a 

3 major repair facility, of the Coast Guard; 

4 (B) is 1 of only 5 remaining public ship5 yards in the United States; 

6 (C) supports more than 2,000 full-time 

7 personnel and their families; 

8 (D) supports the Army, the Navy, the Na9 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 

10 and other Federal agencies; 

11 (E) hosts the largest warehousing oper12 ation of the Department of Homeland Security, 

13 which serves the entire Coast Guard surface 

14 fleet; 

15 (F) is the Coast Guard’s only Navy-cer16 tified heavy weapons overhaul facility; 

17 (G) hosts an average of 8 visiting Coast 

18 Guard Cutters and vessels of other Federal 

19 agencies, and their crews, at any given time; 

20 (H) supports the renovation and transfer 

21 of vessels and weapons systems for foreign mili22 tary sale; and 

23 (I) provides housing, medical and emer24 gency services, human resources, morale, wel25 fare and recreation support, and other base acVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:32 Jun 18, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4433.IS S4433

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1 tivities to approximately 1,000 visiting crew 

2 members annually. 

3 (3) The Coast Guard Yard faces a rapid and 

4 widespread failure of critical infrastructure, nearly 

5 all of which was built in during a 4-year period dur6 ing World War II. 

7 (4) Based on the grading criteria of the Amer8 ican Society of Civil Engineers, the overall infra9 structure grade for the Coast Guard Yard is a D+, 

10 which is below the C- average for other Coast Guard 

11 facilities. 

12 (5) Infrastructure and facilities at the Coast 

13 Guard Yard are failing at a rate that is faster than 

14 the rate at which such infrastructure and facilities 

15 can be maintained with current resources. 

16 (6) Infrastructure failures at the Coast Guard 

17 Yard have caused injuries, had negative environ18 mental impacts, reduced productivity, increased re19 pair costs, and undermined the ability of the Coast 

20 Guard Yard to carry out its mission. 

21 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 

22 (1) with respect to the Coast Guard Yard— 

23 (A) to improve resilience and capacity; 

24 (B) to maintain and expand Coast Guard 

25 organic manufacturing capacity; 


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1 (C) to expand training and recruitment; 

2 (D) to enhance safety; and 

3 (E) to improve environmental compliance; 

4 and 

5 (2) to ensure that the Coast Guard Yard is pre6 pared to meet the growing needs of the modern 

7 Coast Guard fleet. 

8 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

10 (1) COAST GUARD YARD.—The term ‘‘Coast 

11 Guard Yard’’ means the Coast Guard Yard in Balti12 more, Maryland. 

13 (2) COMMANDANT.—The term ‘‘Commandant’’ 

14 means the Commandant of the Coast Guard. 

15 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

16 the Secretary of the department in which the Coast 

17 Guard is operating. 

18 SEC. 4. COAST GUARD YARD RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE 

19 AND CONSTRUCTION IMPROVEMENT. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Of the amounts authorized to be 

21 appropriated under section 4902(2)(A)(ii) of title 14, 

22 United States Code— 

23 (1) $400,000,000 shall be made available for 

24 fiscal year 2023 to the Secretary for the purpose of 

25 making improvements to the facilities of the Coast 


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1 Guard Yard to complete preparations for, and con2 struction of a floating drydock and phases 1 through 

3 3 of the Coast Guard Shipyard Infrastructure Opti4 mization Plan; and 

5 (2) $232,000,000 shall be made available for 

6 completion of the Coast Guard Shipyard Infrastruc7 ture Optimization Plan, to remain available until ex8 pended. 

9 (b) INCLUSIONS.—In carrying out the improvements 

10 referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary shall ensure 

11 that such improvements include the following: 

12 (1) Facilities upgrades needed to improve the 

13 climate resilience of the Coast Guard Yard and asso14 ciated infrastructure. 

15 (2) Acquisition of a large-capacity dry dock. 

16 (3) Wharf improvements. 

17 (4) Environmental remediation. 

18 (5) Construction of a new warehouse and paint 

19 facility. 

20 (6) Acquisition of a new travel lift. 

21 (7) Any other shore infrastructure maintenance 

22 and capital improvement projects the Commandant 

23 considers necessary. 


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1 SEC. 5. REPORT ON WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

3 date of the enactment of the Act, the Commandant shall 

4 submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

5 Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on 

6 Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Rep7 resentatives a report outlining workforce development 

8 needs at the Coast Guard Yard with respect to civilian 

9 employees and active duty members of the Coast Guard. 

10 (b) ELEMENTS.—The report required by subsection 

11 (a) shall— 

12 (1) include— 

13 (A) an assessment of the need for addi14 tional personnel with expertise in trades, engi15 neering, cyber, and any other field necessary to 

16 meet the evolving mission of the Coast Guard 

17 Yard; 

18 (B) a description of the resources nec19 essary to re-establish an apprenticeship pro20 gram at the Coast Guard Yard; and 

21 (C) recommendations with respect to the 

22 authorities, funding, training, and recruitment 

23 necessary to meet the workforce development 

24 needs of the Coast Guard Yard during the 10- 

25 year period beginning on the date on which the 

26 report is submitted; and 


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1 (2) take into consideration matters of diversity 

2 and inclusion in the workforce at the Coast Guard 

3 Yard. 

Æ 


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