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103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2082

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to dispose of certain vessels in

the National Defense Reserve Fleet.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 11, 1993

Mr. WYDEN (for himself and Mr. LIPINSKI) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries

A BILL

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to dispose of

certain vessels in the National Defense Reserve Fleet.

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 ‘‘NDRF Ship Disposal

5 Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. DISPOSAL OF NATIONAL DEFENSE RESERVE FLEET

7 VESSELS.

8 (a) DISPOSAL REQUIREMENT.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other

10 provision of law (other than paragraph (3)) and be-
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1 fore January 1, 1999, the Secretary of Transpor2 tation shall dispose of all vessels that are in the Na3 tional Defense Reserve Fleet on the date of the en4 actment of this Act and that—

5 (A) are not assigned to the Ready Reserve

6 Force component of that fleet; and

7 (B) are not specifically authorized or re8 quired by statute to be used for a particular

9 purpose.

10 (2) NOTIFICATION OF SECRETARY OF THE

11 NAVY.—The Secretary shall notify the Secretary of

12 the Navy of the intent of the Secretary to dispose

13 of a vessel under this section, by not later than 90

14 days before the date of that disposal.

15 (3) LIMITATIONS ON DISPOSAL REQUIRE16 MENT.—

17 (A) RETENTION FOR NATIONAL DEFENSE

18 PURPOSES.—The Secretary shall not dispose of

19 a vessel under this section if the Secretary of

20 the Navy certifies to the Secretary within 30

21 days after receiving notification of the intent of

22 the Secretary to dispose of the vessel, that—

23 (i) the vessel is militarily useful, and
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1 (ii) retention of the vessel in the Na2 tional Defense Reserve Fleet is necessary

3 for national defense purposes.

4 (B) USE BY STATE OR FEDERAL

5 AGENCY.—The Secretary is authorized to not

6 dispose of a vessel otherwise required to be dis7 posed of under this section if the Secretary cer8 tifies to the Congress that the vessel is needed

9 for use by a State or Federal governmental

10 agency.

11 (C) RECERTIFICATION REQUIRED AFTER

12 ONE YEAR.—Notwithstanding subparagraphs

13 (A) and (B), the Secretary—

14 (i) may dispose of a vessel after the

15 one-year period beginning on the date on

16 which the Secretary of the Navy makes a

17 certification described in subparagraph (A)

18 with respect to the vessel, unless the Sec19 retary of the Navy makes a subsequent

20 certification under that subparagraph with

21 respect to the vessel; and

22 (ii) shall dispose of a vessel after the

23 one-year period beginning on the date the

24 Secretary makes a certification described

25 in subparagraph (B) with respect to the
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1 vessel, unless the Secretary makes a subse2 quent certification under that subpara3 graph with respect to the vessel.

4 (D) ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT.—This

5 section shall not be construed as superseding,

6 or authorizing any activity prohibited by, the

7 Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C.

8 1531 et seq.).

9 (4) METHOD OF DISPOSAL.—Except as pro10 vided in subsection (c), the Secretary shall dispose

11 of vessels pursuant to this section—

12 (A) in accordance with section 508 or

13 510(i) of the Merchant Marine Act, 1936 (46

14 App. U.S.C. 1158, 1160(i)); and

15 (B) in the case of vessels disposed of after

16 3 months after the effective date of this section,

17 in accordance with the plan submitted by the

18 Secretary under subsection (b).

19 (b) VESSEL DISPOSAL PLAN.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall submit

21 to the Congress a plan for disposing of vessels pur22 suant to this section, by not later than 3 months

23 after the effective date of this section.

24 (2) CONTENTS.—The plan submitted under this

25 subsection shall include—
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1 (A) procedures to be followed in disposing

2 of vessels, including procedures for notifying

3 the Secretary of the Navy pursuant to sub4 section (a)(2);

5 (B) standards developed by the Secretary

6 for—

7 (i) identifying vessels to be disposed

8 of,

9 (ii) establishing the priority for dis10 posing of each vessel so identified, and

11 (iii) making certifications under sub12 section (a)(3)(B);

13 (C) standards developed by the Secretary

14 of the Navy for making certifications under

15 subsection (a)(3)(A); and

16 (D) a preliminary schedule for vessel dis17 posals which indicates the number of vessels, or

18 percentage of the total number of vessels re19 quired to be disposed of, that will be disposed

20 of each year.

21 (c) USE OF VESSELS FOR ARTIFICIAL REEF

22 PROGRAM.—

23 (1) IDENTIFICATION AND APPLICATION BY

24 STATE.—The Secretary may select not more than 15

25 of the vessels required to be disposed of under this
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1 section, for which any State may apply for use as an

2 offshore artificial reef in accordance with the Act en3 titled ‘‘An Act to authorize appropriations for fiscal

4 year 1973 for certain programs of the Department

5 of Commerce and for other purposes’’, approved Au6 gust 22, 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1220 et seq.).

7 (2) REQUIREMENT TO TRANSFER.—The Sec8 retary shall transfer, in accordance with the Act re9 ferred to in paragraph (1), a vessel identified under

10 paragraph (1) to a State which fulfills the require11 ments for that transfer under that Act.

12 (d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section:

13 (1) NATIONAL DEFENSE RESERVE FLEET.—

14 The term ‘‘National Defense Reserve Fleet’’ means

15 that fleet maintained under section 11 of the Mer16 chant Ship Sales Act of 1946 (50 App. U.S.C.

17 1744).

18 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

19 the Secretary of Transportation.

20 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect

21 on January 1, 1994.

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