American Offshore Wind Opportunity Act

To direct the Comptroller General of the United States to submit to Congress a report on offshore wind development vessels, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the American Offshore Wind Opportunity Act 2. GAO study (a) In general Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall initiate a study described in subsection (c). (b) Submission The Comptroller General shall submit to appropriate congressional committees, including the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, the results of the study under subsection (a). (c) Contents of study In conducting the study under subsection (a), the Comptroller General shall include— (1) an outline of policy and regulatory options that could be adopted to increase the role of United States built vessels, flagged vessels, and mariners in offshore wind turbine installation to meet the goal of developing 30 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2030; (2) an outline of any potential ways to— (A) increase the role of United States crews on vessels that are subject to the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act and not subject to chapters 121 and 551 of title 46, United States Code, commonly referred to as the Jones Act (B) domestically manufacture vessels described in subparagraph (A); (3) an assessment of the workforce needs that would be required to build an United States mariner workforce for offshore wind construction, operations, and maintenance to meet the 30 gigawatt goal in subsection (1), specifically— (A) the number of such workers needed to crew the offshore wind vessels necessary to meet the goal of developing 30 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2030; (B) the number of workers needed to manufacture, build, operate, maintain, and support offshore wind projects; (C) the types of skills and competencies, including those unique to offshore wind construction, operations, and maintenance, required for such employment opportunities; (D) the required industry or recognized postsecondary credentials required of such workers; (E) the adjacent skills required for other similar occupations, such as oil drilling, that can be leveraged for reskilling of existing United States workers; (F) the gaps in the availability of registered apprenticeship programs and the ability of employers to recruit, hire, and train such workers, including— (i) the total cost of training for such programs to skill up such workers; and (ii) the policies the United States Government can take to eliminate such gaps and costs; and (G) the actions that foreign and domestic wind developers and vessel operators are taking or could be taking to ensure the availability of United States mariners; (4) an assessment of the capacity of United States shipyards to build wind turbine installation vessels, heavy lift vessels, fall pipe vessels, cable laying vessels, and oceanographic research vessels in addition to larger Jones Act compliant feeder vessels; and (5) an assessment of public and private investments needed to spur use of a United States manufactured fleet of offshore wind vessels to support meeting the goal of developing 30 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2030.

Summary: American Offshore Wind Opportunity ActThis bill requires the Government Accountability Office to conduct a study analyzing the policy and regulatory options that could be adopted to  increase the roles of U.S. vessels and mariners in offshore wind turbine installation to meet the goal of developing 30 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2030.The bill requires the study to assess the number of workers needed to crew offshore vessels, the number of workers needed for related jobs (e.g., manufacturing and operating offshore wind projects), the skills required for such employment, and the gaps in the availability of registered apprenticeship programs.The study must also assess the capacity of U.S. shipyards to build wind turbine installation vessels and consider the investments that would best promote the use of a U.S. manufactured fleet of offshore wind vessels.