I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4526 
To ensure fairness and transparency in the processes used by the Navy 
to award contracts for ship maintenance and repair, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 10, 2023 
Mr. PETERS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Armed Services 
A BILL 
To ensure fairness and transparency in the processes used 
by the Navy to award contracts for ship maintenance 
and repair, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Smart Ship Repair 
Act of 2023’’. 
SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON USE OF GOVERNMENT-OPERATED 
DRYDOCKS. 
The Secretary of the Navy shall ensure that no Gov-
ernment-operated drydock is eligible to compete for the 
award of a contract for private sector non-nuclear surface 
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ship maintenance unless the Secretary determines, in ac-
cordance with section 2466 of title 10, United States 
Code, that there is not sufficient private sector dock com-
petition. 
SEC. 3. STUDY ON PRICE DIFFERENTIALS USED IN NAVY 
SHIP REPAIR SOLICITATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of ap-
propriations, the Secretary of the Navy shall seek to enter 
into an agreement with a federally funded research and 
development center to conduct a study to assess whether 
relevant price differentials used by the Navy in ship repair 
solicitations accurately reflect the true market value of the 
activity undertaken to complete the repair work involved 
in the absence of any such differential. 
(b) ELEMENTS.—The study under subsection (a) 
shall address all relevant price differentials used by the 
Navy in ship repair solicitations, including— 
(1) the use of government owned and operated 
dry docks; 
(2) the use of inter-port differentials; and 
(3) the use of pier differentials. 
(c) REPORTS.— 
(1) FFRDC REPORT.—The federally funded re-
search and development center that conducts the 
study under subsection (a) shall submit to the Sec-
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retary of the Navy a report on the results of the 
study. 
(2) SUBMITTAL TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 
September 30, 2024, the Secretary of the Navy shall 
submit to the congressional defense committees an 
unaltered copy of the report received by the Sec-
retary under paragraph (1) together with a separate 
statement of the views of the Secretary on the re-
sults of the study conducted under subsection (a). 
SEC. 4. REPORT ON NAVY POLICY FOR SOLICITING 
COASTWIDE 
BIDS 
FOR 
CERTAIN 
REPAIR 
AVAILABILITIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than March 30, 2024, 
the Secretary of the Navy shall submit to the congres-
sional defense committees a report on the policy of the 
Navy for soliciting coastwide bids for repair availabilities 
longer than 10 months. 
(b) ELEMENTS.—The report under subsection (a) 
shall explain and assess each of the following: 
(1) The intent of the policy described in sub-
section (a). 
(2) The data the Navy uses to assess the effi-
cacy of such policy. 
(3) How the Navy estimates the cost of moving 
vessels out of their home port to complete the avail-
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ability and the actual cost of moving vessels out of 
their home port to complete the availability. 
(4) How the Navy estimates the financial, labor 
force, servicemember and family well-being, berthing, 
and related costs associated with moving a vessel out 
of its home port to complete a repair availability 
longer than 10 months. 
SEC. 5. REPORT ON USE OF GOVERNMENT DOCKS FOR 
SHIP REPAIR AND MAINTENANCE. 
On an annual basis, the Secretary of the Navy shall 
submit to the congressional defense committees a report 
that— 
(1) identifies each instance in the year pre-
ceding the date of the report in which the Navy used 
a Government dock for a ship repair and mainte-
nance availability when sufficient capacity was avail-
able in private docks during the period in which 
such repairs and maintenance were expected to be 
performed; and 
(2) for each such instance, provides an expla-
nation of the reasons the Navy used a Government 
dock rather than a private dock. 
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SEC. 6. CONGRESSIONAL DEFENSE COMMITTEES DEFINED. 
In this Act, the term ‘‘congressional defense commit-
tees’’ has the meaning given that term in section 
101(a)(16) of title 10, United States Code. 
Æ 
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