H. R. 7776—696 
be made available to United States maritime industry 
workers; 
‘‘(B) an evaluation of the likely employment opportuni-
ties available to United States maritime industry workers 
who complete a maritime career and technical education 
or training program that a center proposes to develop, 
offer, or improve; and 
‘‘(C) an evaluation of prior demand for training pro-
grams by workers served by centers of excellence des-
ignated under subsection (a), as well as the availability 
and capacity of existing maritime training programs to 
meet future demand for training programs. 
‘‘(4) COMPETITIVE AWARDS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award grants 
under this subsection to centers of excellence designated 
under subsection (a) on a competitive basis. 
‘‘(B) TIMING OF GRANT NOTICE.—The Secretary shall 
post a Notice of Funding Opportunity regarding grants 
awarded under this subsection not more than 90 days 
after the date of the enactment of the appropriations Act 
for the fiscal year concerned. 
‘‘(C) TIMING OF GRANTS.—The Secretary shall award 
grants under this subsection not later than 270 days after 
the date of the enactment of the appropriations Act for 
the fiscal year concerned. 
‘‘(D) REUSE OF UNEXPENDED GRANT FUNDS.—Notwith-
standing subparagraph (C), amounts awarded as a grant 
under this subsection that are not expended by the grantee 
shall remain available to the Secretary for use for grants 
under this subsection. 
‘‘(E) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Not more than 3 percent 
of amounts made available to carry out this subsection 
may be used for the necessary costs of grant administration. 
‘‘(F) PROHIBITED
USE.—A center of excellence des-
ignated under subsection (a) that has received funds 
awarded under section 54101(a)(2) for training purposes 
for a fiscal year shall not be eligible for grants under 
this subsection during the same fiscal year.’’; and 
(3) in subsection (c)— 
(A) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(1) COVERED TRAINING ENTITY.—The term ‘covered training 
entity’ means an entity that— 
‘‘(A) is located in a State that borders on the— 
‘‘(i) Gulf of Mexico; 
‘‘(ii) Atlantic Ocean; 
‘‘(iii) Long Island Sound; 
‘‘(iv) Pacific Ocean; 
‘‘(v) Great Lakes; or 
‘‘(vi) Mississippi River System; 
‘‘(B) is— 
‘‘(i) a postsecondary educational institution (as 
such term is defined in section 3(39) of the Carl D. 
Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 
(20 U.S.C. 2302));
H. R. 7776—697 
‘‘(ii) a postsecondary vocational institution (as such 
term is defined in section 102(c) of the Higher Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002(c)); 
‘‘(iii) a public or private nonprofit entity that offers 
one or more other structured experiential learning 
training programs for United States workers in the 
United States maritime industry, including a program 
that is offered by a labor organization or conducted 
in partnership with a nonprofit organization or one 
or more employers in the United States maritime 
industry; 
‘‘(iv) an entity sponsoring an apprenticeship pro-
gram registered with the Office of Apprenticeship of 
the Employment and Training Administration of the 
Department of Labor or a State apprenticeship agency 
recognized by the Office of Apprenticeship pursuant 
to the Act of August 16, 1937 (commonly known as 
the ‘National Apprenticeship Act’; 50 Stat. 664, chapter 
663; 29 U.S.C. 50 et seq.); or 
‘‘(v) a maritime training center designated prior 
to the date of enactment of the National Defense 
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023; and 
‘‘(C) has a demonstrated record of success in maritime 
workforce training and education.’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(3) CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION.—The term ‘career 
and technical education’ has the meaning given such term 
in section 3(5) of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical 
Education Act (20 U.S.C. 2302). 
‘‘(4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary 
of Transportation. 
‘‘(5) TRAINING
PROGRAM.—The term ‘training program’ 
means a program that provides training services, as described 
in section 134(c)(3)(D) of the Workforce Innovation and Oppor-
tunity Act (Public Law 113–128; 29 U.S.C. 3174). 
‘‘(6) UNITED STATES MARITIME INDUSTRY.—The term ‘United 
States maritime industry’ means the design, construction, 
repair, operation, manning, and supply of vessels in all seg-
ments of the maritime transportation system of the United 
States, including— 
‘‘(A) the domestic and foreign trade; 
‘‘(B) the coastal, offshore, and inland trade; 
‘‘(C) non-commercial maritime activities, including— 
‘‘(i) recreational boating; and 
‘‘(ii) oceanographic and limnological research as 
described in section 2101(24).’’. 
(b) PUBLICLY AVAILABLE REPORT.—Not later than December 
15 in each of calendar years 2022 through 2024, the Secretary 
of Transportation shall make publicly available on an appropriate 
website a report, and provide to the Committee on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives 
a briefing, on the implementation of the amendments under this 
section. Such report and briefing shall include— 
(1) a description of each grant awarded under subsection 
(b) of section 51706 of title 46, United States Code, as amended
H. R. 7776—698 
by subsection (a), during the fiscal year preceding the fiscal 
year during which the report is submitted; and 
(2) an assessment of the effects of each such grant under 
this subsection on workers who received training provided 
pursuant to the grant during the fiscal year preceding the 
fiscal year during which the report was submitted. 
(c) GUIDELINES.—Not later than one year after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall— 
(1) prescribe guidelines for the submission of grant pro-
posals under section 51706(b) of title 46, United States Code, 
as amended by subsection (a); and 
(2) publish and maintain such guidelines on the website 
of the Department of Transportation. 
(d) ASSISTANCE
FOR SMALL SHIPYARDS.—Section 54101(e) of 
title 46, United States Code, is amended by striking paragraph 
(2) and inserting the following: 
‘‘(2) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may not award 
more than 25 percent of the funds made available to carry 
out this section for any fiscal year to any small shipyard 
in one geographic location that has more than 600 
employees. 
‘‘(B) INELIGIBILITY.—A maritime training center that 
has received funds awarded under section 51706 of title 
46, United States Code, shall not be eligible for grants 
under this subsection for training purposes in the same 
fiscal year.’’. 
SEC. 3533. ENSURING DIVERSE MARINER RECRUITMENT. 
Not later than six months after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall develop and deliver 
to Congress a strategy to assist State maritime academies and 
the United States Merchant Marine Academy in improving the 
representation in the next generation of the mariner workforce 
of women and underrepresented communities, including each of 
the following: 
(1) Black and African American. 
(2) Hispanic and Latino. 
(3) Asian. 
(4) American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian. 
(5) Pacific Islander. 
SEC. 3534. LOW EMISSIONS VESSELS TRAINING. 
(a) DEVELOPMENT OF STRATEGY.—The Secretary of Transpor-
tation, in consultation with the United States Merchant Marine 
Academy, State maritime academies, civilian nautical schools, and 
the Secretary of the department in which Coast Guard is operating, 
shall develop a strategy to ensure there is an adequate supply 
of trained United States citizen mariners sufficient to meet the 
operational requirements of low and zero emission vessels. 
Implementation of the strategy shall aim to increase the supply 
of trained United States citizen mariners sufficient to meet the 
needs of the maritime industry and ensure continued investment 
in training for mariners serving on conventional fuel vessels. 
(b) REPORT.—Not later than six months after the date the 
Secretary of Transportation determines that there is commercially 
viable technology for low and zero emission vessels, the Secretary 
of Transportation shall—
H. R. 7776—699 
(1) submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Transpor-
tation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives a 
report on the strategy developed under subsection (a) and plans 
for its implementation; and 
(2) make such report publicly available. 
Subtitle E—Other Matters 
SEC. 3541. WAIVER OF NAVIGATION AND VESSEL INSPECTION LAWS. 
Section 501 of title 46, United States Code, is amended— 
(1) in subsection (b)— 
(A) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon a determination by the President 
that a waiver of the navigation or vessel-inspection laws is 
necessary in the interest of national defense, the head of an 
agency responsible for the administration of such laws, may 
waive compliance with such laws— 
‘‘(A) following a determination in accordance with the 
requirements of paragraph (3) by the Maritime Adminis-
trator, acting in the Administrator’s capacity as Director, 
National Shipping Authority, of the non-availability of 
qualified United States flag capacity to meet national 
defense requirements; 
‘‘(B) not earlier than 48 hours after a waiver request 
is published under paragraph (6)(A); and 
‘‘(C) on a vessel specific basis to the extent, in the 
manner, and on the terms the head of such agency, in 
consultation with the Administrator, acting in such 
capacity, prescribes.’’; 
(B) in paragraph (2)(B) by striking ‘‘determinations 
referred to in paragraph (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘determination 
referred to in paragraph (1)(A)’’; 
(C) in paragraph (3) by striking subparagraph (A) and 
inserting the following: 
‘‘(A) for each determination referred to in paragraph 
(1)(A)— 
‘‘(i) identify any actions that could be taken to 
enable qualified United States flag capacity to meet 
national defense requirements prior to the issuance 
of a waiver; and 
‘‘(ii) not assess the non-availability of qualified 
United States flag capacity to meet national defense 
requirements retrospectively after the date on which 
a waiver is requested;’’; and 
(D) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(5) PROSPECTIVE APPLICATION.—No waiver shall be issued 
for a vessel if, at the time of the waiver request under this 
section, such vessel is laden with merchandise that, pursuant 
to the requested waiver, could be unladen at points or places 
to which the coastwise laws apply. 
‘‘(6) PUBLICATION REQUIREMENTS.— 
‘‘(A) 
PUBLICATION
OF
WAIVER
REQUESTS.—Upon 
receiving a request for a waiver under this subsection,