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(1) by striking ‘‘$5,000,000’’; and inserting
‘‘$10,000,000’’; and
(2) in paragraph (4) by inserting ‘‘and Vir-
ginia’’ after ‘‘Maryland’’.
SEC. 519. PERIODIC BEACH NOURISHMENT.
The Secretary shall carry out periodic beach nourish-
ment for each of the following projects for a period of 50
years beginning on the date of initiation of construction
of such project:
(1) BROWARD
COUNTY, FLORIDA.—Project for
shoreline protection, segments II and III, Broward
County, Florida.
(2) FORT PIERCE, FLORIDA.—Project for shore-
line protection, Fort Pierce, Florida.
(3) LEE COUNTY, FLORIDA.—Project for shoreline
protection, Lee County, Captiva Island segment, Flor-
ida.
(4) PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA.—Project for
shoreline protection, Jupiter/Carlin, Ocean Ridge,
and Boca Raton North Beach segments, Palm Beach
County, Florida.
(5) PANAMA CITY BEACHES, FLORIDA.—Project
for shoreline protection, Panama City Beaches, Flor-
ida.
208
(6) TYBEE ISLAND, GEORGIA.—Project for beach
erosion control, Tybee Island, Georgia.
SEC. 520. CONTROL OF AQUATIC PLANTS.
The Secretary shall carry out under section 104(b) of
the River and Harbor Act of 1958 (33 U.S.C. 610(b))—
(1) a program to control aquatic plants in Lake
St. Clair, Michigan; and
(2) program to control aquatic plants in the
Schuylkill River, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
SEC. 521. HOPPER DREDGES.
Section 3 of the Act of August 11, 1888 (33 U.S.C.
622; 25 Stat. 423), is amended by adding at the end the
following:
‘‘(c) PROGRAM TO INCREASE USE OF PRIVATE HOP-
PER DREDGES.—
‘‘(1) INITIATION.—The Secretary shall initiate a
program to increase the use of private industry hop-
per dredges for the construction and maintenance of
Federal navigation channels.
‘‘(2) READY
RESERVE
STATUS
FOR
HOPPER
DREDGE WHEELER.—In order to carry out the re-
quirements of this subsection, the Secretary shall, not
later than the earlier of 90 days after the date of com-
pletion of the rehabilitation of the hopper dredge
McFarland pursuant to section 552 of the Water Re-
209
sources Development Act of 1996 or January 1, 1998,
place the Federal hopper dredge Wheeler in a ready
reserve status.
‘‘(3) TESTING AND USE OF READY RESERVE HOP-
PER DREDGE.—The Secretary may periodically per-
form routine tests of the equipment of the vessel
placed in a ready reserve status under this subsection
to ensure the vessel’s ability to perform emergency
work. The Secretary shall not assign any scheduled
hopper dredging work to such vessel but shall perform
any repairs needed to maintain the vessel in a fully
operational condition. The Secretary may place the
vessel in active status in order to perform any dredg-
ing work only in the event the Secretary determines
that private industry has failed to submit a respon-
sive and responsible bid for work advertised by the
Secretary or to carry out the project as required pur-
suant to a contract with the Secretary.
‘‘(4) REPAIR
AND
REHABILITATION.—The Sec-
retary may undertake any repair and rehabilitation
of any Federal hopper dredge, including the vessel
placed in ready reserve status under paragraph (2) to
allow the vessel to be placed into active status as pro-
vided in paragraph (3).
210
‘‘(5) PROCEDURES.—The Secretary shall develop
and implement procedures to ensure that, to the max-
imum extent practicable, private industry hopper
dredge capacity is available to meet both routine and
time-sensitive dredging needs. Such procedures shall
include—
‘‘(A) scheduling of contract solicitations to
effectively distribute dredging work throughout
the dredging season; and
‘‘(B) use of expedited contracting procedures
to allow dredges performing routine work to be
made available to meet time-sensitive, urgent, or
emergency dredging needs.
‘‘(6) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the
date of the enactment of this subsection, the Secretary
shall report to Congress on whether the vessel placed
in ready reserve status pursuant to paragraph (2) is
needed to be returned to active status or continued in
a ready reserve status or whether another Federal
hopper dredge should be placed in a ready reserve sta-
tus.
‘‘(7) LIMITATIONS.—
‘‘(A) REDUCTIONS
IN
STATUS.—The Sec-
retary may not further reduce the readiness sta-
tus of any Federal hopper dredge below a ready
211
reserve status except any vessel placed in such
status for not less than 5 years which the Sec-
retary determines has not been used sufficiently
to justify retaining the vessel in such status.
‘‘(B) INCREASE IN ASSIGNMENTS OF DREDG-
ING WORK.—For each fiscal year beginning after
the date of the enactment of this subsection, the
Secretary shall not assign any greater quantity
of dredging work to any Federal hopper dredge
in an active status than was assigned to that
vessel in the average of the 3 prior fiscal years.
‘‘(8) CONTRACTS; PAYMENT OF CAPITAL COSTS.—
The Secretary may enter into a contract for the
maintenance and crewing of any vessel retained in a
ready reserve status. The capital costs (including de-
preciation costs) of any vessel retained in such status
shall be paid for out of funds made available from the
Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund and shall not be
charged against the Corps of Engineers’ Revolving
Fund Account or any individual project cost unless
the vessel is specifically used in connection with that
project.’’.
SEC. 522. DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION ASSISTANCE.
The Secretary shall provide design and construction
assistance to non-Federal interests for the following projects: