I
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.
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 ‘‘NDRF Ship Disposal
Act of 1993’’.
SEC. 2. DISPOSAL OF NATIONAL DEFENSE RESERVE FLEET
VESSELS.
(a) DISPOSAL REQUIREMENT.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other
provision of law (other than paragraph (3)) and be-
fore January 1, 1999, the Secretary of Transpor-
tation shall dispose of all vessels that are in the Na-
tional Defense Reserve Fleet on the date of the en-
actment of this Act and that—
(A) are not assigned to the Ready Reserve
Force component of that fleet; and
(B) are not specifically authorized or re-
quired by statute to be used for a particular
purpose.
(2) NOTIFICATION
OF
SECRETARY
OF
THE
NAVY.—The Secretary shall notify the Secretary of
the Navy of the intent of the Secretary to dispose
of a vessel under this section, by not later than 90
days before the date of that disposal.
(3) LIMITATIONS
ON
DISPOSAL
REQUIRE-
MENT.—
(A) RETENTION FOR NATIONAL DEFENSE
PURPOSES.—The Secretary shall not dispose of
a vessel under this section if the Secretary of
the Navy certifies to the Secretary within 30
days after receiving notification of the intent of
the Secretary to dispose of the vessel, that—
(i) the vessel is militarily useful, and
(ii) retention of the vessel in the Na-
tional Defense Reserve Fleet is necessary
for national defense purposes.
(B) 
USE
BY
STATE
OR
FEDERAL
AGENCY.—The Secretary is authorized to not
dispose of a vessel otherwise required to be dis-
posed of under this section if the Secretary cer-
tifies to the Congress that the vessel is needed
for use by a State or Federal governmental
agency.
(C) RECERTIFICATION
REQUIRED
AFTER
ONE
YEAR.—Notwithstanding subparagraphs
(A) and (B), the Secretary—
(i) may dispose of a vessel after the
one-year period beginning on the date on
which the Secretary of the Navy makes a
certification described in subparagraph (A)
with respect to the vessel, unless the Sec-
retary of the Navy makes a subsequent
certification under that subparagraph with
respect to the vessel; and
(ii) shall dispose of a vessel after the
one-year period beginning on the date the
Secretary makes a certification described
in subparagraph (B) with respect to the
vessel, unless the Secretary makes a subse-
quent certification under that subpara-
graph with respect to the vessel.
(D) ENDANGERED
SPECIES
ACT.—This
section shall not be construed as superseding,
or authorizing any activity prohibited by, the
Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C.
1531 et seq.).
(4) METHOD
OF
DISPOSAL.—Except as pro-
vided in subsection (c), the Secretary shall dispose
of vessels pursuant to this section—
(A) in accordance with section 508 or
510(i) of the Merchant Marine Act, 1936 (46
App. U.S.C. 1158, 1160(i)); and
(B) in the case of vessels disposed of after
3 months after the effective date of this section,
in accordance with the plan submitted by the
Secretary under subsection (b).
(b) VESSEL DISPOSAL PLAN.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall submit
to the Congress a plan for disposing of vessels pur-
suant to this section, by not later than 3 months
after the effective date of this section.
(2) CONTENTS.—The plan submitted under this
subsection shall include—
(A) procedures to be followed in disposing
of vessels, including procedures for notifying
the Secretary of the Navy pursuant to sub-
section (a)(2);
(B) standards developed by the Secretary
for—
(i) identifying vessels to be disposed
of,
(ii) establishing the priority for dis-
posing of each vessel so identified, and
(iii) making certifications under sub-
section (a)(3)(B);
(C) standards developed by the Secretary
of the Navy for making certifications under
subsection (a)(3)(A); and
(D) a preliminary schedule for vessel dis-
posals which indicates the number of vessels, or
percentage of the total number of vessels re-
quired to be disposed of, that will be disposed
of each year.
(c) USE
OF
VESSELS
FOR
ARTIFICIAL
REEF
PROGRAM.—
(1) IDENTIFICATION
AND
APPLICATION
BY
STATE.—The Secretary may select not more than 15
of the vessels required to be disposed of under this
section, for which any State may apply for use as an
offshore artificial reef in accordance with the Act en-
titled ‘‘An Act to authorize appropriations for fiscal
year 1973 for certain programs of the Department
of Commerce and for other purposes’’, approved Au-
gust 22, 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1220 et seq.).
(2) REQUIREMENT
TO
TRANSFER.—The Sec-
retary shall transfer, in accordance with the Act re-
ferred to in paragraph (1), a vessel identified under
paragraph (1) to a State which fulfills the require-
ments for that transfer under that Act.
(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section:
(1) NATIONAL
DEFENSE
RESERVE
FLEET.—
The term ‘‘National Defense Reserve Fleet’’ means
that fleet maintained under section 11 of the Mer-
chant Ship Sales Act of 1946 (50 App. U.S.C.
1744).
(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means
the Secretary of Transportation.
(e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect
on January 1, 1994.
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