Maritime Technological Advancement Act of 2021
Bill: S.2784 | Sponsor: Sen. Wicker, Roger F. (R-MS)
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works

Summary:
Maritime Technological Advancement Act of 2021
This bill authorizes the Maritime Administration to award maritime career training grants to eligible institutions (i.e., postsecondary educational institutions or postsecondary vocational institutions for the purpose of developing, offering, or improving educational or career training programs for American workers in the maritime workforce. Each awarded grant may not exceed $20 million.
The Maritime Administration must award grants based on

To amend title 46 to establish a grant program for developing, 
  offering, or improving educational or career training programs for 
          American workers related to the maritime workforce.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Maritime Technological Advancement 
Act of 2021''.

SEC. 2. CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE FOR DOMESTIC MARITIME WORKFORCE.

    Section 51706 of title 46, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by striking ``of Transportation'';
            (2) in subsection (b), in the subsection heading, by 
        striking ``Assistance'' and inserting ``Cooperative 
        Agreements'';
            (3) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (d);
            (4) in subsection (d), as redesignated by paragraph (2), by 
        adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the Secretary 
        of Transportation.''; and
            (5) by inserting after subsection (b) the following:
    ``(c) Grant Program.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Administrator.--The term `Administrator' 
                means the Administrator of the Maritime Administration.
                    ``(B) Eligible institution.--The term `eligible 
                institution' means a postsecondary educational 
                institution (as such term is defined in section 3 of 
                the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act 
                of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302)) that offers a 2-year program 
                of study, a 1-year program of training, or is a 
                postsecondary vocational institution, and that offers 
                educational or career training programs for American 
                workers in the United States maritime industry.
                    ``(C) United states maritime industry.--The term 
                `United States maritime industry' means all segments of 
                the maritime-related transportation system of the 
                United States, both in domestic and foreign trade, and 
                in coastal, offshore, and inland waters, as well as 
                non-commercial maritime activities, such as pleasure 
                boating and marine sciences (including all scientific 
                research vessels), and all of the industries that 
                support such uses, including vessel construction and 
                repair, vessel operations, ship logistics supply, 
                berthing, port operations, port intermodal operations, 
                marine terminal operations, vessel design, marine 
                brokerage, marine insurance, marine financing, 
                chartering, maritime-oriented supply chain operations, 
                offshore industry, and maritime-oriented research and 
                development.
            ``(2) Grant authorization.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the 
                date of enactment of the Maritime Technological 
                Advancement Act of 2021, the Administrator may award 
                maritime career training grants to eligible 
                institutions for the purpose of developing, offering, 
                or improving educational or career training programs 
                for American workers related to the maritime workforce.
                    ``(B) Guidelines.--Not later than 1 year after the 
                date of enactment of the Maritime Technological 
                Advancement Act of 2021, the Administrator shall--
                            ``(i) promulgate guidelines for the 
                        submission of grant proposals under this 
                        subsection; and
                            ``(ii) publish and maintain such guidelines 
                        on the website of the Maritime Administration.
            ``(3) Limitations.--The Administrator may not award a grant 
        under this subsection in an amount that is more than 
        $20,000,000.
            ``(4) Required information.--
                    ``(A) In general.--An eligible institution that 
                desires to receive a grant under this subsection shall 
                submit to the Administrator a grant proposal that 
                includes a detailed description of--
                            ``(i) the specific project for which the 
                        grant proposal is submitted, including the 
                        manner in which the grant will be used to 
                        develop, offer, or improve an educational or 
                        career training program that is suited to 
                        maritime industry workers;
                            ``(ii) the extent to which the project for 
                        which the grant proposal is submitted will meet 
                        the educational or career training needs of 
                        maritime workers in the community served by the 
                        eligible institution;
                            ``(iii) the extent to which the project for 
                        which the grant proposal is submitted fits 
                        within any overall strategic plan developed by 
                        an eligible community; and
                            ``(iv) any previous experience of the 
                        eligible institution in providing maritime 
                        educational or career training programs.
                    ``(B) Community outreach required.--In order to be 
                considered by the Administrator, a grant proposal 
                submitted by an eligible institution under this 
                subsection shall--
                            ``(i) demonstrate that the eligible 
                        institution--
                                    ``(I) reached out to employers to 
                                identify--
                                            ``(aa) any shortcomings in 
                                        existing maritime educational 
                                        and career training 
                                        opportunities available to 
                                        workers in the community; and
                                            ``(bb) any future 
                                        employment opportunities within 
                                        the community and the 
                                        educational and career training 
                                        skills required for workers to 
                                        meet the future maritime 
                                        employment demand; and
                                    ``(II) reached out to other 
                                similarly situated institutions in an 
                                effort to benefit from any best 
                                practices that may be shared with 
                                respect to providing maritime 
                                educational or career training programs 
                                to workers eligible for training; and
                            ``(ii) include a detailed description of--
                                    ``(I) the extent and outcome of the 
                                outreach conducted under clause (i);
                                    ``(II) the extent to which the 
                                project for which the grant proposal is 
                                submitted will contribute to meeting 
                                any shortcomings identified under 
                                clause (i)(I)(aa) or any maritime 
                                educational or career training needs 
                                identified under clause (i)(I)(bb); and
                                    ``(III) the extent to which 
                                employers, including small- and medium-
                                sized firms within the community, have 
                                demonstrated a commitment to employing 
                                workers who would benefit from the 
                                project for which the grant proposal is 
                                submitted.
            ``(5) Criteria for award of grants.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Subject to the appropriation of 
                funds, the Administrator shall award a grant under this 
                subsection based on--
                            ``(i) a determination of the merits of the 
                        grant proposal submitted by the eligible 
                        institution to develop, offer, or improve 
                        maritime educational or career training 
                        programs to be made available to workers;
                            ``(ii) an evaluation of the likely 
                        employment opportunities available to workers 
                        who complete a maritime educational or career 
                        training program that the eligible institution 
                        proposes to develop, offer, or improve;
                            ``(iii) an evaluation of prior demand for 
                        training programs by workers in the community 
                        served by the eligible institution, as well as 
                        the availability and capacity of existing 
                        maritime training programs to meet future 
                        demand for training programs;
                            ``(iv) any prior designation of an 
                        institution as a Center of Excellence for 
                        Domestic Maritime Workforce Training and 
                        Education; and
                            ``(v) an evaluation of the previous 
                        experience of the eligible institution in 
                        providing maritime educational or career 
                        training programs.
                    ``(B) Matching requirements.--A grant awarded under 
                this subsection may not be used to satisfy any private 
                matching requirement under any other provision of law.
            ``(6) Competitive awards.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Administrator shall award 
                grants under this subsection to eligible institutions 
                on a competitive basis in accordance with guidelines 
                and requirements established by the Administrator under 
                paragraph (2)(B).
                    ``(B) Timing of grant notice.--The Administrator 
                shall post a Notice of Funding Opportunity regarding 
                grants awarded under this subsection not more than 90 
                days after the date of enactment of the appropriations 
                Act for the fiscal year concerned.
                    ``(C) Timing of grants.--The Administrator 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) Application of requirements.--The 
                requirements under subparagraphs (B) and (C) shall not 
                apply until the guidelines required under paragraph 
                (2)(B) have been promulgated.
                    ``(E) Reuse of unexpended grant funds.--
                Notwithstanding subparagraph (C), amounts awarded as a 
                grant under this subsection that are not expended by 
                the grantee shall remain available to the Administrator 
                for use for grants under this subsection.
                    ``(F) 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.
            ``(7) Eligible uses of grant funds.--An eligible 
        institution receiving a grant under this subsection--
                    ``(A) shall carry out activities that are 
                identified as priorities for the purpose of developing, 
                offering, or improving educational or career training 
                programs for the United States maritime industry 
                workforce;
                    ``(B) shall provide training to upgrade the skills 
                of the United States maritime industry workforce, 
                including training to acquire covered requirements as 
                well as technical skills training for jobs in the 
                United States maritime industry; and
                    ``(C) may use the grant funds to--
                            ``(i) admit additional students to maritime 
                        training programs;
                            ``(ii) expand existing or create new 
                        maritime training programs, including through 
                        partnerships with 4-year institutions of higher 
                        education or apprenticeships with the United 
                        States maritime industry;
                            ``(iii) create new maritime career 
                        pathways;
                            ``(iv) expand existing or create new 
                        training programs for transitioning military 
                        veterans to careers in the United States 
                        maritime industry;
                            ``(v) purchase, construct, develop, expand, 
                        or improve training facilities, buildings, and 
                        equipment to deliver maritime training 
                        programs;
                            ``(vi) recruit and train additional faculty 
                        to expand the maritime training programs 
                        offered by the institution;
                            ``(vii) provide financial assistance 
                        through scholarships or tuition waivers, not to 
                        exceed the applicable tuition expenses 
                        associated with the covered programs;
                            ``(viii) promote the use of distance 
                        learning that enables students to take courses 
                        through the use of teleconferencing, the 
                        Internet, and other media technology;
                            ``(ix) assist in providing services to 
                        address maritime workforce recruitment and 
                        training of youth residing in targeted high-
                        poverty areas within empowerment zones and 
                        enterprise communities;
                            ``(x) implement partnerships with national 
                        and regional organizations with special 
                        expertise in developing, organizing, and 
                        administering maritime workforce recruitment 
                        and training services;
                            ``(xi) design, develop, and test an array 
                        of approaches to providing recruitment, 
                        training, or retention services, to enhance 
                        diversity, equity, and inclusion in the United 
                        States maritime industry workforce;
                            ``(xii) in conjunction with employers, 
                        organized labor, other groups (such as 
                        community coalitions), and Federal, State, or 
                        local agencies, design, develop, and test 
                        various training approaches in order to 
                        determine effective practices; or
                            ``(xiii) assist in the development and 
                        replication of effective service delivery 
                        strategies for the United States maritime 
                        industry as a whole.
            ``(8) Public report.--Not later than December 15 in each of 
        the calendar years 2023 through 2025, the Administrator shall 
        make available on a publicly available website a report and 
        provide a briefing to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
        Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on 
        Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of 
        Representatives--
                    ``(A) describing each grant awarded under this 
                subsection during the preceding fiscal year;
                    ``(B) assessing the impact of each award of a grant 
                under this subsection in a fiscal year preceding the 
                fiscal year referred to in subparagraph (A) on workers 
                receiving training; and
                    ``(C) the performance of the grant awarded with 
                respect to the indicators of performance under section 
                116(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Workforce Innovation and 
                Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3141(b)(2)(A)(i)).
            ``(9) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized 
        to be appropriated to carry out this subsection $40,000,000 for 
        each of the fiscal years 2022 through 2026.''.
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