Document Rj3QJJEJ5YkbD5E5K498kRve7

BOM24567 S6J S.L.C. 65 1 "(6) FOREIGN COMMERCE.--The term `foreign 2 commerce' means- 3 "(A) commerce or trade between the 4 United States, its territories or possessions, or 5 the District of Columbia, and a foreign country; 6 and 7 "(B) commerce or trade between foreign 8 countries. 9 "(7) FOREIGN COUNTRY OF CONCERN; FOREIGN 10 ENTITY OF CONCERN.--The terms `foreign country 11 of concern' and `foreign entity of concern' have the 12 meanings given such terms in section 4 of the 13 SHIPS for America Act of 2024. 14 "(8) QUALIFIED FOREIGN BUILT VESSEL.--The 15 term `qualified foreign built vessel'- 16 "(A) means a vessel that- 17 "(i) is not more than 14 years of age; 18 and 19 "(ii) was constructed (or recon- 20 structed) outside the United States; and 21 "(B) does not include a vessel that, prior 22 to entry into the Fleet- 23 "(i) was owned or operated by a for- 24 eign entity of concern; OST-2025-1200 Page 00436 Sierra Club v. Dept. of Transp. - 3:25-cv-06221 SC_EVERSPLIT0012117 B0M24567 S6J S.L.C. 66 1 "(ii) is a vessel of a foreign country of 2 concern; 3 "(iii) was constructed by a shipyard 4 that was owned or operated by a foreign 5 entity of concern or located in a foreign 6 country of concern; or 7 "(iv) was registered as a vessel of a 8 foreign country of concern at any time 9 during the 3 years prior to entry into the 10 Fleet. 11 "(9) UNITED STATES BUILT VESSEL.--The 12 term `United States built vessel' means a vessel that 13 is constructed in the United States (and, if recon- 14 structed, reconstructed in the United States). 15 "(10) UNITED STATES CITIZEN TRUST.--The 16 term `United States citizen trust' has the meaning 17 given such term in section 53201. 18 " 53602. Establishment of Strategic Commercial 19 Fleet 20 "(a) IN GENERAL.--The Administrator, in consulta- 21 tion with the Secretary of Defense, shall establish a fleet, 22 to be known as the `Strategic Commercial Fleet', of active, 23 commercially viable, militarily useful, privately owned ves- 24 sels to meet national defense and other security require- OST-2025-1200 Page 00437 Sierra Club v. Dept. of Transp. - 3:25-cv-06221 SC_EVERSPLIT0012118 B0M24567 S6J S.L.C. 67 1 ments and maintain a United States presence in inter- 2 national commercial shipping. 3 "(b) NUMBER OF VESSELS.--The Administrator 4 shall seek to select eligible vessels described in subsection 5 (d) for the Fleet through an annual competitive selection 6 process in accordance with the annual target number for 7 the Fleet recommended by the Maritime Security Board 8 under section 50401(b)(2)(B)(i). Through such annual se- 9 lection process, the Administrator shall- 10 "(1) select for inclusion in the Fleet not fewer 11 than 10 vessels in the 12-month period that begins 12 on the date that is 2 years after the date of enact- 13 ment of this section; 14 "(2) increase the number of vessels selected for 15 inclusion in the Fleet annually such that not later 16 than 5 years after such date of enactment, not fewer 17 than 20 vessels are selected for such inclusion annu- 1 8 ally; and 19 "(3) ensure that the total number of vessels in- 20 eluded in the fleet shall be not more than 250 ves- 21 sels at any point in time. 22 "(c) SOLICITATION; ENTRY INTO FLEET.- 23 "(1) SOLICITATION.- 24 "(A) IN GENERAL--The Administrator 25 shall solicit applications from covered entities to OST-2025-1200 Page 00438 Sierra Club v. Dept. of Transp. - 3:25-cv-06221 SC_EVERSPLIT0012119 BOM24567 S6J S.L.C. 68 1 competitively select vessels that are eligible 2 under subsection (d) and meet the requirements 3 of this subsection for inclusion in the Fleet. 4 "(B) PUBLIC SOLICITATION REQUIRE- S MENTS.-In soliciting applications under sub- 6 paragraph (A), the Administrator shall- 7 "(i) publish a notice in the Federal 8 Register, which, at a minimum, identifies 9 the requirements for the number of vessels 10 as established by the Administrator and 11 the Maritime Security Board under sub- 12 section (b); and 13 "(ii) allow applicants not less than 30 14 days to submit an application for entry 15 into the Fleet. 16 "(2) ELIGIBLE APPLICATIONS.--The Adminis- 17 trator shall solicit and accept applications in sepa- 1 8 rate processes for each of the following: 19 "(A) NEWLY CONSTRUCTED VESSELS.- 20 "(i) IN GENERAL.--A covered entity 21 may submit an application for the Fleet 22 that involves the construction of a United 23 States built vessel and operation of such 24 vessel as a vessel of the United States in 25 foreign commerce. OST-2025-1200 Page 00439 Sierra Club v. Dept. of Transp. - 3:25-cv-06221 SC_EVERSPLIT0012120 B0M24567 S6J 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 l1 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 S.L.C. 69 "(ii) INTERIM VESSEL.--An application described in clause (i) from a covered entity may include a proposal for the use of an interim vessel, if such proposal provides that- "(I) the covered entity will operate a qualified foreign-built vessel as a vessel of the United States in foreign commerce as part of the Fleet until the United States built vessel described in such clause enters the Fleet, in accordance with the milestones established within the operating agreement under section 53603(c)(1); "(II) when the United States built vessel enters the Fleet or the covered entity fails to meet milestones established in the operating agreeanent, the qualified foreign-built vessel shall be removed from the Fleet; and "(III) the covered entity may then transfer and register the qualiPied foreign-built vessel under a reg- OST-2025-1200 Page 00440 Sierra Club v. Dept. of Transp. - 3:25-cv-06221 SC_EVERSPLIT0012121 BOM24567 S6J S.L.C. 70 1 istry of any foreign country that is 2 not a foreign country of concern. 3 "(B) QUALIFIED FOREIGN-BUILT VES- 4 SELS.- 5 "(i) IN GENERAL.--Through fiscal 6 year 2029, a covered entity may submit an 7 application for the Fleet that involves the 8 operation of a qualified foreign-built vessel 9 as a vessel of the United States in foreign 10 commerce. 11 "(ii) EXCEPTION.-After fiscal year 12 2029, the Administrator may not enter 13 into a new agreement or renew an existing 14 agreement to bring a qualified foreign-built 15 vessel into the Fleet unless- 16 "(I) the vessel is operating as an 17 interim vessel under subparagraph 18 (A)(ii); or 19 "(II) the Administrator and Sec- 20 retary of Defense, in consultation with 21 the Maritime Security Board, jointly 22 certify to the appropriate committees 23 of Congress that adding additional 24 qualified foreign-built vessels to the 25 Fleet is necessary for the national se- OST-2025-1200 Page 00441 Sierra Club v. Dept. of Transp. - 3:25-cv-06221 SC_EVERSPLIT0012122 BOM24567 S6J S.L.C. 71 1 curity of the United States until re- 2 placed by a newly constructed vessel 3 to meet the schedule under subsection 4 (b). 5 "(3) PROCEDURE.- 6 "(A) IN GENERAL.--A covered entity shall 7 submit an eligible application under paragraph 8 (2) as at such time, in such manner, and con- 9 -Wiling such information as the Administrator 10 may require. Such application shall include- 11 "(i) a proposed annual operating sup- 12 port payment, which may cover the dif- 13 Terence in operating costs associated with 14 operating a vessel of the United States as 15 compared to a fair and reasonable estimate 16 of the cost of operating that type of vessel 17 under the laws of a foreign country; 18 "(ii) in the case of an application de- 19 scribed in paragraph (2)(A), a proposed 20 annual capital support payment, which 21 may cover the difference in capital costs 22 associated with constructing a vessel in the 23 United States as compared to a fair and 24 reasonable estimate of the cost of the con- OST-2025-1200 Page 00442 Sierra Club v. Dept. of Transp. - 3:25-cv-06221 SC_EVERSPLIT0012123