Document bB6zv305bypm6J6ONVEgBmk7o

BOM24567 S6J 74 1 a number of tanker vessels that is consistent 2 with the requirements of the Study. 3 "(E) CONSIDERATIONS FOR REVIEW.-In 4 evaluating eligible applications submitted under 5 this subsection for selection in the Fleet, the 6 Administrator shall- 7 ensure that any vessel so selected 8 will be suitable for use by the United 9 States for national defense or military pur- 1 0 poses in time of war or national emer- 11 gency; 12 "(ii) ensure that any vessel so selected 13 will aid in the promotion and development 14 of foreign commerce; 15 "(iii) confirm that- 16 "(I) the proposed use of the ves- 17 sel in commercial service is reason- 18 able; and 19 "(II) the owner or operator of 20 the vessel possesses the ability, experi- 21 ence, financial resources, and other 22 qualifications necessary for the oper- 23 ation and maintenance of the vessel; 24 "(iv) confirm that a shipyard selected 25 to construct a vessel under this section OST-2025-1200 Page 00445 Sierra Club v. Dept. of Transp. - 3:25-cv-06221 SC_EVERSPLIT0012126 B0M24567 S6J 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ll 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 S.L.C. 75 possesses the ability, experience, financial resources, equipment, and other qualifications necessary to properly construct the vessel; "(v) ensure the price for the construetion (if applicable) and operation of a ves- under this section is fair and reasonable; "(vi) consider whether the covered entity commits to-- "(I) use equipment, materials, and supplies that are produced in the United States; and "(II) utilize, to the maximum extent practicable, subcontractors and suppliers that are based in the United States; "(vii) consider whether the covered entity commits to repair, repower, and recondition a vessel under this section in a shipyard of the United States; and "(viii) consider whether the covered entity has made commitments to worker and community investment, including through-- OST-2025-1200 Page 00446 Sierra Club v. Dept. of Transp. - 3:25-cv-06221 SC_EVERSPLIT0012127 BOM24567 S6J S.L.C. 76 1 "(I) programs to expand employ- 2 anent opportunity for economically dis- 3 advantaged individuals; or 4 "(II) securing commitments from 5 regional educational and training enti- 6 ties and institutions of higher edu- 7 cation, as defined in section 102 of 8 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 9 U.S.C. 1002), to provide workforce 10 training, including programming for 11 training and job placement of eco- 12 nomically disadvantaged individuals. 13 "(5) TIMING.- 14 "(A) QUALIFIED FOREIGN VESSEL.--Not 15 later than 180 days after entering into an oper- 16 ating agreement under section 53603 with a 17 covered entity for inclusion of a qualified for- 18 eign-built vessel into the Fleet, such vessel shall 19 be placed into service as part of the Fleet. 20 "(B) NEWLY CONSTRUCTED VESSEL.--Not 21 later than 36 months after entering into an op- 22 erating agreement under section 53603 with a 23 covered entity for inclusion of a newly con- 24 structed United States built vessel described in OST-2025-1200 Page 00447 Sierra Club v. Dept. of Transp. - 3:25-cv-06221 SC_EVERSPLIT0012128 BOM24567 S6J S.L.C. 77 1 paragraph (2)(A), such vessel shall be placed 2 into service as part of the Fleet. 3 "(C) DELAYED ADMISSION.--The Adminis- 4 trator may delay the entry of a vessel selected 5 to participate in the Fleet for- 6 "(i) a delay in the construction of 7 such vessel; or 8 "(ii) difficulty of the owner or oper- 9 ator of such vessel in recruiting United 10 States mariners as required under section 11 53603(b)(1)(A). 12 "(d) VESSEL ELIGIBILITY.--A vessel is eligible to be 13 included in the Fleet if- 14 "(1) the vessel- 15 "(A) is a vessel of the United States; or 16 "(B) is not a vessel of the United States, 17 but- 18 "(i) the owner of the vessel has dem- 19 onstrated an intent to have the vessel doc- 20 umented under chapter 121 of this title if 21 it is included in the Fleet; and 22 "(ii) at the time an operating agree- 23 ment is entered into under section 53603, 24 the vessel is eligible for documentation 25 under chapter 121 of this title; OST-2025-1200 Page 00448 Sierra Club v. Dept. of Transp. - 3:25-cv-06221 SC_EVERSPLIT0012129 B0M24567 S6J S.L.C. 78 1 "(2) the vessel is a United States built vessel 2 or a qualified foreign-built vessel; 3 "(3) the vessel is- 4 "(A) a bulk carrier vessel; 5 "(B) a tanker vessel; 6 "(C) a roll-on/roll-off vessel; 7 "(D) a liquefied natural gas tanker vessel; 8 "(E) a container vessel; 9 "(F) a multi-purpose vessel; 10 "(G) a cable vessel (as defined in section 11 53201 of this title); 12 "(H) a heavy-lift vessel; or 13 "(I) any other type of vessel determined 14 appropriate by the Administrator, in consulta- 15 tion with the Maritime Security Board; 16 "(4) the vessel is operated (or will be operated) 17 in providing transportation in foreign commerce; 18 "(5) the vessel meets the requirements of para- 19 graph (1), (2), (3), or (4) of subsection (e); 20 "(6) the vessel- 21 "(A) is suitable for use by the United 22 States for national defense or military purposes 23 in time of war or national emergency, as deter- 24 mined by the Secretary of Defense; OST-2025-1200 Page 00449 Sierra Club v. Dept. of Transp. - 3:25-cv-06221 SC_EVERSPLIT0012130 B0M24567 S6J S.L.C. 79 1 "(B) is commercially viable, as determined 2 by the Administrator; and 3 "(C) has dedicated space for the training 4 of- 5 "(i) cadets of the Merchant Marine 6 Academy consistent with the requirements 7 of section 51307(b); 8 "(ii) students of a State maritime 9 academy, consistent with the requirements 10 of section 51507; or 11 "(iii) participants in another work- 12 force training program identified by the 13 Administrator; and 14 "(7) the vessel will, for the period of an oper- 15 ating agreement under section 53603 that applies to 16 the vessel, meet any other requirement determined 17 appropriate by the Administrator. 18 "(e) REQUIREMENTS REGARDING CITIZENSHIP OF 19 OWNERS, CHARTERERS, AND OPERATORS.- 20 "(1) VESSEL OWNED AND OPERATED BY SEC- 21 TION 50501 CITIZENS.--A vessel meets the require- 22 ments of this paragraph if, during the period of an 23 operating agreement under this chapter that applies 24 to the vessel, the vessel will be owned and operated OST-2025-1200 Page 00450 Sierra Club v. Dept. of Transp. - 3:25-cv-06221 SC_EVERSPLIT0012131 B0M24567 S6J S.L.C. 80 1 by 1 or more persons that are citizens of the United 2 States under section 50501. 3 "(2) VESSEL OWNED BY SECTION 50501 CITIZEN 4 OR UNITED STATES CITIZEN TRUST AND CHAR- 5 TERED TO DOCUMENTATION CITIZEN.--A vessel 6 meets the requirements of this paragraph if- 7 "(A) during the period of an operating 8 agreement under this chapter that applies to 9 the vessel, the vessel will be- 10 "(i) owned by a person that is a cit- 11 izen of the United States under section 12 50501 of this title or that is a United 13 States citizen trust; and 14 "(ii) demise chartered to a person- 15 "(I) that is eligible to document 16 the vessel under chapter 121 of this 17 title; 18 "(II) the chairman of the board 19 of directors, chief executive officer, 20 and a majority of the members of the 21 board of directors of which are citi- 22 zens of the United States under sec- 23 tion 50501 of this title, and are ap- 24 pointed and subjected to removal only OST-2025-1200 Page 00451 Sierra Club v. Dept. of Transp. - 3:25-cv-06221 SC_EVERSPLIT0012132 B0M24567 S6J S.L.C. 81 1 upon approval by the Administrator; 2 and 3 "(III) that certifies to the Ad- 4 ministrator that there are no treaties, 5 statutes, regulations, or other laws 6 that would prohibit the covered entity 7 for the vessel from performing its ob- 8 ligations under an operating agree- 9 anent under this chapter; 10 "(B) in the case of a vessel that will be de- l1 anise chartered to a person that is owned or 12 controlled by another person that is not a cit- 13 izen of the United States under section 50501 14 of this title, the other person enters into an 15 agreement with the Administrator not to influ- 16 ence the operation of the vessel in a manner 17 that will adversely affect the interests of the 18 United States; and 19 "(C) the Administrator and the Secretary 20 of Defense notify the appropriate committees of 21 Congress that they concur with the certification 22 required under subparagraph (A)(ii)(III) and 23 have reviewed and agree that there are no other 24 legal, operational, or other impediments that 25 would prohibit the covered entity for the vessel OST-2025-1200 Page 00452 Sierra Club v. Dept. of Transp. - 3:25-cv-06221 SC_EVERSPLIT0012133 BOM24567 S6J S.L.C. 82 1 from performing its obligations under an oper- 2 ating agreement under this chapter. 3 "(3) VESSEL OWNED AND OPERATED BY DE- 4 FENSE CONTRACTOR.--A vessel meets the require- 5 ments of this paragraph if- 6 "(A) during the period of an operating 7 agreement under this chapter that applies to 8 the vessel, the vessel will be owned and oper- 9 ated by a person that- 10 "(i) is eligible to document a vessel 11 under chapter 121 of this title; 12 "(ii) operates or manages other 13 United States-documented vessels for the 14 Secretary of Defense, or charters other 15 vessels to the Secretary of Defense; 16 "(iii) has entered into a special secu- 17 rity agreement for purposes of this para- 18 graph with the Secretary of Defense; 19 "(iv) makes the certification described 20 in paragraph (2)(A)(ii)(III); and 21 "(v) in the case of a vessel described 22 in paragraph (2)(B), enters into an agree- 23 ment referred to in that paragraph; and 24 "(B) the Administrator and the Secretary 25 of Defense notify the appropriate committees of OST-2025-1200 Page 00453 Sierra Club v. Dept. of Transp. - 3:25-cv-06221 SC_EVERSPLIT0012134 B0M24567 S6J S.L.C. 83 1 Congress that they concur with the certification 2 required under subparagraph (A)(iv), and have 3 reviewed and agree that there are no other 4 legal, operational, or other impediments that 5 would prohibit the covered entity for the vessel 6 from performing its obligations under an oper- 7 ating agreement under this chapter. 8 "(4) VESSEL OWNED BY DOCUMENTATION CIT- 9 IZEN AND CHARTERED TO SECTION 50501 CITIZEN.- 10 A vessel meets the requirements of this paragraph if, 11 during the period of an operating agreement under 12 this chapter that applies to the vessel, the vessel will 13 be- 14 "(A) owned by a person that is eligible to 15 document a vessel under chapter 121; and 16 "(B) demise chartered to a person that is 17 a citizen of the United States under section 18 50501. 19 " 53603. Operating agreements 20 "(a) IN GENERAL.--The Administrator shall require, 21 as a condition of including any vessel in the Fleet, that 22 the covered entity for the vessel enter into an operating 23 agreement under this section. 24 "(b) REQUIREMENTS.- OST-2025-1200 Page 00454 Sierra Club v. Dept. of Transp. - 3:25-cv-06221 SC_EVERSPLIT0012135 BOM24567 S6J S.L.C. 84 1 "(1) IN GENERAL.--An operating agreement re- 2 quired under subsection (a) shall require the vessel 3 subject to such agreement to meet the following re- 4 quirements: 5 "(A) During the period in which the vessel 6 is operating under the agreement- 7 "(i) the vessel will be crewed by only 8 United States mariners; 9 "(ii) the vessel shall be operated with- 10 in the Fleet exclusively in foreign com- 11 merce and not in coastwise trade; and 12 "(iii) the covered entity will have in 13 effect an emergency preparedness agree- 14 ment described in section 53605 for the 15 period of such agreement. 16 "(B) Beginning on the first day of the op- 17 erating agreement, the vessel will be perma- 18 nently ineligible for a coastwise endorsement 19 under section 12112 of this title or to otherwise 20 participate in the coastwise trade, even if the 21 operating agreement is terminated or not re- 22 newed. 23 "(2) COORDINATION WITH COAST GUARD RE- 24 GARDING COASTWISE TRADE PROHIBITION.--The 25 Administrator shall coordinate with the Secretary of OST-2025-1200 Page 00455 Sierra Club v. Dept. of Transp. - 3:25-cv-06221 SC_EVERSPLIT0012136