[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1511 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1511

To promote the recycling of vessels in the United States and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              June 4, 2015

Mr. Vitter (for himself and Mr. Cassidy) introduced the following bill; 
    which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
                      Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To promote the recycling of vessels in the United States and for other 
                               purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLES.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Ships to be Recycled in the States 
Act'' or the ``STORIS Act''.

SEC. 2. ANNUAL REPORT ON DISPOSITION OF VESSELS NOT WORTH PRESERVING.

    Section 57102 of title 46, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following:
    ``(c) Annual Report.--
            ``(1) Requirement.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        the enactment of the Ships to be Recycled in the States Act and 
        annually thereafter, the Secretary of Transportation, in 
        coordination with the Secretary of the Navy, shall report to 
        the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Commerce, 
        Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committees on 
        Armed Services, the Committee on Natural Resources, and the 
        Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of 
        Representatives on the vessel disposal program carried out 
        under this section and on any other disposal of obsolete 
        vessels owned by the Government carried out under any other 
        authority.
            ``(2) Content.--Each annual report required by paragraph 
        (1) shall include the total amount of--
                    ``(A) appropriated funds expended to carry out the 
                vessel disposal program under this section and any 
                other disposal of obsolete vessels owned by the 
                Government carried out under any other authority during 
                the previous year; and
                    ``(B) the sales accrued and disbursed for such 
                program and disposal.''.

SEC. 3. AUDIT OF VESSEL DISPOSAL PROGRAM.

    (a) Requirement.--Not later than 270 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 
shall conduct and submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a 
full audit of all excess Federal Government vessel sales contracts, 
including resulting receivables and expenditures, entered into by the 
Maritime Administration in the period beginning January 1, 1994, and 
ending on the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (b) Content.--The audit required by subsection (a) shall review--
            (1) receivables, by contract from award to contract close-
        out; where receivables were held or invested; expenditures and 
        distributions, including recipients of grants under the 
        National Maritime Heritage Grants Program since the date of the 
        enactment of the National Maritime Heritage Act of 1994 (Public 
        Law 103-451); internal safeguards from waste, fraud, and abuse; 
        and the status of any remaining unexpended funds;
            (2) agency management of the sales program, including 
        review of safeguards from fraud, waste, and abuse from initial 
        offerings, to submission of bids, and through award to contract 
        close-out and any resulting protest or litigation;
            (3) contracts for the sale of excess Federal Government 
        vessels that were awarded to bidders that were not the highest 
        bidders and the financial impact of those awards on recipients 
        of grants under the National Maritime Heritage Grants Program, 
        including the State maritime academies, and the United States 
        Merchant Marine Academy, and on the National Maritime Heritage 
        Grant Program; and
            (4) agreements the Maritime Administration has entered into 
        with the Coast Guard, the Department of Defense, the General 
        Services Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, 
        and other government agencies to dispose of excess Government 
        vessels, including whether those agreements and agency policies 
        are consistent with the Duncan Hunter National Defense 
        Authorization Act for 2009 (Public Law 110-417) and other 
        relevant State and Federal laws.
    (c) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term 
        ``appropriate committees of Congress'' means the following:
                    (A) The Committee on Armed Services and the 
                Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 
                the Senate.
                    (B) The Committee on Armed Services, the Committee 
                on Natural Resources, and the Committee on 
                Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of 
                Representatives.
            (2) National maritime heritage grants program.--The term 
        ``National Maritime Heritage Grants Program'' means the 
        National Maritime Heritage Grants Program established pursuant 
        to the National Maritime Heritage Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-
        451; superseded by chapter 3087 of title 54, United States 
        Code).
            (3) State maritime academy.--The term ``State maritime 
        academy'' has the meaning given that term in section 51102 of 
        title 46, United States Code.
            (4) Vessel operations revolving fund.--The term ``Vessel 
        Operations Revolving Fund'' means the Vessel Operations 
        Revolving Fund established under section 50301 of title 46, 
        United States Code.

SEC. 4. OBSOLETE VESSELS.

    (a) Prohibition on Transfers to Noncitizens.--Section 57104 of 
title 46, United States Code, is amended by striking subsection (d).
    (b) Selection of Scrapping Facilities.--Section 3502 of the Floyd 
D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 (as 
enacted into law by Public Law 106-398; 54 U.S.C. 308704 note) is 
amended--
            (1) by striking subsections (b), (e), and (f);
            (2) in subsection (c)(2)(A), by striking ``paragraph)'' and 
        all that follows through the end and inserting ``paragraph);''; 
        and
            (3) in subsection (d)(2), by striking ``shall--'' and all 
        that follows through the end and inserting ``shall use full and 
        open competition.''.
    (c) Availability of Funds From Sale and Scrapping of Obsolete 
Vessels.--Subsection (a)(1)(C) of section 308704 of title 54, United 
States Code, is amended to read as follows:
                    ``(C) The remainder shall be available to the 
                Secretary to carry out the Program, as provided in 
                subsection (b).''.
    (d) Best Value Criteria.--Subsection (c)(1) of section 308704 of 
title 54, United States Code, is amended in the matter preceding 
subparagraph (A), by striking ``services)'' and inserting ``services 
from a pool of pre-qualified domestic ship recycling companies)''.

SEC. 5. DISMANTLEMENT OF VESSELS.

    Section 6(e) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 
2605(e)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraph (5) as paragraph (6); and
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (4) the following:
    ``(5) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prohibit the 
dismantling of a vessel or marine structure for the purpose of 
recycling materials recovered from the vessel or marine structure. If a 
person so dismantling a vessel or marine structure finds 
polychlorinated biphenyls, or suspects polychlorinated biphenyls will 
be found, during the dismantling, then the person--
            ``(A) shall notify the Administrator; and
            ``(B) shall sample, remove, and dispose of any 
        polychlorinated biphenyls in accordance with the relevant 
        provisions of this Act, other Federal law, and any guidance of 
        the Administrator applicable to sampling vessels or marine 
        structures for polychlorinated biphenyls.''.

SEC. 6. REEFS FOR MARINE LIFE CONSERVATION PROGRAM.

    (a) Prohibition on Transfer of Obsolete Vessels to Foreign 
Countries.--Section 3(d) of the Act entitled ``An Act to authorize 
appropriations for the fiscal year 1973 for certain maritime programs 
of the Department of Commerce, and for related purposes'', approved 
August 22, 1972, (Public Law 92-402; 16 U.S.C. 1220(d)) is amended by 
striking ``States, and any foreign country,'' and inserting ``States''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 7 of the Act entitled ``An Act 
to authorize appropriations for the fiscal year 1973 for certain 
maritime programs of the Department of Commerce, and for related 
purposes'', approved August 22, 1972 (Public Law 92-402; 16 U.S.C. 
1220c-1) is amended by striking subsection (d).

SEC. 7. PUBLICATION OF MARITIME ADMINISTRATION AGREEMENTS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 501 of title 46, United States Code, is 
amended by adding the following:
``Sec. 50114. Publication of Maritime Administration vessel recycling 
              agreements
    ``(a) Requirement for Publication.--The Administrator of the 
Maritime Administration shall make available to the public on the 
website of the Maritime Administration the full text of each memorandum 
of agreement, memorandum of understanding, cooperative agreement, and 
similar agreement between the Maritime Administration and any other 
agency, department, or person.
    ``(b) Timing of Publication.--Not later than 30 days after the date 
a document referred to in subsection (a) is signed by the parties, the 
Administrator of the Maritime Administration shall make such document 
available on the website of the Maritime Administration.
    ``(c) Initial Publication.--Not later than 30 days after the date 
of the enactment of the Ships to be Recycled in the States Act, the 
Administrator of the Maritime Administration shall make available on 
the website of the Maritime Administration each document referred to in 
subsection (a) that was in effect on the date of the enactment of such 
Act.''.
    (b) Table of Sections Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 
501 of title 46, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 
the following:

``50114. Publication of Maritime Administration agreements.''.
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