[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3614 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3614

  To direct the Comptroller General of the United States to submit to 
 Congress a report on offshore wind development vessels, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 23, 2023

 Mr. Scott of Virginia (for himself, Mr. Panetta, Mr. Auchincloss, and 
  Ms. Ross) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the 
Committees on Natural Resources, and Education and the Workforce, for a 
 period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To direct the Comptroller General of the United States to submit to 
 Congress a report on offshore wind development vessels, 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 TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``American Offshore Wind Opportunity 
Act''.

SEC. 2. GAO STUDY.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 120 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 
shall initiate a study described in subsection (c).
    (b) Submission.--The Comptroller General shall submit to 
appropriate congressional committees, including the Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure and the Committee on Education and 
the Workforce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the Committee on Health, 
Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, the results of the study 
under subsection (a).
    (c) Contents of Study.--In conducting the study under subsection 
(a), the Comptroller General shall include--
            (1) an outline of policy and regulatory options that could 
        be adopted to increase the role of United States built vessels, 
        flagged vessels, and mariners in offshore wind turbine 
        installation to meet the goal of developing 30 gigawatts of 
        offshore wind capacity by 2030;
            (2) an outline of any potential ways to--
                    (A) increase the role of United States crews on 
                vessels that are subject to the Outer Continental Shelf 
                Lands Act and not subject to chapters 121 and 551 of 
                title 46, United States Code, commonly referred to as 
                the ``Jones Act''; and
                    (B) domestically manufacture vessels described in 
                subparagraph (A);
            (3) an assessment of the workforce needs that would be 
        required to build an United States mariner workforce for 
        offshore wind construction, operations, and maintenance to meet 
        the 30 gigawatt goal in subsection (1), specifically--
                    (A) the number of such workers needed to crew the 
                offshore wind vessels necessary to meet the goal of 
                developing 30 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 
                2030;
                    (B) the number of workers needed to manufacture, 
                build, operate, maintain, and support offshore wind 
                projects;
                    (C) the types of skills and competencies, including 
                those unique to offshore wind construction, operations, 
                and maintenance, required for such employment 
                opportunities;
                    (D) the required industry or recognized 
                postsecondary credentials required of such workers;
                    (E) the adjacent skills required for other similar 
                occupations, such as oil drilling, that can be 
                leveraged for reskilling of existing United States 
                workers;
                    (F) the gaps in the availability of registered 
                apprenticeship programs and the ability of employers to 
                recruit, hire, and train such workers, including--
                            (i) the total cost of training for such 
                        programs to skill up such workers; and
                            (ii) the policies the United States 
                        Government can take to eliminate such gaps and 
                        costs; and
                    (G) the actions that foreign and domestic wind 
                developers and vessel operators are taking or could be 
                taking to ensure the availability of United States 
                mariners;
            (4) an assessment of the capacity of United States 
        shipyards to build wind turbine installation vessels, heavy 
        lift vessels, fall pipe vessels, cable laying vessels, and 
        oceanographic research vessels in addition to larger Jones Act 
        compliant feeder vessels; and
            (5) an assessment of public and private investments needed 
        to spur use of a United States manufactured fleet of offshore 
        wind vessels to support meeting the goal of developing 30 
        gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2030.
                                 <all>