EXEMPTION FOR DREDGES FROM FEDERAL PILOTAGE REQUIREMENT.

SEC. 307. EXEMPTION FOR DREDGES FROM FEDERAL PILOTAGE REQUIREMENT.Section 8502 of title 46, United States Code, is amended— (1) in subsection (a) by striking “subsection (g)” and inserting in lieu thereof “subsections (g) and (i)”; and (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection: “(i) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), a dredge to which this section would otherwise apply is exempt from the requirements of this section. “(2) If the Secretary determines, after notice and comment, that the exemption under paragraph (1) creates a hazard to navigational safety in a specified area, the Secretary may require that a dredge exempted by paragraph (1) which is operating in that area shall comply with this section.”.