HOPPER DREDGES.

SEC. 237. HOPPER DREDGES.Section 3 of the Act of August 11, 1888 (33 U.S.C. 622; 25 Stat. 423), is amended by adding at the end the following: “(c) Program To Increase Use of Private Hopper Dredges.—“(1) Initiation.—The Secretary shall initiate a program to increase the use of private-industry hopper dredges for the construction and maintenance of Federal navigation channels. “(2) Ready reserve status for hopper dredge wheeler.—In order to carry out this subsection, the Secretary shall place the Federal hopper dredge Wheeler in a ready reserve status not later than the earlier of 90 days after the date of completion of the rehabilitation of the hopper dredge McFarland pursuant to section 563 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1996 or October 1, 1997. “(3) Testing and use of ready reserve hopper dredge.—The Secretary may periodically perform routine tests of the equipment of the vessel placed in a ready reserve status under paragraph (2) to ensure the vessel’s ability to perform emergency work. The Secretary shall not assign any scheduled hopper dredging work to such vessel but shall perform any repairs needed to maintain the vessel in a fully operational condition. The Secretary may place the vessel in active status in order to perform any dredging work only if the Secretary determines that private industry has failed to submit a responsive and responsible bid for work advertised by the Secretary or to carry out the project as required pursuant to a contract with the Secretary. “(4) Repair and rehabilitation.—The Secretary may undertake any repair and rehabilitation of any Federal hopper dredge, including the vessel placed in ready reserve status under paragraph (2) to allow the vessel to be placed in active status as provided in paragraph (3). “(5) Procedures.—The Secretary shall develop and implement procedures to ensure that, to the maximum extent practicable, private industry hopper dredge capacity is available to meet both routine and time-sensitive dredging needs. Such procedures shall include— “(A) scheduling of contract solicitations to effectively distribute dredging work throughout the dredging season; and “(B) use of expedited contracting procedures to allow dredges performing routine work to be made available to meet time-sensitive, urgent, or emergency dredging needs. “(6) Report.—Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this subsection, the Secretary shall report to Congress on whether the vessel placed in ready reserve status under paragraph (2) is needed to be returned to active110 STAT. 3706 status or continued in a ready reserve status or whether another Federal hopper dredge should be placed in a ready reserve status. “(7) Limitations.—“(A) Reductions in status.—The Secretary may not further reduce the readiness status of any Federal hopper dredge below a ready reserve status except any vessel placed in such status for not less than 5 years that the Secretary determines has not been used sufficiently to justify retaining the vessel in such status. “(B) Increase in assignments of dredging work.—For each fiscal year beginning after the date of the enactment of this subsection, the Secretary shall not assign any greater quantity of dredging work to any Federal hopper dredge in active status than was assigned to that vessel in the average of the 3 prior fiscal years. “(C) Remaining dredges.—In carrying out the program under this section, the Secretary shall not reduce the availability and utilization of Federal hopper dredge vessels stationed on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts below that which occurred in fiscal year 1996 to meet the navigation dredging needs of the ports on those coasts. “(8) Contracts; payment of capital costs.—The Secretary may enter into a contract for the maintenance and crewing of any Federal hopper dredge retained in a ready reserve status. The capital costs (including depreciation costs) of any dredge retained in such status shall be paid for out of funds made available from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund and shall not be charged against the Corps of Engineers’ Revolving Fund Account or any individual project cost unless the dredge is specifically used in connection with that project.”.