IMPROVEMENTS TO THE MARITIME ADMINISTRATION VESSEL DISPOSAL PROGRAM.

SEC. 3505. IMPROVEMENTS TO THE MARITIME ADMINISTRATION VESSEL DISPOSAL PROGRAM.(a) Repeal of Limitation on Scrapping; Comprehensive Management Plan.—Section 3502 of the Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 2001 (enacted into law by section 1 of Public Law 106–398; 16 U.S.C. 5405 note; 114 Stat. 1654A–490) is amended by striking subsections (c), (d), (e), and (f), and inserting the following:“(c) Comprehensive Management Plan.—“(1) Requirement to develop plan.—The Secretary of Transportation shall prepare, publish, and submit to the Congress by not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act a comprehensive plan for management of the vessel disposal program of the Maritime Administration in accordance with the recommendations made in the Government Accountability Office in report number GAO–05–264, dated March 2005.“(2) Contents of plan.—The plan shall—“(A) include a strategy and implementation plan for disposal of obsolete National Defense Reserve Fleet vessels (including vessels added to the fleet after the enactment of this paragraph) in a timely manner, maximizing the use of all available disposal methods, including dismantling, use for artificial reefs, donation, and Navy training exercises;“(B) identify and describe the funding and other resources necessary to implement the plan, and specific milestones for disposal of vessels under the plan;119 STAT. 3552“(C) establish performance measures to track progress toward achieving the goals of the program, including the expeditious disposal of ships commencing upon the date of the enactment of this paragraph;“(D) develop a formal decisionmaking framework for the program; and“(E) identify external factors that could impede successful implementation of the plan, and describe steps to be taken to mitigate the effects of such factors.“(d) Implementation of Management Plan.—“(1) Requirement to implement.—Subject to the availability of appropriations, the Secretary shall implement the vessel disposal program of the Maritime Administration in accordance with—“(A) the management plan submitted under subsection (c); and“(B) the requirements set forth in paragraph (2).“(2) Utilization of domestic sources.—In the procurement of services under the vessel disposal program of the Maritime Administration, the Secretary shall—“(A) use full and open competition; and“(B) utilize domestic sources to the maximum extent practicable.“(e) Failure to Submit Plan.—“(1) Private management contract for disposal of maritime administration vessels.—The Secretary of Transportation, subject to the availability of appropriations, shall promptly award a contract using full and open competition to expeditiously implement all aspects of disposal of obsolete National Defense Reserve Fleet vessels.“(2) Application.—This subsection shall apply beginning 180 days after the date of the enactment of this subsection, unless the Secretary of Transportation has submitted to the Congress the comprehensive plan required under subsection (c).“(f) Report.—No later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this subsection, and every 6 months thereafter, the Secretary of Transportation, in coordination with the Secretary of the Navy, shall report to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, the Committee on Resources, and the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives, and to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate, on the progress made in implementing the vessel disposal plan developed under subsection (c). In particular, the report shall address the performance measures required to be established under subsection (c)(2)(C).”.(b) Temporary Authority to Transfer Obsolete Combatant Vessels to Navy for Disposal.—The Secretary of Transportation shall, subject to the availability of appropriations and consistent with section 1535 of title 31, United States Code, popularly known as the Economy Act, transfer to the Secretary of the Navy during fiscal year 2006 for disposal by the Navy, no fewer than 4 combatant vessels in the nonretention fleet of the Maritime Administration that are acceptable to the Secretary of the Navy.(c) Transfer of Title of Obsolete Vessels to Be Disposed of as Artificial Reefs.—Paragraph (4) of section 4 of the Act entitled “An Act to authorize appropriations for the fiscal year 119 STAT. 3553 1973 for certain maritime programs of the Department of Commerce, and for related purposes” (Public Law 92–402; 16 U.S.C. 1220a) is amended to read as follows:“(4) the transfer would be at no cost to the Government (except for any financial assistance provided under section 1220(c)(1) of this title) with the State taking delivery of such obsolete ships and titles in an ‘as-is—where-is’ condition at such place and time designated as may be determined by the Secretary of Transportation.”.