American Offshore Wind Opportunity Act

I 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 Com- mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Com- mittees 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 com- mittee concerned A BILL To direct the Comptroller General of the United States to submit to Congress a report on offshore wind develop- ment vessels, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘American Offshore 4 Wind Opportunity Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 Jun 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3614.IH H3614 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3614 IH SEC. 2. GAO STUDY. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days after the 2 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 3 of the United States shall initiate a study described in sub- 4 section (c). 5 (b) SUBMISSION.—The Comptroller General shall 6 submit to appropriate congressional committees, including 7 the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and 8 the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the 9 House of Representatives and the Committee on Com- 10 merce, Science, and Transportation and the Committee on 11 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, the 12 results of the study under subsection (a). 13 (c) CONTENTS OF STUDY.—In conducting the study 14 under subsection (a), the Comptroller General shall in- 15 clude— 16 (1) an outline of policy and regulatory options 17 that could be adopted to increase the role of United 18 States built vessels, flagged vessels, and mariners in 19 offshore wind turbine installation to meet the goal of 20 developing 30 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 21 2030; 22 (2) an outline of any potential ways to— 23 (A) increase the role of United States 24 crews on vessels that are subject to the Outer 25 Continental Shelf Lands Act and not subject to 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 Jun 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3614.IH H3614 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3614 IH chapters 121 and 551 of title 46, United States 1 Code, commonly referred to as the ‘‘Jones Act’’; 2 and 3 (B) domestically manufacture vessels de- 4 scribed in subparagraph (A); 5 (3) an assessment of the workforce needs that 6 would be required to build an United States mariner 7 workforce for offshore wind construction, operations, 8 and maintenance to meet the 30 gigawatt goal in 9 subsection (1), specifically— 10 (A) the number of such workers needed to 11 crew the offshore wind vessels necessary to 12 meet the goal of developing 30 gigawatts of off- 13 shore wind capacity by 2030; 14 (B) the number of workers needed to man- 15 ufacture, build, operate, maintain, and support 16 offshore wind projects; 17 (C) the types of skills and competencies, 18 including those unique to offshore wind con- 19 struction, operations, and maintenance, re- 20 quired for such employment opportunities; 21 (D) the required industry or recognized 22 postsecondary credentials required of such 23 workers; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 Jun 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3614.IH H3614 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3614 IH (E) the adjacent skills required for other 1 similar occupations, such as oil drilling, that 2 can be leveraged for reskilling of existing 3 United States workers; 4 (F) the gaps in the availability of reg- 5 istered apprenticeship programs and the ability 6 of employers to recruit, hire, and train such 7 workers, including— 8 (i) the total cost of training for such 9 programs to skill up such workers; and 10 (ii) the policies the United States 11 Government can take to eliminate such 12 gaps and costs; and 13 (G) the actions that foreign and domestic 14 wind developers and vessel operators are taking 15 or could be taking to ensure the availability of 16 United States mariners; 17 (4) an assessment of the capacity of United 18 States shipyards to build wind turbine installation 19 vessels, heavy lift vessels, fall pipe vessels, cable lay- 20 ing vessels, and oceanographic research vessels in 21 addition to larger Jones Act compliant feeder ves- 22 sels; and 23 (5) an assessment of public and private invest- 24 ments needed to spur use of a United States manu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 Jun 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3614.IH H3614 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 3614 IH factured fleet of offshore wind vessels to support 1 meeting the goal of developing 30 gigawatts of off- 2 shore wind capacity by 2030. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 Jun 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3614.IH H3614 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB