§53404 Effectiveness of Operating Agreements

Summary

The Secretary may make one-year operating agreements starting in fiscal year 2022 and for later years, but only if money is provided. Each agreement lasts one fiscal year and can be renewed each year through the end of fiscal year 2040, again only if funds are available. Vessels on long-term charter to the United States cannot join the Fleet. If a participant seriously breaks the agreement, the Secretary must notify them, give a reasonable chance to fix the problem, and end the agreement if they do not. A participant can end an agreement by giving notice at least 60 days before the chosen end date. If enough money has not been provided by the first day of a fiscal year, the Secretary must tell four Congressional committees that agreements will not be renewed unless funds arrive by the 60th day of that year. If funds are still not provided by the 60th day, each covered vessel is released from the agreement, the owner may register the vessel under a foreign flag approved by the Secretary of Transportation and the Secretary of Defense (even if another rule would usually prevent that), and, if chapter 563 of this title then applies, the vessel may be requisitioned under that chapter.