92 STAT. 218
PUBLIC LAW 95-269—APR. 26, 1978
Public Law 95-269 95th Congress An Act Apr. 26, 1978 [H.R. 7744]
Rivers and harbors, improvements.
Study.
Submittal to Congress.
To amend the Acts of August 11, 1888, and March 2, 1919, pertaining to carrying out projects for improvements of rivers and harbors by contract or otherwise, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 3 of the Act of August 11, 1888 (25 Stat. 423; 33 U.S.C. 622), is amended to read as follows: "SEC. 3. (a) The Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers (hereinafter referred to as the 'Secretary'), in carrying out projects for improvement of rivers and harbors (other than surveys, estimates, and gagings) shall, by contract or otherwise, carry out such work in the manner most economical and advantageous to the United States. The Secretary shall have dredging and related work done by contract if he determines private industry has the capability to do such work and it can be done at reasonable prices and in a timely manner. During the four-year period which begins on the date of enactment of this subsection, the Secretary may limit the application of the second sentence of this subsection for work for which the federally owned fleet is available to achieve an orderly transition to full implementation of this subsection. "(b) As private industry reasonably demonstrates its capability under subsection (a) to perform the work done by the federally owned fleet, at reasonable prices and in a timely manner, the federally owned fleet shall be reduced in an orderly manner, as determined by the Secretary, by retirement of plant. To carry out emergency and national defense work the Secretary shall retain only the minimum federally owned fleet capable of performing such work and he may exempt from the provisions of this section such amount of work as he determines to be reasonably necessary to keep such fleet fully operational, as determined by the Secretary, after the minimum fleet requirements have been determined. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, in carrying out the reduction of the federally owned fleet, the Secretary may retain so much of the federally owned fleet as he determines necessary, for so long as he determines necessary, to insure the capability of the Federal Government and private industry together to carry out projects for improvements of rivers and harbors. For the purpose of making the determination required by the preceding sentence the Secretary shall not exempt any work from the requirements of this section. The minimum federally owned fleet shall be maintained to technologically modern and efficient standards, including replacement as necessary. The Secretary is authorized and directed to undertake a study to determine the minimum federally owned fleet required to perform emergency and national defense work. The study, which shall be submitted to Congress within two years after enactment of this subsection, shall also include preservation of employee rights of persons presently employed on the existing federally owned fleet.".
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