112 STAT. 3440 PUBLIC LAW 105-383—NOV. 13, 1998 "(3) A vessel— "(A) configured, outfitted, and operated primarily for dredging operations; and "(B) engaged in dredging operations which transfers fuel to other vessels engaged in the same dredging operations without charge.". SEC. 423. DOUBLE HULL ALTERNATIVE DESIGNS STUDY. Section 4115(e) of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (46 U.S. Code 3703a note) is amended by adding at the end the following: "(3)(A) The Secretary of Transportation shall coordinate with the Marine Board of the National Research Council to conduct the necessary research and development of a rationally based equivalency assessment approach, which accounts for the overall environmental performance of alternative tank vessel designs. Notwithstanding the Coast Guard opinion of the application of sections 101 and 311 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 and 1321), the intent of this study is to establish an equivalency evaluation procedure that maintains a high standard of environmental protection, while encouraging innovative ship design. The study shall include: "(i) development of a generalized cost spill data base, which includes all relevant costs such as clean-up costs and environmental impact costs as a function of spill size; "(ii) refinement of the probability density functions used to establish the extent of vessel damage, based on the latest available historical damage statistics, and current research on the crash worthiness of tank vessel structures; "(iii) development of a rationally based approach for calculating an environmental index, to assess overall outflow performance due to collisions and groundings; and "(iv) application of the proposed index to double hull tank vessels and alternative designs currently under consideration. Deadline. "(B) A Marine Board committee shall be estabhshed not Establishment. later that 2 months after the date of the enactment of the Reports. Coast Guard Authorization Act of 1998. The Secretary of Transportation shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure in the House of Representatives a report on the results of the study not later than 12 months after the date of the enactment of the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 1998. "(C) Of the amounts authorized by section 1012(a)(5)(A) of this Act, $500,000 is authorized to carry out the activities under subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this paragraph.". SEC. 424. VESSEL SHARING AGREEMENTS. (a) Section 5 of the Shipping Act of 1984 (46 U.S.C. App. 1704) is amended by adding at the end the following: "(g) VESSEL SHARING AGREEMENTS.—An ocean common carrier that is the owner, operator, or bareboat, time, or slot charterer of a United States-flag liner vessel documented pursuant to sections 12102(a) or (d) of title 46, United States Code, is authorized to agree with an ocean common CEirrier that is not the owner, operator or bareboat charterer for at least 1 year of United States-flag liner vessels which are eligible to be included in the Maritime
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