Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 119.djvu/3568

 119 STAT. 3550

Deadline.

Deadlines.

Public comments.

Public comments. Deadline. Expiration date.

VerDate 14-DEC-2004

07:21 Oct 30, 2006

PUBLIC LAW 109–163—JAN. 6, 2006

‘‘(iv) that the Secretary commits such funds to the contractor for such reimbursement, if such funds are available for that purpose. ‘‘(B) If the contractor notification described in paragraph (1) does not include an estimate of the cost of obtaining qualified maintenance and repair in the United States, then not later than 30 days after the date of receipt of such notification, the Secretary shall— ‘‘(i) certify to the contractor whether there is a facility capable of meeting all technical requirements of the qualified maintenance and repair in the United States located in the geographic area in which the vessel normally operates available to perform the qualified maintenance and repair described in the notification by the contractor under paragraph (1) in the time period required by the contractor to maintain its regularly scheduled service; and ‘‘(ii) if there is such a facility, require the contractor to resubmit such notification with the required cost estimate for such facility. ‘‘(f) REGULATIONS.— ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT TO ISSUE NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULE MAKING.—The Secretary shall— ‘‘(A) by not later than 30 days after the effective date of this subsection, issue a notice of proposed rule making to implement this section; ‘‘(B) in such notice, solicit the submission of comments by the public regarding rules to implement this section; and ‘‘(C) provide a period of at least 30 days for the submission of such comments. ‘‘(2) INTERIM RULES.—Upon expiration of the period for submission of comments pursuant to paragraph (1)(C), the Secretary may prescribe interim rules necessary to carry out the Secretary’s responsibilities under this section. For this purpose, the Secretary is excepted from compliance with the notice and comment requirements of section 553 of title 5, United States Code. At the time interim rules are issued, the Secretary shall solicit comments on the interim rules from the public and other interested persons. Such period for comment shall not be less than 90 days. All interim rules prescribed under the authority of this subsection that are not earlier superseded by final rules shall expire no later than 270 days after the effective date of this subsection. ‘‘(g) QUALIFIED MAINTENANCE OR REPAIR DEFINED.—In this section the term ‘qualified maintenance or repair’— ‘‘(1) except as provided in paragraph (2), means— ‘‘(A) any inspection of a vessel that is— ‘‘(i) required under chapter 33 of title 46, United States Code; and ‘‘(ii) performed in the period in which the vessel is subject to an agreement under this section; ‘‘(B) any maintenance or repair of a vessel that is determined, in the course of an inspection referred to in subparagraph (A), to be necessary; and

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