Establishment of pilot program

(a) Establishment Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commandant of the Coast Guard, acting through the Assistant Commandant for Acquisition, shall establish and carry out a pilot program, to be known as the United States Coast Guard Corrosion Control Assistance Team Pilot Program, to provide corrosion prevention and control assistance to Coast Guard field units. (b) Scope In carrying out the pilot program established under subsection (a), the Commandant shall— (1) provide on-site corrosion prevention and control technical advisory services and direct assistance to Coast Guard field units upon request; (2) develop and maintain a repository of corrosion prevention and control best practices and lessons learned applicable to Coast Guard maritime assets; (3) assess corrosion conditions and recommend corrective and preventive maintenance actions at Coast Guard units; (4) support training and education of Coast Guard personnel in corrosion prevention and control techniques; (5) coordinate with the Department of Defense Office of Corrosion Policy and Oversight and other relevant Federal agencies to leverage existing expertise, technical standards, and program data; and (6) collect data and metrics necessary to assess the effectiveness of the pilot program and inform future programmatic decisions. (c) Pilot program objectives In carrying out the pilot program established under subsection (a), the Commandant shall specifically seek to— (1) demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of a Coast Guard-specific corrosion control assistance capability; (2) apply lessons learned from the Navy’s Corrosion Control Assistance Team program and other Department of Defense corrosion programs to the unique operational environment of the Coast Guard; (3) quantify the impact of corrosion prevention and control interventions on Coast Guard asset readiness and service life; and (4) develop recommendations related Coast Guard anti-corrosion prevention and control initiatives.