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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 33 Number 6
February 2006
Coast Guard expands SMI reporting; requires onboard alcohol test device
WASHINGTON, DC - The Coast Guard recently announced two changes to regulations that fishermen must comply with following a serious marine incident (SMI).
On Dec. 16, the Coast Guard published a final rule in the Federal Register expanding the number of categories of marine casualties that must be reported to include “significant harm to the environment.”
Generally speaking, the new rule applies to both inshore and offshore waters. And the phrase, “significant harm to the environment,” at least in terms of oil, means enough oil to “cause a film or sheen upon or discoloration of the surface of the water or adjoining shorelines or cause a sludge or emulsion to be deposited beneath the surface of the water or upon adjoining shorelines.”
The Coast Guard began this rule-making process all the way back in 1995, according to the final rule notice, in order to come into compliance with the Oil Pollution Act of 1990.
The new rule went into effect on Jan. 17, 2006.
“The primary benefit of this rule is the establishment of standardized reporting requirements that address the Coast Guard’s need to track and investigate events that cause ‘significant harm to the environment,’” the notice stated.
The four other categories of marine casualties that require filing a report with the Coast Guard are: death of an individual; serious injury to an individual; material loss of property; and material damage affecting the seaworthiness of the vessel.
For more information, call LCMD Kelly Post at (202) 267-1418.
Drug, alcohol testing
On Dec. 22, the Coast Guard also published a final rule modifying regulations requiring testing for drug and alcohol use by persons involved in SMIs.
The new rule, which goes into effect on June 20, requires:
Alcohol testing to be conducted within two hours of a SMI;
Commercial vessels to have alcohol testing devices on board; and
Specimens for drug testing following a SMI to be collected within 32 hours.
The rule also authorizes the testing of saliva as an acceptable specimen for alcohol testing.
The requirement to carry alcohol testing devices on board applies unless the “marine employer” can be sure to have the testing done on shore within two hours of any SMI.
“Vessels that cannot return to shore and have testing conducted within two hours must carry alcohol testing devices on board the vessels,” the Coast Guard said.
A list of approved alcohol screening devices is available online at <www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/alcohol/ebtcpl040714FR.pdf>.
Broad requirement
The Coast Guard also made it clear that the testing and the test device requirements apply to pretty much everybody.
“The (rule) … does not provide for an exemption based on the size of the crew or the crew’s safety history,” the final rule stated.
As to the price of the devices, the Coast Guard disagreed with members of the public who said that the cost of complying with the requirements would be excessive and burdensome.
“The average price for saliva alcohol screening devices is $113 per package containing 25-30 testing devices,” the Coast Guard said.
It went on to say that “a package of testing devices can easily be separated into smaller quantities … to accommodate marine employers that own or operate more than one vessel, or to accommodate those marine employers that own or operate one vessel and may want to split the cost of one package.”
For more information, call Robert Schoening at (202) 267-0684.
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