Supporting Statement 

for

Commercial Fishing Industry Vessel Safety Regulations

OMB No.: 1625-0061

COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS:  Instruction

A.  Justification. 

1)  Circumstances that make the collection of information necessary.  

Commercial fishing industry vessels must comply with the provisions of
46 CFR Subchapter C, Part 25, which apply to all uninspected commercial
vessels, and the commercial fishing industry vessel specific regulations
in 46 CFR Subchapter C, Part 28.  A total of twelve information
collection/recordkeeping items are in 46 CFR Part 28.

Congress promulgated the Commercial Fishing Industry Vessel Safety Act
of 1988 (the Act) (Pub. L. 100-424), now codified as 46 U.S.C. Chapter
45, 46 U.S.C. 6104, and 46 U.S.C. 10603 to reduce the unacceptably high
level of fatalities and accidents in the commercial fishing industry.  

The Act requires new fish processing vessels to meet all classification
and survey requirements of the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) or a
similarly qualified organization and to maintain on board appropriate
certificates evidencing compliance with this requirement.  

The ABS or a similarly qualified organization is also required to
examine each uninspected fish processing vessel at least once every two
years.  As the rules specify that this examination be conducted by a
third party surveyor, and that compliance with the regulation be
attested to by the third party, the Coast Guard believes that
attestation letters are the only means available to accurately monitor
compliance with the requirement for examination.

Problems related to vessel stability are historically involved in 70% of
deaths on commercial fishing industry vessels.  As a result, the Coast
Guard believes that vessel stability related operational errors that
lead to casualties would be greatly reduced if operating personnel had
stability information available to them.  Detailed stability information
is required for each new fishing vessel 79 feet or greater in length
that has no load line requirement and for vessels with those
specifications built after September 15, 1991, that undergo major
alterations.  These instructions must be appropriate to the vessel’s
size and the operating personnel’s ability.  This requirement is
similar to that of inspected and load lined vessels.  Letters of
attestation are also required to ensure that stability calculations are
conducted to evaluate stability after major conversions have been done. 

Marking of lifesaving equipment is required on all fishing vessels in
order to help familiarize individuals on board commercial fishing
industry vessels with the minimum information considered necessary in an
emergency.  The Coast Guard also feels that having this information
posted will result in it being seen frequently and will thus allow
individuals to act more rapidly and properly in an emergency.

The letters of acceptance for instructors and the course curricula are
designed to ensure that the instructors and the courses being taught
meet minimum standards.  This will also help ensure that qualified
individuals conduct the training required by 46 CFR 28.270. 
Additionally, certificates of completion of training, which may be
issued by the accepted instructors, will provide proof to the boarding
officers that they have completed the required training and that they
are qualified to conduct the required drills and instruction.

Letters approving exemptions are required to ensure that the master or
individual in charge of the vessel knows that the vessel is exempted
from a particular regulation.  In addition, it will provide
documentation to the boarding officers that will allow them to ensure
that the vessel is not required to be in compliance with the exempted
regulations.

This information collection supports the following strategic goals:

Department of Homeland Security  

Prevention

Protection

Coast Guard  

Maritime Safety

Protection of the Natural Resources

Prevention Policy and Response Policy Directorates (CG-5P & CG-5R)  

Safety:  Eliminate deaths, injuries, and property damage associated with
commercial maritime operations. 

Human and Natural Environment:  Eliminate environmental damage
associated with maritime transportation and operations on and around the
nation’s waterways.  

2)  Purpose of the information collection.  

The majority of the reporting and recordkeeping requirements are those
mandated by the Act.  The regulations simply expand and detail the
requirements of the law.  If this information were not collected, safety
on board commercial fishing industry vessels would be adversely
affected, contradictory to the intent of the Act.  Appendix A describes
each regulation–which provides a clear indication of its purpose–and
the population it targets.  

3)  Consideration of the use of improved information technology.  

There is no prescribed format for reporting requirements. 
Respondent’s submissions may be sent in any formats.  We estimate that
50 % of the submissions are sent electronically.

The recordkeeping requirements for this collection are primarily marking
or posting requirements, such as the marking of “lifesaving
equipment” with the name of the vessel, or the posting of documents
such as “Emergency Instructions” and “Stability Instructions.” 
Other documents issued by the Coast Guard or classification societies
are for a variety of regulatory requirements that boarding Coast Guard
officers can then use to check compliance.  Posting of these documents
is not amenable to electronic technology.

General information on commercial fishing vessel safety issues, contact
information for the Coast Guard District Offices and for the Coast
Guard’s regional Commercial Fishing Vessel Safety Coordinators and
Specialists, is now easily accessible on the USCG website at:  
HYPERLINK "https://homeport.uscg.mil"  https://homeport.uscg.mil  >
Missions > Domestic Vessels > Uninspected Vessels > Commercial Fishing
Vessels.   

4)  Efforts to identify duplication.  

To date, no Federal, State or local regulatory program required
equivalent information.

5)  Methods to minimize the burden to small businesses if involved.  

The burdens were minimized to the extent considered appropriate when the
regulation was initially implemented.  As many of the requirements were
one-time only requirements, an even smaller number of new small
businesses are affected each year. 

6)  Consequences to the Federal program if collection were conducted
less frequently.  

The law mandates the specific frequencies of the information collection
requirements of the nondiscretionary items.  From the description below,
it is apparent that reducing the frequency of the collection of these
three items would hinder or degrade the administration of the marine
safety goal it is designed to achieve.  

a)  Acceptance letters for safety training courses are valid for five
years, so that it allows the Coast Guard to review the course curricula
every five years to see if the courses are adhering to the regulatory
requirements if there were any changes, and to ensure that the courses
are still using current and acceptable training methods, etc. 

b)  Letters of attestation and stability restrictions are required each
time there is a major conversions to an existing fishing vessel 79 feet
or greater, with no load line requirements, that was built after
September 15, 1991. 

c)  Exemption letters are required to be submitted to the Coast Guard
whenever a fishing vessel wishes not to comply with a regulation for a
relevant reason. 

7)  Special collection circumstances.  

This information collection is conducted in manner consistent with the
guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2).

8)  Consultation.  

A 60-day Notice will be published in the Federal Register to obtain
public comment on this collection.  

9)  Provide any payment or gift to respondents.  

There is no offer of monetary or material value for this information
collection.

10)  Describe any assurances of confidentiality provided to respondents.
 

There are no assurances of confidentiality provided to the respondents
for this information collection.

11)  Additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature.  

There are no questions of sensitive language.  

12)  Estimated annual hour and cost burdens to respondents.  

The estimated annual number of respondents is 4,729.  

The estimated annual number of responses is 4,729. 

The estimated annual hour burden is 6,617 hours.  

The estimated annual cost burden is $458,439.  

The burden to respondents is provided in Appendix B.  

Inputs and Assumptions in the Analysis:  The estimated vessel population
is based on data acquired from the Coast Guard’s Marine Information
for Safety and Law Enforcement (MISLE) database.  Wages are obtained
from Coast Guard Reimbursable Standard Rates (COMDTINST 7310.1(series))
and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment
Statistics.  

Impact by Requirement:  The reporting and recordkeeping requirements are
described in detail below, along with the estimated annual burden hours
and costs.  Appendix B contain detailed hour and cost breakdowns.

(1)  Marking of Lifesaving Equipment (§28.135):  Requires lifesaving
equipment – wearable personal flotation devices (PFDs), immersion or
exposure suits, ring life buoys, life floats, buoyant apparatus,
auxiliary craft, and Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons
(EPIRBs) – to be marked with the name of the vessel and as specified
in Table 28.135, in §28.135.  Wearable PFDs must be marked with either
the name of the vessel, the owner of the device, or the individual to
whom it is assigned, and according to the specifications in Table
28.135.  The number of vessels affected by this requirement will be all
new vessels (documented and undocumented).  Since the regulation has
been in place for many years, we assume that existing vessels have
already complied with the requirement -- the requirement is normally
undertaken only once, and is thus a one-time burden.

(2)  Emergency Instructions (§28.265):  Requires all documented
commercial fishing industry vessels to have emergency instructions
“posted in conspicuous locations accessible to the crew”, the
exception being vessels which operate with less than 4 people on board
– these vessels are permitted to have emergency instructions readily
available as an alternative to posting (§28.265(c)).  Furthermore, all
vessels with more than 4 individuals on board are given the option of
keeping readily available a part of the emergency instructions, sections
§28.265(d)(6), (d)(7), (d)(8), and (d)(9), while sections
§28.265(d)(1), (d)(2), (d)(3), (d)(4) and (d)(5) must be posted as
described above.  For our analysis here, we assume (conservatively) that
(A) all documented commercial fishing vessels have more than 4 people on
board, as documented vessels are greater than 5 net tons and are likely
to have more than 4 people on board, and (B) all documented commercial
fishing vessels post all the emergency instructions covered in section
§28.265(d).  Since this is a one-time burden and is a requirement that
has been in place for several years, we assume that only new documented
fishing vessels will be affected.  

(3)  Acceptance Letter for Instructors and Course Curricula (§28.275): 
Requires that acceptance letters be issued to qualified instructors and
for accepted course curricula.  Additionally, if the qualified
instructors chose to, they could issue certificates of completion for
the required training.

(4)  Letter of Certification for Training in Drills and Safety
Orientation (§28.270):  Each documented fishing vessel is required to
have a qualified person conduct the required training in accordance with
§28.270.  The master or individual in charge of each vessel must ensure
that drills are conducted and instruction is given to each individual on
board at least once each month.  While there is no requirement for the
vessel to have on board certification confirming that the training was
conducted, the collection of information burden here is assessed for the
qualified individuals who must maintain on file a letter of acceptance
or certification of training capacity.

(5)  Letter of Attestation for Stability Evaluation (§28.505):  Under
§28.505, it is the owner’s responsibility to select a qualified
individual to perform tests and calculations to evaluate vessel
stability, and to maintain those test results and calculations developed
in evaluating stability.  This is applicable to commercial fishing
vessels 79 feet or more in length, that are not required to be issued a
load line, and undergo substantial alterations as described in §28.501

(6)  Stability Instructions (§28.530):  Requires each new commercial
fishing vessel and each fishing vessel that undergoes major alterations
(described in §28.500), to be provided with sufficient stability
information in a readily usable form to allow the master or individual
in charge to determine the conditions of loading and operations. 
Stability instructions must be developed by a qualified individual, and
must be developed based on the vessel’s individual characteristics.

(7)  Uninspected Fish Processing Vessel Exam (§28.710):  Requires all
uninspected processing vessels in service to be examined every 2 years
for compliance with the regulations.  This examination must be conducted
by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), by a similarly qualified
organization, or by a surveyor of an accepted organization. Each
individual conducting the examination, upon finding the vessel in
compliance, must provide a written certification of compliance to the
owner or operator of the vessel.

(8)  Uninspected Fish Processing Vessel Certification of Classification
(§28.720):  Requires that fish processing vessels built after or that
underwent a major conversion completed after July 27, 1990, must be
classed by the ABS or a similarly qualified organization.  The vessel
must have on board a certificate of class issued by the organization
that classed the vessel, and meet all survey and classification
requirements prescribed by that organization.  While the cost of the
certificate is included in the fees collected by the classification
society and is negligible compared to the other costs for
classification, a nominal burden is calculated here for the actual
drafting of the certificate.

(9)  Exemption Letter Requirement (§28.60):  Requires that an exemption
letter be carried on board each vessel that has been granted an
exemption from a part of the regulations.  The Coast Guard estimates
that approximately 0.5 percent of the fishing fleet will request
exemptions annually.  

(10)  Citizenship Waiver (§28.910):  Details the process to apply for a
waiver relieving vessel owners or operators of the requirement that no
more than 25% of the total number of unlicensed seamen on a U.S.
documented vessel may be aliens lawfully admitted to the United States
under the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952.  Over the last two
years, the Coast Guard has received, on average, 13 waiver requests per
year, with the number expected to decline for 2010.

13)  Total annualized capital and start-up costs.  

There are no capital, start-up or maintenance costs associated with this
information collection.  

14)  Estimates for annualized Federal Government costs.  

The estimated annual Federal Government cost is $180,522 (see Appendix
C).  

Impact by Requirement:  Several reporting and recordkeeping requirements
are estimated to have an impact on the Federal Government.  Appendix C
contains detailed cost breakdown. 

(3)  Acceptance Letter for Instructors and Course Curricula (§28.275): 
Requires that acceptance letters be issued to qualified instructors and
for accepted course curricula.  Additionally, if the qualified
instructors chose to, they could issue certificates of completion for
the required training.  The Coast Guard is expected to review and issue
a letter of acceptance (or rejection).

(9)  Exemption Letter Requirement (§28.60):  Requires that an exemption
letter be carried on board each vessel that has been granted an
exemption from a part of the regulations.  The Coast Guard estimates
that approximately 0.5 percent of the fishing fleet will request
exemptions annually.  The Coast Guard is expected to review an
application and draft a response.  

(10)  Citizenship Waiver (§28.910):  Details the process to apply for a
waiver relieving vessel owners or operators of the requirement that no
more than 25% of the total number of unlicensed seamen on a U.S.
documented vessel may be aliens lawfully admitted to the United States
under the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952.  Over the last two
years, the Coast Guard has received, on average, 13 waiver requests per
year, with the number expected to decline for 2010. The Coast Guard is
expected to review each waiver request.

15)  Reasons for the change in burden.  

The change in burden is an ADJUSTMENT due to a change (i.e., decrease)
in the estimated annual number of respondents.  There is no proposed
change to the reporting or recordkeeping requirements of this
collection.  The reporting and recordkeeping requirements, and the
methodology for calculating burden, remain unchanged.  

16)  Plans for tabulation, statistical analysis and publication.  

This information collection will not be published for statistical
purposes.

17)  Approval for not explaining the expiration date for OMB approval.  

The Coast Guard will display the expiration date for OMB approval of
this information collection.  

18)  Exception to the certification statement.

The Coast Guard does not request an exception to the certification of
this information collection.

B.  Collection of Information Employing Statistical Methods.  

This information collection does not employ statistical methods.  

1625-0061

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