C.G. Proposes Increase in Monetary Property Damage Threshold for Reporting Requirements
C.G. Proposes Increase in Monetary Property Damage Threshold for Reporting Requirements
On January 27, 2017, the Coast Guard announced a proposal to amend the monetary property damage threshold amounts for reporting a marine casualty, and for reporting a type of marine casualty called a ‘‘serious marine incident’’ (SMI). As stated in the Federal Register announcement: Updating the regulations will reduce the burden on vessel owners and operators, and will also reduce the amount of Coast Guard resources expended to investigate these incidents.”The threshold for reporting marine casualties presently is $25,000. This would be increased to $72,000. As “serious marine incidents” also require drug testing, the proposal is to increase the threshold sum from $100,000 to $200,000. As stated in the announcement property damage between $100,000 and $200,000 is “no longer representative of a ‘serious casualty.’” Based on the analysis, this would result in a cost saving of over $40,000 to the industry “due to a reductionin the hourly burden of reporting and recordkeeping for both marine casualties and SMIs, and a reduction in an estimated annual cost savings of $4,649 for chemical testing for marine casualties designated as SMIs.Comments must be received no later than March 24, 2017By email: oira_submission@omb.eop.gov (include the docket number and ‘‘Attention: Desk Officer for Coast Guard, DHS’’ in the subject line of the email).By fax: 202–395–6566By regular mail to the Office of Management and Budget:Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget725 17th Street NW., Washington, DC 20503,ATTN: Desk Officer, U.S. Coast Guard.A complete copy of the notice in the Federal Register may be found at:https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2017-01-23/pdf/2017-01323.pdf
