21360 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 68 / Monday, April 9, 2012 / Proposed Rules 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

Coast Guard 

33 CFR Parts 151, 155, 156, and 157 

46 CFR Part 197 

[Docket No. USCG–2010–0194] 

RIN 1625–AB57 

MARPOL Annex I Amendments 

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: In this notice of proposed 

rulemaking (NPRM), we are proposing 

to update our regulations to harmonize 

U.S. regulations with international 

conventions regarding oil pollution and 

safety of life at sea. The Coast Guard 

proposes to amend our regulations 

covering Navigation and Navigable 

Waters to align with recent amendments 

to Annex I of the International 

Convention for the Prevention of 

Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified 

by the Protocol of 1978, which were 

adopted by the Marine Environment 

Protection Committee during its 52nd, 

54th, 56th, and 59th sessions. In 

addition, we are proposing to 

incorporate guidance from the Maritime 

Safety Committee, based on updates to 

the International Convention for the 

Safety of Life at Sea 1974, into our 

regulations covering shipping. Finally, 

we are seeking public comment on an 

alternative to add a requirement that 

some new U.S. non-oceangoing vessels 

be equipped with an oily bilge water 

storage tank. 

DATES: Comments and related material 

must either be submitted to our online 

docket via http://www.regulations.gov 

on or before July 9, 2012 or reach the 

Docket Management Facility by that 

date. Comments sent to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) on 

collection of information must reach 

OMB on or before July 9, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

identified by docket number USCG– 

2010–0194 using any one of the 

following methods: 

(1) Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

http://www.regulations.gov. 

(2) Fax: 202–493–2251. 

(3) Mail: Docket Management Facility 

(M–30), U.S. Department of 

Transportation, West Building Ground 

Floor, Room W12–140, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590– 

0001. 

(4) Hand delivery: Same as mail 

address above, between 9 a.m. and 5 

p.m., Monday through Friday, except 

Federal holidays. The telephone number 

is 202–366–9329. 

To avoid duplication, please use only 

one of these four methods. See the 

‘‘Public Participation and Request for 

Comments’’ portion of the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section 

below for instructions on submitting 

comments. 

Collection of Information Comments: 

If you have comments on the collection 

of information discussed in section 

VI.D. of this NPRM, you must also send 

comments to the Office of Information 

and Regulatory Affairs, (OIRA), Office of 

Management and Budget. To ensure that 

your comments to OIRA are received on 

time, the preferred methods are by email 

to oira_submission@omb.eop.gov 

(include the docket number and 

‘‘Attention: Desk Officer for Coast 

Guard, DHS’’ in the subject line of the 

email) or fax at 202–395–6566. An 

alternate, though slower, method is by 

U.S. mail to the Office of Information 

and Regulatory Affairs, Office of 

Management and Budget, 725 17th 

Street NW., Washington, DC 20503, 

Attn: Desk Officer, U.S. Coast Guard. 

Viewing incorporation by reference 

material: You may inspect the material 

proposed for incorporation by reference 

at U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters, 2100 

Second Street SW., Washington, DC 

20593–0001 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., 

Monday through Friday, except Federal 

holidays. The telephone number is 202– 

372–1427. Copies of the material are 

available as indicated in the 

‘‘Incorporation by Reference’’ section of 

this preamble. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If 

you have questions on this proposed 

rule, call or email Patrick J. Mannion, 

U.S. Coast Guard Office of Operating 

and Environmental Standards, (CG– 

5222); telephone 202–372–1439, email 

Patrick.J.Mannion@uscg.mil. If you have 

questions on viewing or submitting 

material to the docket, call Renee V. 

Wright, Program Manager, Docket 

Operations, telephone 202–366–9826. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents for Preamble 

I. Public Participation and Request for 

Comments 

A. Submitting Comments 

B. Viewing Comments and Documents 

C. Privacy Act 

D. Public Meeting 

II. Abbreviations 

III. Background 

A. MARPOL 73/78 

B. SOLAS 1974 

IV. Discussion of Proposed Rule 

A. Definitional Changes, 33 CFR 151.05 

B. Southern South African Waters, 33 CFR 

151.13 

C. Additional Entries in the Oil Record 

Book, 33 CFR 151.25 

D. Oil Fuel Tank Protection, 33 CFR 

155.250 

E. Requirements for Oil Sludge Tanks and 

Oil Filtering Equipment and Exemption 

for High-Speed Craft, 33 CFR 155.360 

and 370 

F. Prevention of Pollution During Transfer 

of Oil Cargo Between Oil Tankers at Sea, 

33 CFR 156.400–156.420 

1. Applicability of Subpart D, 33 CFR 

156.400 

2. Definitions, 33 CFR 156.405 

3. Rules on Safety and Environmental 

Protection, 33 CFR 156.410 

4. Notification, 33 CFR 156.415 

5. Reporting of Incidents, 33 CFR 156.420 

G. Requirements for Sea Chest Permanently 

Connected to Cargo Lines, 33 CFR 157.08 

and 157.11 

H. Pump-Room Bottom Protection, 33 CFR 

157.14 

I. Accidental Oil Outflow Performance, 33 

CFR 157.20 

J. Limitation of Older Regulations to 

Tankers Delivered After January 2010, 33 

CFR 157.19 

K. Implementation of SOLAS 1974 

Requirements for Material Safety Data 

Sheets 

L. Standards Incorporated by Reference 

V. Other Alternatives Considered 

VI. Incorporation by Reference 

VII. Regulatory Analyses 

A. Executive Order 12866 and Executive 

Order 13563 (Regulatory Planning and 

Review) 

1. The Affected Population 

2. Costs 

3. Benefits 

B. Small Entities 

C. Assistance for Small Entities 

D. Collection of Information 

E. Federalism 

F. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

G. Taking of Private Property 

H. Civil Justice Reform 

I. Protection of Children 

J. Indian Tribal Governments 

K. Energy Effects 

L. Technical Standards 

M. Environment 

I. Public Participation and Request for 

Comments 

We encourage you to participate in 

this rulemaking by submitting 

comments and related materials. All 

comments received will be posted 

without change to http:// 

www.regulations.gov and will include 

any personal information you have 

provided. 

A. Submitting Comments 

If you submit a comment, please 

include the docket number for this 

rulemaking (USCG–2010–0194), 

indicate the specific section of this 

document to which each comment 

applies, and provide a reason for each 

suggestion or recommendation. You 

may submit your comments and 


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material online or by fax, mail, or hand 

delivery, but please use only one of 

these means. We recommend that you 

include your name and a mailing 

address, an email address, or a phone 

number in the body of your document 

so that we can contact you if we have 

questions regarding your submission. 

To submit your comment online, go to 

http://www.regulations.gov and insert 

‘‘USCG–2010–0194’’ in the ‘‘Keyword’’ 

box. If you submit your comments by 

mail or hand delivery, submit them in 

an unbound format, no larger than 81⁄2

by 11 inches, suitable for copying and 

electronic filing. If you submit 

comments by mail and would like to 

know that they reached the Facility, 

please enclose a stamped, self-addressed 

postcard or envelope. We will consider 

all comments and material received 

during the comment period and may 

change this proposed rule based on your 

comments. 

B. Viewing Comments and Documents 

To view comments, as well as 

documents mentioned in this preamble 

as being available in the docket, go to 

http://www.regulations.gov, select the 

Advanced Docket Search option on the 

right side of the screen, insert USCG– 

2010–0194 in the Docket ID box, press 

Enter, and then click on the item in the 

Docket ID column. If you do not have 

access to the internet, you may view the 

docket by visiting the Docket 

Management Facility in Room W12–140 

on the ground floor of the Department 

of Transportation West Building, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, 

DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., 

Monday through Friday, except Federal 

holidays. We have an agreement with 

the Department of Transportation to use 

the Docket Management Facility. 

C. Privacy Act 

Anyone can search the electronic 

form of comments received into any of 

our dockets by the name of the 

individual submitting the comment (or 

signing the comment, if submitted on 

behalf of an association, business, labor 

union, etc.). You may review a Privacy 

Act notice regarding our public dockets 

in the January 17, 2008 issue of the 

Federal Register (73 FR 3316). 

D. Public Meeting 

We do not plan to hold a public 

meeting. But you may submit a request 

for one to the docket using one of the 

methods specified under ADDRESSES. In 

your request, explain why you believe a 

public meeting would be beneficial. If 

we determine that one would aid this 

rulemaking, we will hold one at a time 

and place announced by a later notice 

in the Federal Register. 

II. Abbreviations 

APPS Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships 

CFR Code of Federal Regulations 

COC Certificate of Compliance 

COI Collection of Information 

COTP Captain of the Port 

DHS Department of Homeland Security 

FR Federal Register 

§ Section symbol 

ICR Information Collection Renewal 

IMO International Maritime Organization 

IOPP International Oil Pollution Prevention 

ISO International Standards Organization 

MARPOL 73/78 International Convention 

for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 

1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978 

relating to that Convention 

MSC Maritime Safety Committee 

MSDS Material Safety Data Sheets 

MEPC Marine Environment Protection 

Committee 

NLS Noxious liquid substance 

NPRM Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 

OCIMF Oil Companies International Marine 

Forum 

OCMI Officer in Charge, Marine Inspection 

OIRA Office of Information and Regulatory 

Affairs 

OMB Office of Management and Budget 

PSC Port state control 

SOLAS 1974 International Convention for 

the Safety of Life at Sea 1974 

STS Ship-to-Ship transfer 

U.S.C. United States Code 

III. Background 

Protection of the marine environment 

and maritime safety are two of the 

primary missions of the Coast Guard. 

Specific Coast Guard regulations are 

designed to minimize the amount of 

pollution produced by ships at sea and 

to protect mariners. Many of the 

pollution control regulations implement 

the International Convention for the 

Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 

1973, as modified by the Protocol of 

1978 relating to that Convention 

(MARPOL 73/78). Similarly, many 

mariner safety regulations incorporate 

provisions from the International 

Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 

as amended (SOLAS 1974), to which the 

U.S. is also a signatory nation. 

A. MARPOL 73/78 

MARPOL 73/78 is an international 

agreement prepared under the direction 

of the International Maritime 

Organization (IMO), a United Nations 

specialized agency with responsibility 

for the safety and security of shipping 

and the prevention of marine pollution 

by ships. MARPOL 73/78 is the main 

international convention covering 

prevention of pollution of the marine 

environment by ships from either 

operational or accidental causes. 

MARPOL 73/78 is a combination of two 

international agreements adopted in 

1973 and 1978 and revised by 

subsequent amendments. The 

International Convention for the 

Prevention of Pollution from Ships, was 

adopted on November 2, 1973 (1973 

Convention), and covered pollution by 

oil, chemicals, harmful substances in 

packaged form, sewage, and garbage. 

The Protocol of 1978, which amended 

the 1973 Convention, was adopted in 

February 1978, in response to a spate of 

tanker accidents that occurred in 1976 

and 1977. MARPOL 73/78 entered into 

force on October 2, 1983. Annex I of 

MARPOL 73/78 (Annex I), Regulations 

for the Prevention of Pollution by Oil, 

contains provisions intended to 

minimize both operational and 

accidental oil pollution from vessels. 

Annex I is implemented in U.S. law 

through the Act to Prevent Pollution 

from Ships (APPS) (Pub. L. 96–478, Oct. 

21, 1980, 94 Stat. 2297), codified at 33 

U.S.C. 1901 et seq. Under 33 U.S.C. 

1902, 1903, and Department of 

Homeland Security Delegation No. 

0170.1, the Coast Guard has the 

authority to draft regulations to 

implement the MARPOL 73/78 and the 

amendments thereunder, with respect to 

U.S. vessels and foreign vessels within 

U.S. navigable waters or exclusive 

economic zone. The Coast Guard 

implements MARPOL 73/78 through 

regulations in 33 CFR parts 151, 155, 

156, and 157. 

Amendments to MARPOL 73/78 are 

made through the resolution drafting 

and adoption process within the Marine 

Environment Protection Committee 

(MEPC) of IMO. The United States takes 

part in revising and updating MARPOL 

73/78 by sending delegates to MEPC, 

who are charged with negotiating with 

delegates of other signatory nations to 

support the U.S. position regarding 

pollution from ships. 

Since the last revision of Coast Guard 

regulations implementing Annex I in 

2001, (66 FR 55571), there have been 

numerous amendments to the 

international standards, meaning that 

the Coast Guard regulations in the CFR 

and the provisions of Annex I are not 

currently aligned. Annex I was revised 

by the following resolutions: 

• MEPC.117(52) (October 15, 2004): 

This resolution revised all of Annex I 

and adopted new Annex I Regulations 

22 and 23. Regulation 22 requires that 

every tanker of 5,000 deadweight tons or 

more, constructed on or after January 1, 

2007, meet minimum standards of 

pump-room bottom protection, while 

Regulation 23 requires that every tanker 

delivered on or after January 1, 2010, 

must meet the standard for accidental 


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oil outflow performance. MEPC.117(52) 

became effective January 1, 2007. 

• MEPC.141(54) (March 24, 2006): 

This resolution adopted Annex I 

Regulation 12A, which contains 

requirements for the protected location 

of oil fuel tanks and performance 

standards for accidental oil fuel outflow 

for all ships delivered on or after August 

1, 2010. This resolution became 

effective August 1, 2007. 

• MEPC.154(55) (October 13, 2006): 

In this resolution, the MEPC adopted 

the Southern South African Waters as a 

special area, which prohibits the 

discharge of bilge water and oil in the 

defined area. This resolution entered 

into force on March 4, 2008. 

• MEPC.186(59) (July 17, 2009): This 

resolution adopted a new Chapter 8 

(consisting of Regulations 40, 41, and 

42) to Annex I to prevent pollution 

during transfer of oil cargo between oil 

tankers at sea. In addition, it added a 

requirement for a Ship-to-Ship transfer 

(STS) operations plan. This entered into 

force on January 1, 2011, and applies to 

STS Operations involving oil tankers of 

150 gross tons and more. 

• MEPC.187(59) (July 17, 2009): This 

resolution amended Annex I 

Regulations 1, 12, 13, 17, and 38 by 

altering definitions relating to oil 

residue, and by adding requirements 

that ships over 400 gross tons contain 

sludge tanks that meet certain 

enumerated requirements to Regulation 

12. It also amended International Oil 

Pollution Prevention (IOPP) Certificate 

Forms A and B to include a section 

regarding the means for retention and 

disposal of oil residues, and added new 

recordkeeping requirements prescribing 

entries in the Oil Record Book for 

bunkering of fuel or bulk lubricating oil 

or any failure of oil filtering equipment. 

This resolution entered into force on 

January 1, 2011. 

With this proposed rule, and as 

required by the APPS, we would align 

our regulations in 33 CFR parts 151, 

155, 156, and 157 with international 

standards in Annex I regarding oil 

pollution from ships. By aligning the 

U.S. domestic regulations with 

international standards, compliant U.S. 

vessels would not be subject to Port 

State Control (PSC) enforcement 

measures while engaged in international 

trade. 

On August 27, 2007, we published a 

notice (72 FR 49013), announcing our 

policy for resolving conflicts between 

our regulations and the Annex I 

amendments, which remain in effect 

until our regulations are aligned with 

the amendments to MARPOL 73/78. Our 

goal in this rulemaking is to align the 

regulations in the CFR with those in 

Annex I, and thus promote consistent 

and homogenous enforcement of Annex 

I through revisions to 33 CFR parts 151, 

155, 156, and 157. 

B. SOLAS 1974 

In addition to revisions to MARPOL 

73/78, we have not yet integrated some 

revisions to the SOLAS 1974 agreement 

into 46 CFR Part 197. The Coast Guard 

represents the United States as a 

signatory nation of SOLAS 1974, which 

specifies standards for the safe 

operation of ships at sea. Under 46 

U.S.C. 3306, 46 U.S.C. 3703, and 

Department of Homeland Security 

Delegation No. 0170.1, the Coast Guard 

has authority to prescribe necessary 

rules and regulations to implement the 

provisions of SOLAS 1974. These 

sections include authority over the 

inspection of vessels and the carriage of 

liquid bulk dangerous cargoes. The 

Coast Guard implements SOLAS 1974, 

in part, through regulations in 46 CFR 

part 197. 

Like MARPOL 73/78, SOLAS 1974 is 

amended by resolution of an IMO 

Committee, in this case the Maritime 

Safety Committee (MSC). In resolution 

MSC.150(77), the 77th Session of the 

MSC urged that beginning in June 2003, 

governments ensure the supply and 

carriage of Material Safety Data Sheets 

(MSDS) for Annex I cargoes and marine 

fuels. The 83rd session of MSC 

amended SOLAS 1974 by adding 

Regulation 5–1 to Chapter VI, stating 

that ‘‘Ships carrying Annex I cargoes, as 

defined in Appendix I to Annex I of 

[MARPOL 73/78], and marine fuel oils 

shall be provided with a MSDS prior to 

the loading of such cargoes based on the 

recommendations developed by IMO.’’ 

The 86th session of the MSC further 

amended the SOLAS 1974 into clear 

and concise language to ensure a 

common understanding and 

unambiguous implementation of SOLAS 

Regulation VI/5–1. SOLAS Regulation 

VI/5–1 entered into force internationally 

on July 1, 2009. 

Because of these amendments, 

differences have developed between 

SOLAS 1974 and existing Coast Guard 

regulations. Our proposal resolves those 

differences in this rulemaking. Our goal 

is to adopt SOLAS Regulation VI/5–1 

into U.S. law through 46 CFR part 197, 

which will allow enforcement of the 

provision in the U.S. as well as decrease 

exposure of U.S. vessels to PSC 

detention risk. Therefore, in this notice, 

we propose adding regulations to 46 

CFR part 197 to conform with resolution 

MSC.286(86) (June 5, 2009). MSC.286 

(86) adopts guidelines for the 

implementing SOLAS Regulation VI/5– 

1, specifically requiring the provision of 

MSDSs for Annex I type oils as cargo in 

bulk and oil fuels, replacing the earlier 

resolution on MSDSs (MSC.150(77) 

(June 2, 2003)). 

IV. Discussion of Proposed Rule 

In this notice of proposed rulemaking 

(NPRM), we are proposing to update our 

regulations in Titles 33 and 46 of the 

CFR to harmonize U.S. regulations with 

international conventions regarding oil 

pollution and safety of life at sea. The 

purpose of this rule is to fulfill the 

obligations of the United States to 

implement MARPOL 73/78 and SOLAS 

1974 amendments for U.S. vessels and 

all vessels operating on the navigable 

waters of the United States to which 

those amendments apply. The proposed 

updates in 33 CFR parts 151, 155, 156, 

and 157 are intended to implement 

recent amendments to MARPOL 73/78 

for U.S. vessels and all vessels operating 

on the navigable waters of the United 

States to which those amendments 

apply. Additionally, we are proposing to 

add a new subpart D to 46 CFR part 197 

to require MSDSs for Annex I cargoes 

and marine fuels to align our regulations 

with SOLAS 1974. 

By aligning the domestic regulations 

with international standards, compliant 

U.S. vessels would not be subject to PSC 

enforcement measures while engaged in 

international trade. In addition, the 

updated regulations would produce 

benefits in terms of offshore oil 

pollution prevention and mariner safety. 

In the sections below, we discuss the 

proposed changes to the CFR, the 

relevant Annex I amendment(s) that 

prompted the change, and what we 

believe the effect of the proposed 

changes would be. Following this 

section is a table that summarizes each 

change. 

A. Definitional Changes, 33 CFR 151.05 

Based on MEPC.187(59), we are 

proposing to make definitional changes 

to 33 CFR 151.05 to align with the 

‘‘Definitions,’’ of Annex I, Regulation 1. 

We are proposing to add definitions for 

‘‘oil residue (sludge),’’ ‘‘oil residue 

(sludge) tank,’’ ‘‘oily bilge water,’’ and 

‘‘oily bilge water holding tank,’’ and 

revise the definitions of ‘‘oily mixture’’ 

(including deletion of a redundant 

definition) and ‘‘oil residue’’ (which is 

a separate term from ‘‘oil residue 

(sludge)’’) in the definitions section in 

§ 151.05. Adding the definitions from 

Annex I would improve the clarity of 

the regulations and help assure 

adherence to them. 


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B. Southern South African Waters, 33 

CFR 151.13 

Section 151.13 codifies MARPOL 73/ 

78 ‘‘special areas’’ where, for recognized 

technical reasons associated with its 

oceanographic and ecological condition 

and the character of its traffic, special 

mandatory methods for the prevention 

of oil pollution are required. We are 

proposing to add ‘‘the Southern South 

African waters’’ to this section in 

accordance with MEPC.154(55), which 

added this new special area to 

Regulation 1.11 of Annex I. 

C. Additional Entries in the Oil Record 

Book, 33 CFR 151.25 

We are proposing to add three new 

Oil Record Book entry requirements, to 

record the bunkering of oil, any failures 

of oil filtering equipment, and failures 

of the oil discharge monitoring and 

control system. We are proposing these 

changes to conform to the provisions of 

Annex I Regulation 17 (17.2.5 and 17.5) 

and Regulation 36 (36.6), which require 

these entries in the Oil Record Book. 

The changes to Annex I were based on 

Annex III of MEPC.187(59), adopted on 

July 17, 2009. 

Two of these changes would be in 

Section 151.25(d), which applies to all 

ships that are required to have an Oil 

Record Book. In 33 CFR 151.25(d)(5), we 

propose adding a requirement to make 

an entry for the bunkering of fuel or 

bulk lubricating oil. This additional 

entry would help to track the use and 

disposal of oil and oil residues. In 33 

CFR 151.25(d)(6) we propose adding a 

requirement to make an entry for any 

failure of oil filtering equipment. The 

third change would be in 33 CFR 

151.25(e), which applies only to oil 

tankers of 150 gross tons or more. We 

propose adding a requirement, as 

subparagraph (e)(11), to make an entry 

for any failure of the oil discharge 

monitoring and control system. These 

additional entries would capture 

equipment failures for all ships with an 

Oil Record Book. 

D. Oil Fuel Tank Protection, 33 CFR 

155.250 

We are proposing to incorporate by 

reference Regulation 12A, ‘‘Oil fuel tank 

protection,’’ which details specific 

requirements for oil fuel tank 

protection. On March 24, 2006, MEPC 

adopted MEPC.141(54), which added 

Regulation 12A, to Annex I. Regulation 

12A mandates that oil fuel tanks be 

protectively located, and expands 

performance standards for accidental oil 

fuel outflow in the event of a collision 

or grounding. In addition, Regulation 

12A sets a maximum capacity limit of 

2,500 cubic meters per oil fuel tank, 

limiting environmental damage should a 

tank rupture occur. Pursuant to Section 

612 of the Coast Guard Authorization 

Act of 2010, Public Law 111–281, 121 

Stat. 2905 (2010) (codified as amended 

at 46 U.S.C. 3306(2010)), Congress 

required that all new U.S. vessels meet 

the requirements of Regulation 12A. 

To add these requirements to the CFR, 

we are proposing to add 33 CFR 

155.250, ‘‘Oil fuel tank protection,’’ 

which would apply to each ship with an 

aggregate oil fuel capacity of 600 cubic 

meters or more, delivered on or after 

August 1, 2010. Proposed 33 CFR 

155.250 references Regulation 12A, 

which would be incorporated by 

reference in 33 CFR 155.140. 

E. Requirements for Oil Sludge Tanks 

and Oil Filtering Equipment and 

Exemption for High-Speed Craft, 33 CFR 

155.360 and 370 

The Coast Guard is proposing two 

changes that would modify Subpart B of 

part 155, ‘‘Vessel Equipment.’’ These 

proposed changes would incorporate 

changes made to Annex I, Chapter 3, 

Regulations 12 ‘‘Tanks for oil residues 

(sludge),’’ and 14 ‘‘Requirements for 

Machinery Spaces of All Ships.’’ 

Regulation 12 governs tanks for oil 

residues (sludge), and Regulation 14 

governs oil filtering equipment. 

We are proposing changes to the 

regulations in 33 CFR 155.360 and 

155.370 designed to prevent the 

discharge of oil sludge into the marine 

environment, as well as to incorporate 

an exemption for high-speed craft 

contained in Annex I. 

The first part of our proposed changes 

concerns oil sludge. Oil sludge, defined 

in 33 CFR 151.05, consists of residual 

waste products that can accumulate in 

the course of using or delivering oil. 

Currently, under 33 CFR 155.360 and 

155.370, oceangoing vessels 400 gross 

tons or more are required to have oily 

water separating equipment and sludge 

tanks capable of retaining all oil 

residues (sludge) onboard. Additionally, 

they are not permitted to store oily 

water in their bilges. 

To prevent discharge of this sludge 

into ocean waters, Regulation 12 

(paragraph 1) of Annex I requires that 

all ships of 400 gross tons or more be 

fitted with a tank or tanks of adequate 

capacity to receive oil residues that 

cannot be dealt with otherwise in 

accordance with oil pollution 

regulations. Such tanks store the sludge 

until it can be disposed of safely. 

To adopt the changes to Regulation 

12, we are proposing revisions to both 

33 CFR 155.360 and 155.370, which 

regulate oily mixture discharges on 

oceangoing vessels. In 33 CFR 155.360, 

the regulations apply to ships of 400 

gross tons and above but less than 

10,000 gross tons, excluding those that 

carry ballast water in their fuel tanks. In 

33 CFR 155.370, the regulations apply to 

ships 10,000 gross tons or more, as well 

as to all ships over 400 gross tons that 

carry ballast water in their fuel tanks. 

Adding the requirement regarding 

sludge tanks to both sections matches 

the applicability in Regulation 12, as it 

applies to ‘‘every ship of 400 gross tons 

and above.’’ 

The proposed rule prohibits persons 

from operating a ship unless it is fitted 

with sludge tanks capable of storing the 

oil residues that cannot be dealt with 

through filtering. To provide 

specifications for sludge tanks we are 

proposing to adopt verbatim the 

language in Regulation 12, paragraph 2, 

and add it to 33 CFR 155.360 and 

155.370, as paragraph (b)(3) of each 

section. These requirements would 

mandate that the sludge tanks be 

provided with a designated disposal 

pump and that they have no discharge 

connections to the bilge system, bilge 

water holding tanks, tank top, or oily 

water separators, although there is an 

exception for certain safeguarded 

drains. 

In addition to the changes regarding 

oil sludge, we are also proposing to 

include an exemption for high-speed 

craft, which is contained in Regulation 

14 of Annex I, as paragraph (a)(1) in 

sections 155.360 and 155.370. This 

exemption in the Annex I regulations, 

contained in Regulation 14.5.2 (as 

modified by Regulation 14.5.3), permits 

high-speed craft over 400 gross tons to 

operate without oil filtering equipment 

if they are fitted with a holding tank to 

store oily bilge water onboard and 

discharge it to reception facilities. We 

believe that the only vessels affected by 

this exemption are ferries. Therefore, we 

believe that the proposed changes to 

sections 155.360 and 155.370 of the CFR 

accurately reflect the Annex I 

regulations. 

F. Prevention of Pollution During 

Transfer of Oil Cargo Between Oil 

Tankers at Sea, 33 CFR 156.400– 

156.420 

We are proposing to add a new 

subpart D to 33 CFR part 156 to cover 

Ship to Ship (STS) transfer Operations 

between oil tankers at sea. This type of 

transfer is common in instances where 

a large tanker transfers oil to a smaller 

tanker that is able to offload to a port. 

Proposed subpart D, containing new 

§§ 156.400–156.420, aligns with Annex 

I Regulations 40, 41, and 42 

(collectively, chapter 8), added by 


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MEPC resolution 186(59), which apply 

to oil tankers of 150 gross tons or more 

engaged in STS Operations conducted 

on or after April 1, 2012. 

Regulations 41 and 42 impose two 

substantive requirements (Regulation 40 

pertains to the applicability of the 

chapter). Regulation 41, ‘‘General Rules 

on Safety and Environmental 

Protection,’’ requires that oil tankers 

involved in STS Operations carry and 

follow an ‘‘STS Operations Plan,’’ based 

on the International Maritime 

Organization (IMO) Manual on Oil 

Pollution, Section 1: Prevention. 

Regulation 41 also requires that the 

person in charge of STS Operations be 

qualified to perform all relevant duties, 

and that records of STS Operations be 

retained on board for 3 years. Regulation 

42, ‘‘Notification,’’ requires each tanker 

to provide 48-hour advance notification 

to the Flag State when planning STS 

Operations in the Flag State’s territorial 

sea or exclusive economic zone. It also 

specifies required elements of that 

notification. 

Because some STS Operations also 

could be classified as lightering 

operations, which are regulated under 

subpart B of 33 CFR 156, we are 

proposing to modify the applicability 

section (§ 156.200) and definition of 

Lightering or Lightering Operations 

(§ 156.205) of that subpart to explicitly 

exclude STS Operations. While STS 

Operations and lightering operations are 

similar, they are not identical. 

1. Applicability of Subpart D, 33 CFR 

156.400 

The Coast Guard is proposing to base 

the applicability of subpart D on 

Regulation 40 of Annex I. Proposed 

subpart D would apply to certain oil 

tankers in U.S. territorial seas, as well 

as U.S. oil tankers that conduct STS 

Operations in ports or terminals under 

the jurisdiction of other parties to 

MARPOL 73/78. Specifically, it would 

apply to an oil tanker of 150 gross tons 

or above conducting STS Operations on 

or after April 1, 2012, and to the STS 

Operations if one of the oil tankers 

involved is 150 gross tons or above. 

Regulation 40 specifies several 

exceptions, which are incorporated into 

proposed § 156.400. Proposed subpart D 

would not apply to oil transfer 

operations associated with fixed or 

floating platforms used for the offshore 

production and storage of oil, which we 

have addressed by specifying, in 

proposed § 156.400(a), that this subpart 

applies to the transfer of oil cargo 

between oil tankers at sea. Proposed 

paragraph (b) addresses the other 

exemptions specified in Regulation 40 

by stating that subpart D also would not 

apply to bunkering operations where the 

oil transferred is to be used as fuel, to 

STS Operations for the purpose of 

securing the safety of a ship or saving 

life at sea, specific pollution incidents, 

and to STS Operations involving 

warships or governmental, 

noncommercial service. 

2. Definitions, 33 CFR 156.405 

The Coast Guard is proposing to add 

a definition section to subpart D 

defining ‘‘oil tanker’’ and ‘‘STS 

Operations’’ to ensure that these 

regulations are applied properly. This 

proposed section also contains 

definitions for ‘‘Authorized 

Classification Society,’’ ‘‘Flag State,’’ 

and ‘‘marine environment,’’ to eliminate 

any ambiguity that could arise. 

3. Rules on Safety and Environmental 

Protection, 33 CFR 156.410 

Regulation 41 of Annex I contains 

general rules on safety and 

environmental protection, which are 

being proposed in subpart D as 

§ 156.410. These rules require that oil 

tankers carry an STS Operations Plan 

developed under best practice 

guidelines that comply with that plan. 

It also requires that the person in overall 

advisory control of the STS Operations 

be qualified to perform all relevant 

duties, and that owners or operators of 

vessels retain records of STS Operations 

for 3 years. The requirements of 

Regulation 41 are being proposed as 

paragraphs (a) through (h) of § 156.410. 

These regulations would help to ensure 

that best practices are followed with 

regard to the transfer of oil at sea, to 

mitigate the risk of oil pollution and to 

promote safety. 

The Coast Guard is proposing 

additional requirements for those STS 

Operations that were formerly 

categorized as lightering operations. 

Some lightering operations, which are 

currently regulated under subpart B of 

part 156, would be classified as STS 

Operations under subpart D as a result 

of the changes in this proposal. 

Lightering operations are currently 

subject to more extensive regulation 

than that being proposed for STS 

Operations. To avoid confusion in 

overlapping cases, we are proposing to 

explicitly exclude STS Operations from 

the applicability section of subpart B, 

and regulating all STS Operations under 

subpart D, as discussed above in section 

IV.F.1. However, in order to preserve 

the existing regulatory requirements for 

those lightering operations that could 

also be classed as STS Operations, we 

have added these requirements to 

subpart D as well. These requirements 

are listed in § 156.410(i). The specific 

items listed, including requirements for 

Certificates of Inspection, Certificates of 

Compliance, or Tank Vessel 

Examination Letters, are derived from 

the current requirements in § 156.210, 

which governs lightering operations, 

and are necessary for liquid bulk cargo 

transfers. 

4. Notification, 33 CFR 156.415 

Regulation 42 of Annex I contains 

notification requirements for vessels 

engaging in STS Operations, which are 

being proposed in subpart D as 

§ 156.415, along with additional 

notification procedures in force today 

that pertain to lightering operations. 

Regulation 42 requires that oil tankers 

engaging in STS Operations provide the 

relevant MARPOL 73/78 party with 48 

hours advance notice of STS 

Operations. This includes information 

regarding the location, time, and 

duration of the STS Operations, oil type 

and quantity, identification of the STS 

Operations service provider, and 

confirmation that there is a compliant 

STS Operations Plan. Providing this 

information to the MARPOL 73/78 party 

helps to ensure that STS Operations are 

conducted safely and that a suitable 

safety measure is in place to mitigate 

environmental damage. The proposed 

regulatory text differs from Regulation 

42 for oil tankers planning to conduct 

STS Operations in designated lightering 

areas, where a 24-hour advance notice 

of STS Operations to the nearest Captain 

of the Port (COTP) specified in the 

existing § 156.215 would be used 

instead of the 48-hour notice specified 

in Regulation 42. This is being done to 

recognize industry best practices and 

the safety record under the existing 

notification requirements for these 

specific areas. 

The proposed regulatory text 

incorporating the notification provisions 

of Regulation 42 differs further from the 

text of Annex I, because it also contains 

some of the notification provisions from 

the lightering requirements in subpart B, 

such as the expected number of oil 

transfers, which are not included in the 

Annex I requirements. Among these 

additional proposed requirements is 

that owners or operators of a vessel that 

require a Certificate of Compliance 

(COC) inspection, or other special Coast 

Guard inspections, request the required 

inspections from the relevant COTP at 

least 72-hours prior to commencement 

of STS Operations. Receiving this 

information helps the Coast Guard 

better plan for STS Operations and 

schedule our inspection workload. We 

are proposing to add this as 

§ 156.415(e). However, despite the 

additions, all of the requirements from 


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Regulation 42 have been incorporated 

into the proposed regulatory text. 

5. Reporting of Incidents, 33 CFR 

156.420 

The Coast Guard is proposing to add 

§ 156.420 to subpart D relating to the 

reporting of incidents. This section 

would ensure that the relevant COTP 

would be notified of incidents promptly 

so they may respond to them quickly. 

This section is not based on Annex I, 

but we believe that these provisions 

should be applied to STS Operations to 

ensure safety and the most effective 

Coast Guard response to any incident. 

They are derived from similar 

requirements found in § 156.220, but 

now would apply to the STS Operations 

as well. 

G. Requirements for Sea Chest 

Permanently Connected to Cargo Lines, 

33 CFR 157.08 and 157.11 

The Coast Guard is also proposing 

requirements for oil tankers of 150 gross 

tons or more that have a sea chest 

permanently connected to the cargo 

pipeline system. A sea chest is a 

compartment located on a vessel’s shell 

plating, below the waterline, through 

which seawater is drawn in. The 

seawater may be used for cooling or 

ballast purposes. These requirements 

were added to Annex I through 

MEPC.117(52), and are located in 

Regulation 30, paragraph 7. To integrate 

them into the CFR, we are proposing to 

add the sea chest requirements as 

subsection (h) of § 157.11. Additionally, 

we are proposing a conforming change 

to § 157.08, the applicability section, by 

adding a subsection (o) to accommodate 

vessels delivered on or after January 1, 

2010. 

This proposal would require that the 

sea chest be equipped with both a sea 

chest valve and an inboard isolation 

valve. It would apply to oil tankers of 

150 gross tons or more delivered on or 

after January 1, 2010. We are proposing 

to add these requirements to help 

ensure that oil cargo does not backflow 

into the sea chest, and thus into the 

surrounding water. Additionally, the sea 

chest would need to be capable of 

isolation from the cargo pipeline system 

during the transfer or transport of cargo 

by a positive means that is installed in 

the pipeline system to prevent, under all 

circumstances, the section of pipeline 

between the sea chest valve and the 

inboard valve from being filled with oil 

cargo. 

H. Pump-Room Bottom Protection, 33 

CFR 157.14 

We are proposing to incorporate 

Regulation 22, ‘‘Pump-room bottom 

protection,’’ (added to Annex I by 

resolution MEPC.117(52) (October 15, 

2004)) into our regulations by adding 

§ 157.14. Regulation 22 provides 

additional protection to the pump room 

by requiring double bottoms to prevent 

flooding in the event of an incident. 

This is necessary to ensure the 

continual functionality of the ballast 

and cargo pumping systems. Regulation 

22 also contains an exemption from the 

double bottom requirement if flooding 

of the pump-room would not render the 

ballast or cargo pumping system 

inoperative. 

The proposed regulation, which 

would apply to oil tankers of 5,000 

deadweight tons (a measure of the 

vessel’s cargo capacity) or more 

constructed on or after January 1, 2007, 

would establish a requirement from 

Regulation 22 that pump-rooms be 

protected with a double bottom if the 

flooding of the pump-room would 

render the ballast or cargo pumping 

system inoperative. It would also 

establish minimum requirements for the 

depth of the double bottom. Section 

157.14 would adopt the Annex I 

requirements directly by incorporating 

Regulation 22 by reference. 

I. Accidental Oil Outflow Performance, 

33 CFR 157.20 

We also are proposing to adopt the oil 

outflow performance from Annex I, 

Regulation 23, ‘‘Accidental oil outflow 

performance.’’ This regulation, which 

applies to oil tankers delivered on or 

after January 1, 2010, establishes design 

requirements to protect against oil 

pollution in the event of a collision or 

grounding. For vessels delivered in 2010 

or later, it replaces older requirements 

regulating hypothetical outflow of oil, 

contained in Regulation 25, and limiting 

cargo tank arrangement and size, 

contained in Regulation 26. Regulations 

25 and 26 continue to apply to vessels 

delivered before 2010. The new 

regulation provides detailed design and 

performance specifications for oil 

tankers of all sizes. Section 157.20 

would adopt the Annex I requirements 

directly by incorporating Regulation 23 

by reference. 

J. Limitation of Older Regulations to 

Tankers Delivered After January 2010, 

33 CFR 157.19 

We also are proposing an amendment 

to § 157.19 that would limit the 

requirements of Annex I, Regulation 25, 

‘‘Hypothetical outflow of oil,’’ and 

Regulation 26, ‘‘Limitations of size and 

arrangement of cargo tanks,’’ to oil 

tankers delivered before January 1, 

2010. These requirements, currently 

found in § 157.19, do not apply to new 

tankers, which would comply with 

accidental oil outflow performance in 

proposed section § 157.20, described 

above. The proposed amendments 

reflect paragraph 6 of Regulation 25 and 

paragraph 7 of Regulation 26, which 

states these regulations apply to oil 

tankers built before 2010. 

K. Implementation of SOLAS 1974 

Requirements for Material Safety Data 

Sheets (MSDS) 

In this rulemaking, the Coast Guard is 

also proposing to implement SOLAS 

1974 amendments regarding MSDS for 

Annex I cargoes and oil fuels for U.S. 

vessels and all vessels operating on the 

navigable waters of the U.S. to which 

those SOLAS 1974 amendments apply. 

By aligning the U.S. regulations with 

international standards, compliant U.S. 

vessels would encounter fewer 

difficulties while engaged in 

international trade. 

MSDSs serve an important purpose in 

ensuring mariner safety, as they focus 

on the hazards of working with oil 

products and other hazardous cargos in 

an occupational setting. They are 

intended to provide workers and 

emergency personnel with procedures 

for handling or working with these 

substances in a safe manner, and 

include information such as physical 

data (melting point, boiling point, flash 

point, etc.), toxicity, health effects, first 

aid, reactivity, storage, disposal, 

protective equipment, and spillhandling procedures. 

The Coast Guard is proposing to 

incorporate the MSDS regulations as a 

new subpart D of 46 CFR part 197, as 

§§ 197.801 through 197.820. This 

subpart would apply to all vessels to 

which SOLAS 1974 applies, carrying 

the liquids listed in the Annex I List of 

Oils, either as bulk cargo or as fuel. It 

would also adopt the tables from the 

MSC.286(86) (June 5, 2009) as 

Appendices A and B to subpart D. 

L. Standards Incorporated by Reference 

Finally, the Coast Guard is proposing 

several updates of standards 

incorporated by reference or otherwise 

discussed in the proposed regulations. 

We are proposing to add Regulation 12A 

of Annex I to the incorporation by 

reference paragraph in 33 CFR 155.140, 

to accommodate the proposed revision 

of § 155.250. We are proposing to amend 

§ 156.111 by updating the versions of 

the STS Transfer Guide and the Guide 

to Helicopter/Ship Operations, 

referenced in 33 CFR 156.330(b) and (c) 

respectively, as well as §§ 156.410(c)(2) 

and (f), to use the most recent versions 

of those standards, and we are 

proposing to add the Manual on Oil 


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Pollution, Section I: Pollution, to 

§ 156.111, a document that is also 

referenced in § 156.410. Third, we 

propose adding Regulations 22 and 23 

of Annex I to the incorporation by 

reference paragraph in § 157.02, to 

conform to the proposed revisions of 

§§ 157.14 and 157.20, respectively. 

Fourth, we propose adding the 

International Standards Organization 

(ISO) to the list of entities referenced in 

46 CFR 197.205, as an ISO standard is 

listed in the proposed Appendix B to 

subpart D of that part. Fifth, we propose 

adding the IMO to the list of entities 

referenced in § 197.205, as an IMO 

standard is listed in Subpart D of that 

part. Finally, we propose adding 

Appendix 1 of Annex I to an 

incorporation by reference paragraph in 

§ 197.810. 

TABLE 1 

CFR Cite Amendment sources Subject 

33 CFR 151.05 ....................................... Annex I Regulations 1, 12, 13, 17 and 

38 MEPC.187(59).

New definitions for oil residue (sludge), requirements for oil 

residue (sludge) tanks. 

33 CFR 151.13(a) ................................... Annex I Regulation 1.11.10 

MEPC.154(55).

Special Area ‘‘Southern South African waters.’’ 

33 CFR 151.25 ....................................... Annex I Regulation 17.2.5 

MEPC.187(59).

Oil Record Book: new entries for bunkering of fuel or bulk 

lube oil. 

33 CFR 155.140 ..................................... Update incorporation by reference ........ Updates incorporated standards to reflect proposed 

changes to the text. 

33 CFR 155.250 ..................................... Annex I Regulation 12A MEPC.141(54) Oil fuel tank protection. 

33 CFR 155.360, 33 CFR 155.370 ........ Annex I Regulation 12 MEPC.187(59); 

Annex I Regulation 14, 

MEPC.117(52).

Requirements for Oil Sludge Tanks, Exemptions for HighSpeed Craft. 

33 CFR 156.111 ..................................... Update incorporation by reference ........ Updates incorporated standards to reflect proposed 

changes to the text. 

33 CFR 156.200 ..................................... Annex I Regulations 40, 41, 42 

MEPC.186(59).

Removal of STS Operations from subpart B Applicability. 

33 CFR 156.205 ..................................... Annex I Regulations 40, 41, 42 

MEPC.186(59).

Definitional change of Lightering or Lightering Operations to 

remove STS Operations. 

33 CFR 156.330 ..................................... Update to most modern standards ........ Updates regulatory text to reference current versions of the 

STS Transfer Guide and Helicopter/Ship Operations 

guide. 

33 CFR 156 Subpart D; 156.400, 405, 

410, 415, 420.

Annex I Regulations 40, 41, 42 

MEPC.186(59).

Prevention of pollution during lightering operations and 

transfer of oil cargo between oil tankers at sea. 

33 CFR 157.02 ....................................... Update incorporation by reference ........ Updates incorporated standards to reflect proposed 

changes to the text. 

33 CFR 157.08 and 157.11 .................... Annex I Regulation 30.7 MEPC.117(52) Requirements for sea chest permanently connected to 

cargo lines. 

New 33 CFR 157.14 ............................... Annex I Regulation 22 MEPC.117(52) .. Pump-room bottom protection. 

33 CFR 157.19 ....................................... Annex I Regulation 25.6 MEPC.117(52) Older regulations of hypothetical outflow of oil limited to 

tankers delivered before 2010. 

33 CFR 157.19 ....................................... Annex I Regulation 26.7 MEPC.117(52) Older regulations of size and arrangement of cargo tanks 

limited to tankers delivered before 2010. 

New 33 CFR 157.20 ............................... Annex I Regulation 23 MEPC.117(52) .. New requirements for accidental oil outflow performance for 

tankers delivered in 2010 or later. 

46 CFR 197.205 ..................................... Update standards availability ................ Provide information for ISO standards referenced in Appendix B to Subpart D. 

46 CFR 197 Subpart D; 197.801, 810, 

820.

MSC.286(86) ......................................... Material Safety Data Sheets. 

V. Other Alternatives Considered 

As stated in the III. Background 

section of the preamble, the protection 

of the marine environment and 

maritime safety are two of the primary 

missions of the Coast Guard. As an 

initiative in furthering our primary 

missions, the Coast Guard is considering 

requiring new U.S. non-oceangoing 

vessels to be equipped with tanks to 

prevent oily bilge water discharges. 

Unlike the provisions in this notice, 

any future proposal regarding holding 

tanks for oily bilge water discharges 

would be pursuant to the Coast Guard’s 

authority to issue regulations 

establishing procedures, methods, and 

equipment and other requirements for 

equipment to prevent discharges of oil 

and hazardous substances from vessels 

(33 U.S.C. 1321(j)(1)(C)). This 

alternative would apply to U.S. nonoceangoing ships 400 tons or greater 

delivered 3 years after the 

implementation of a final rule. 

The Coast Guard seeks additional data 

and other information related to this 

provision. Although the Coast Guard 

welcomes all public comments related 

to these potential requirements, the 

Coast Guard specifically invites 

comments on the discussion below, and 

responses to the following questions: 

• The Coast Guard requests 

information on any additional sources 

of information on the number, size, 

composition, and resulting damage to 

the environment of oily bilge water 

discharges from U.S. non-oceangoing 

vessels. 

• The Coast Guard has identified 

requiring holding tanks as a means for 

reducing the discharge of oily bilge 

water to the environment. The Coast 

Guard requests information on the cost 

of holding tanks for new vessels and 

existing U.S. non-oceangoing vessels. 

• The Coast Guard solicits any 

additional comments on the potential 

requirements to control oily bilge water 

discharge from U.S. non-oceangoing 

vessels, including alternatives that may 

provide a cost-effective approach for 

reducing oily bilge water discharge. 

To submit a comment on the changes 

proposed in this section, use one of the 

methods specified under ADDRESSES. 

The Coast Guard offers the following 

discussion regarding the requirement for 

non-oceangoing ships 400 gross tons or 


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greater to install oily bilge water 

retention tanks. 

The alternative considered to require 

a holding tank for oily mixtures would 

be similar to requirements for certain 

oceangoing vessels (over 400 gross tons) 

subject to MARPOL 73/78 that remain at 

or near facilities where oily mixtures 

can be discharged. U.S. non-oceangoing 

vessels of this same size category (over 

400 gross tons) have similar operational 

characteristics as those covered under 

MARPOL 73/78. 

The purpose of such a requirement 

would be to reduce maritime oil 

pollution by preventing the discharge of 

oily bilge water into the marine 

environment. During the operations of a 

vessel, oily bilge water accumulates in 

the lowest part of a vessel from a variety 

of sources including engines, piping, 

and other mechanical and operational 

sources found throughout the 

machinery spaces of vessels. Oily bilge 

water is a mixture of water, oily fluids, 

lubricants, cleaning fluids and other 

similar wastes. 

While U.S. non-oceangoing ships are 

not required to have oil filtering 

equipment, § 155.330 prohibits persons 

from operating these ships in the 

navigable waters in the U.S. unless the 

ship can retain all oily mixtures 

onboard and discharge them to a 

reception facility. Under § 155.330(b), 

those ships may currently retain those 

oily mixtures in the ship’s bilges. 

However, the Coast Guard believes that 

retaining these mixtures in the ship’s 

bilges has contributed to the risk of oil 

pollution from inadvertent discharge of 

substantial quantities of oil into the 

marine environment. Even small 

amounts of oil pollution (including oily 

bilge water discharge) have the potential 

to seriously damage the terrestrial and 

aquatic environments. The Coast Guard 

believes that the risk of oil pollution 

from inadvertent discharges of oily bilge 

water from ships would be reduced by 

requiring ships to have a holding tank 

with a volume adequate to hold all of 

a ship’s oily bilge water, thereby 

discouraging ships from holding oily 

bilge water in their bilges. 

This alternative is similar to the 

requirements in Annex I that provide 

the option of using holding tanks to 

reduce the risk of oil pollution. As an 

Annex I measure, the Coast Guard 

believes that oily bilge water holding 

tanks would be effective at combating 

the risk of oil pollution and that the 

design of this equipment is well known 

to the maritime community. While 

Annex I requires that most oceangoing 

vessels be fitted with oil filtering 

equipment (see Regulation 14.1), Annex 

I allows vessels that remain close to 

discharge facilities, such as stationary 

vessels or ferries, to store oily bilge 

water in special holding tanks (see 

Regulation 14.3, Regulation 14.5.3.1). 

Holding tanks provide a less expensive 

means to mitigate inadvertent 

discharges of oily water than oil filtering 

equipment. Nonetheless, they would 

function well as these vessels, unlike 

oceangoing vessels, would consistently 

operate in close proximity to a discharge 

facility. 

We believe that the application of 

these types of holding tanks to U.S. nonoceangoing vessels would prevent oily 

bilge water discharges in the most 

efficient cost-effective manner, for the 

reasons stated above. Unlike oceangoing 

ships, non-oceangoing ships operate 

relatively close to shore and can 

discharge oily bilge water from the 

holding tanks to reception facilities. 

Therefore, they can take advantage of 

the use of oily bilge water storage tanks, 

which do not require maintenance and 

are much less expensive to install and 

operate. 

In order to minimize the cost to 

comply with this alternative, we are 

considering a proposal in which the 

effective date for this alternative would 

be three years after the publication of a 

final rule and limit the requirement to 

new vessels. This would provide a 

notice period similar to those granted by 

the MARPOL 73/78 and SOLAS 1974 

amendments, which are typically 

published several years before the 

provisions are effective. The three year 

delayed implementation period would 

help to reduce the costs to ship owners 

and operators by allowing them to 

integrate these holding tanks into ship 

designs. 

The Coast Guard welcomes public 

comments on this information and 

questions presented above in relation to 

installing oily bilge water retention 

tanks on new, non-oceangoing ships 400 

gross tons or greater. As noted, after 

considering this additional information, 

the Coast Guard would later request 

public comment on specific regulatory 

text if it seeks to implement such 

requirements. 

VI. Incorporation by Reference 

Material proposed for incorporation 

by reference appears in 33 CFR 155.140, 

156.111, 157.02, and 46 CFR 197.810. 

You may inspect this material at U.S. 

Coast Guard Headquarters where 

indicated under ADDRESSES. Copies of 

the material are available from the 

sources listed in 33 CFR 155.140, 

156.111, 157.02, and 46 CFR 197.810. 

Before publishing a binding rule, we 

will submit this material to the Director 

of the Federal Register for approval of 

the incorporation by reference. 

VII. Regulatory Analyses 

We developed this proposed rule after 

considering numerous statutes and 

executive orders related to rulemaking. 

Below we summarize our analyses 

based on 13 of these statutes or 

executive orders. 

A. Executive Order 12866 (Regulatory 

Planning and Review) and Executive 

Order 13563 (Improving Regulation and 

Regulatory Review) 

This rulemaking is not a significant 

regulatory action under section 3(f) of 

Executive Order 12866, Regulatory 

Planning and Review, as supplemented 

by Executive Order 13563, and does not 

require an assessment of potential costs 

and benefits under section 6(a)(3) of that 

Order. The Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) has not reviewed it under 

that Order. Nonetheless, we developed 

an analysis of the costs and benefits of 

the proposed rule to ascertain its 

probable impacts on industry. This 

preliminary assessment (‘‘Regulatory 

Analysis’’) is available in the docket 

where indicated in section A of this 

preamble. We consider all estimates and 

analysis in this Regulatory Analysis 

(RA) to be draft and subject to change 

in consideration of public comments. A 

summary of the draft Regulatory 

Analysis follows: 

The proposed rule contains 

provisions to codify the 2004, 2006 and 

2009 Amendments to Annex I in the 

Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) and 

to require vessels to carry a Material 

Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for each 

Annex I cargo and ship fuel carried in 

bulk. These provisions are designed to 

harmonize U.S. regulations with 

international standards. 

Table 1 in the Discussion of Proposed 

Rule section of the preamble provides a 

summary of the proposed changes to the 

CFR referencing the applicable Annex I 

Amendments and the subject of the 

proposed changes. Detailed descriptions 

of the proposed CFR changes are 

described in Section IV Discussion of 

Proposed Rule of this preamble. A 

summary of the regulatory analysis is 

shown in Table 2. 


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TABLE 2—SUMMARY OF THE REGULATORY ANALYSIS

Category Summary (harmonization) 

Total Affected Population * ...................... ∼4,029 current and future U.S. flag ships with 1,768 U.S. current owners or operators. 

Costs (7% discount rate) ......................... $1.8 mil (annualized) 

$18.2 mil (10-year) 

Unquantified Benefits .............................. Compliance with internationally enforced standards where non-compliance could result in Port State 

Control interventions and detentions or delays. 

General reduction of the risk of oil discharges in the marine environment. 33 CFR 151.25 improves 

the availability of information on certain processes and equipment. 

33 CFR 151.360–370 prevents the direct discharge of oily sludge residue and indirect discharge 

through oily bilge water. 

33 CFR 151.400–420 helps to ensure STS Operations are conducted safely and that an apparatus is 

in place to mitigate environmental damage. 

* The total affected population shown in this table refers to the sum of the affected population for each individual requirement. An individual 

ship may be subject to multiple requirements. If there is no overlap of requirements, the affected population would be a maximum of 4,029 new 

and existing ships. If there is overlap of requirements, the total affected population could be less. 

1. The Affected Population 

The individual provisions of the 

proposed rule affect different 

populations of U.S. flag ships. A 

summary of the affected population is 

shown in Table 3. 

TABLE 3—AFFECTED POPULATIONS U.S. FLAG SHIPS

Provision Population affected 

Current 

affected 

population 

New ships 

delivered 

during the 

10-year period 

of analysis 

Total number 

of ships 

Additional Oil Record Book entry requirements.All inspected ships bunkering fuel or lubricating oil.1,672 273 1,945 

Valve separating the sludge tank drains from 

the bilge system.

Oceangoing Ships 400 gross tons and over 1,044 225 1,269 

Preparation of STS Operations Plans and 

STS Reporting.

Tankers and Tank ships ................................ 512 303 815 

Source: USCG MISLE database. 

2. Costs 

The primary cost estimate of the 

proposed rule is displayed in Table 4 

and results in a total cost of $23.2 

million (undiscounted) for the ten year 

period of analysis. This cost estimate 

was prepared assuming no ships 

currently comply with any of the 

provisions of the proposed rule because 

there are no data on the degree of 

current compliance. The Coast Guard 

believes that there is current compliance 

with many of the provisions and is 

aware that this assumption may 

overstate the actual cost of the proposed 

rule. In present value terms, the total 

cost estimate is $20.8 million using a 3- 

percent discount rate and $18.2 million 

using a 7-percent discount rate. 

Annualized costs are $2.1 million per 

year at 3 percent and $1.8 million per 

year at 7 percent. 

TABLE 4—COSTS SUMMARY BY YEAR ($ MILLIONS) TO U.S. FLAG SHIPS

Undiscounted 

Discounted 

7 percent 3 percent 

Year 1 ........................................................................................................................ $10.2 $9.6 $9.9 

Year 2 ........................................................................................................................ 1.2 1.1 1.2 

Year 3 ........................................................................................................................ 1.3 1.1 1.2 

Year 4 ........................................................................................................................ 1.4 1.0 1.2 

Year 5 ........................................................................................................................ 1.4 1.0 1.2 

Year 6 ........................................................................................................................ 1.4 1.0 1.2 

Year 7 ........................................................................................................................ 1.5 0.9 1.2 

Year 8 ........................................................................................................................ 1.6 0.9 1.2 

Year 9 ........................................................................................................................ 1.6 0.9 1.2 

Year 10 ...................................................................................................................... 1.7 0.8 1.2 

Total .................................................................................................................... 23.3 18.2 20.8 

Annualized ................................................................................................... .............................. 1.8 2.1 


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1This is the incremental cost of the additional 

record book entries for both current and new ships 

above the costs currently required. 

2 Valve costs vary between $5,400 per ship for 

ships between 400GT and 10,000 GT and $8,700 per 

ship for ships over 10,000 GT. The $6,140 

represents a weighted average based on current and 

future ships in each volume class. 

3The two non-recurring costs per ship are: the 

preparation of the STS plan of approximately 

$5,023 per ship and the initial training cost of $857 

which together total $5,880. 

Costs by provision using a 7-percent 

discount rate are shown in Table 5. 

TABLE 5—COSTS SUMMARY OF INDIVIDUAL PROVISIONS AT 7-PERCENT DISCOUNT (MILLIONS OF $) TO U.S. FLAG SHIPS

Provision 

Total cost million 

$ (at 7% 

discounted) 

Percentage of 

total cost (using 

7% discounted 

costs) 

Additional Oil Record Book entry requirements .......................................................................................... $5.9 32.24 

Valve separating the sludge tank drains from the bilge system ................................................................. 6.7 36.61 

Preparation of STS Operations Plans and STS Reporting ......................................................................... 5.7 31.15 

Total ...................................................................................................................................................... 18.2 100.0 

Note: numbers may not add due to rounding. 

Source: USCG Office of Operating and Environmental Standards. 

The provisions of this rulemaking are 

estimated to cost $18.2 million, 

annualized at a 7-percent discount rate. 

Please refer to Appendices B through E 

in the Regulatory Analysis for the 

annual costs. Costs are broken out by 

section and by population. 

Table 6 displays the unit costs per 

vessel. 

TABLE 6—UNIT COSTS (UNDISCOUNTED) FOR U.S. FLAG SHIPS

Provision 

Cost per affected 

ship non-recurring 

costs 

Cost per affected 

ship recurring 

costs 

Additional Oil Record Book entry requirements 1 ........................................................................................ .............................. $396 

Valve separating the sludge tank drains from the bilge system 2 ............................................................... $6,140 ..............................

Preparation of STS Operations Plans and STS Reporting 3 ....................................................................... $5,880 $230 

Source: USCG Office of Operating and Environmental Standards. 

Table 6 outlines the per vessel costs 

for the provisions.The provisions 

include both non-recurring and 

recurring costs. 

3. Benefits 

The benefits of the proposed rule 

include harmonization and compliance 

with internationally enforced standards 

and the reduction of risks of oil 

pollution, as well as improved mariner 

safety. 

Functional benefits of each provision 

of the proposed rule are shown in 

Table 7. 

TABLE 7—FUNCTIONAL BENEFITS

Provision Beneficial impact on oil spill risk reduction 

33 CFR 151.25—This provision would establish new record keeping requirements for the Oil Record Book: a requirement to make an entry 

for the bunkering of fuel or bulk lubricating oil; a requirement to make 

an entry for any failure of oil filtering equipment; and a requirement 

to make an entry for any failure of the oil discharge monitoring and 

control system.

This provision will reduce the risk of oil spills by improving the availability of information on certain processes and equipment. For example, the additional entry for the bunkering of fuel or bulk lubricating 

oil would help to track the use and disposal of oil and oil residues. 

The other two additional entries would capture equipment failures for 

all ships with an Oil Record Book. 

33 CFR 155.360–370—This provision requires that these ships have a 

separate designated pump for the oil residue tank (sludge tank) and 

that this sludge disposal system (pump and tank) must be segregated from the bilge system except for manually operated drains 

with visual monitoring of settled water that lead to an oily bilge water 

tank or a bilge well. Any nonconformity would require a ship in this 

group to purchase and install appropriate equipment.

This provision will reduce the risk of oil spills by insuring segregation of 

oily sludge residue from the bilge system. These measures prevent 

the direct discharge of oily sludge residue and the indirect discharge 

through oily bilge water. 


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4U.S. Coast Guard MISLE data, 2001 to 2010, oil 

spilled from U.S. flagged, SOLAS vessels. 

TABLE 7—FUNCTIONAL BENEFITS—Continued 

Provision Beneficial impact on oil spill risk reduction 

33 CFR 156.400–420—This provision requires that oil tankers transferring oil cargoes between ships at sea (Ship-to-Ship (STS) transfers 

of oil) have an STS Operations Plan meeting specific IMO standards.

This provision will reduce the risk of oil spills by requiring that oil tankers engaging in STS Operations provide the relevant MARPOL 73/78 

party with 48 hours notice of STS Operations. This includes information regarding the location, time, and duration of the STS Operations, 

oil type and quantity, identification of the STS Operations service 

provider, and confirmation that there is a compliant STS Operations 

Plan. Providing this information helps to ensure that STS Operations 

are conducted safely and that an apparatus is in place to mitigate 

environmental damage. 

The purpose of the proposed rule is 

to harmonize Coast Guard regulations 

with new provisions of MARPOL 73/78 

and SOLAS 1974 to which the United 

States is a signatory. Compliance with 

these Conventions is, in itself, a benefit 

to all ships on international routes 

because the failure to comply with these 

international standards for pollution 

prevention and safety would subject the 

non-compliant ship to PSCs. Coast 

Guard incorporation of these provisions 

is also a requirement of U.S. law, the 

Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships 

(APPS) 33 U.S.C. 1901–1915 (2002), 

which implements and codifies the 

MARPOL agreements into U.S. law. 

Port State Controls may include 

detention of a ship in a foreign port 

until the identified deficiencies are 

rectified. Delays of this type can be 

costly to the owner/operator of a ship. 

For example, the Paris Memorandum on 

Port State Control Annual Report (Paris 

Memorandum) for 2009 indicated that 

27 oil tankers were detained worldwide 

under PSCs; 17 of these tankers (63 

percent) were detained for violations of 

Annex I or SOLAS. With charter rates 

for oil tankers averaging $31,700 per 

day, even short delays under PSCs can 

result in substantial costs. None of these 

deficient ships were U.S. flag vessels 

because of the adherence to 

international standards enforced by the 

Coast Guard. With this proposed rule 

the Coast Guard intends to ensure that 

no ambiguities exist between MARPOL 

73/78/SOLAS and the regulatory 

requirements of the CFR. 

The Paris Memorandum for 2009, the 

latest year for which there are data, also 

indicated that 3,764 ships that were 

inspected worldwide under PSCs had 

deficiencies regarding Annex I 

requirements. Additionally, 15,800 

ships were found deficient regarding 

safety and firefighting standards 

(SOLAS requirements). As with oil 

tankers (noted above) none of these 

deficient ships were U.S. flag vessels 

because of the adherence to 

international standards enforced by the 

Coast Guard. 

We examined the risk reduction in 

terms of oil spill prevention that would 

equal the total regulatory cost of this 

proposed rule. From historical data,4 we 

determined there was an average of 

5,583 barrels of oil spilled annually 

from U.S. flagged SOLAS ships over the 

2001–2010 period. To calculate the 

annual monetary value of remediating 

damages from oil spills, we used a cost 

of $10,700 per barrel of oil based on an 

analysis of expenditures from the Oil 

Spill Liability Trust Fund. 

Consequently, the costs of oil spill 

damages averaged $59.7 million 

(undiscounted) over the 2001–2010 

period. Please refer to the Regulatory 

Analysis for further details. 

The undiscounted costs of the 

provisions of the proposed rule over the 

ten year period of examination are 

approximately $23.2 million (or $2.3 

million per year on average). The 

proposed regulations would have to 

reduce the annual volume of oil spills 

approximately 3.9 percent ($2.3 million/ 

$59.7 million—both undiscounted) in 

order to achieve a breakeven between 

the regulatory costs and the benefit from 

reduced oil discharge. 

B. Small Entities 

Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act 

(5 U.S.C. 601–612), we have considered 

whether this proposed rule would have 

a significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities. 

The term ‘‘small entities’’ comprises 

small businesses, not-for-profit 

organizations that are independently 

owned and operated and are not 

dominant in their fields, and 

governmental jurisdictions with 

populations of less than 50,000. 

An Initial Regulatory Flexibility 

Analysis discussing the impact of this 

proposed rule on small entities is 

available in the docket indicated under 

Section A of this preamble. There are an 

estimated 1,768 U.S. entities that would 

be affected by this proposed rule and 

these entities operate a maximum of 

3,228 existing ships. We chose a random 

sample of 510 entities and evaluated 

these against the applicable standard for 

determining whether the entity was 

small (i.e., SBA size standards for 

businesses and RFA standards for 

governments and not-for-profits). We 

found that 213 entities were not small 

according to applicable standards. The 

remaining 297 entities (approximately 

58.2 percent of the sample size) are 

considered small; 175 of these had 

revenue or personnel data confirming 

their small business status using the 

Small Business Administration size 

standards and the remaining 125 

businesses had no revenue or personnel 

data and were assumed to be small. 

None of the small entities was either a 

governmental or not-for-profit entity. 

We analyzed revenue impacts for the 

first year and for the annual recurring 

costs of this proposed rule. First year 

costs include costs for additional 

required Oil Record Book entries, 

equipment purchase and installation 

costs, and costs associated with the STS 

Operations Plan preparation and crew 

training. As all equipment is either 

stationary (tanks) or minimal 

maintenance (valves which only require 

periodic lubrication in conjunction with 

other shipboard equipment); we have 

not considered any additional 

maintenance expenses. Likewise, the 

expected life-cycle of the equipment 

extends beyond the timeframe of the ten 

year period of analysis, so no inclusion 

of replacement costs for newly installed 

equipment was required. 

There are three provisions that affect 

small businesses: Additional Oil Record 

Book entry requirements; Valves 

separating the sludge tank drains from 

the bilge system; and Preparation of STS 

Operations Plans oil record book entry 

requirements. Of the costs to small 

businesses, 53.5 percent are associated 

with the separator valves with 35.3 

percent of the costs for additional oil 

record book entries and 11.2 percent 

associated with STS plan requirements. 

This proposed rule has many provisions 

that would affect different types of 


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vessels and therefore, businesses’ 

revenue impacts would vary according 

to the number and type of vessel owned. 

If vessels are subject to all provisions, 

we determined that approximately 7.3 

percent of the small businesses would 

incur a cost impact of more than 1 

percent of revenue during the first year. 

For the annual recurring economic 

impact, we determined that 1.6 percent 

of small businesses would incur a cost 

more than 1 percent of revenue. 

Recurring costs include recordkeeping 

and costs related to the STS Operations 

Plan (maintenance and training new 

crew). 

Based on the above information, the 

Coast Guard certifies under 5 U.S.C. 

605(b) that this proposed rule would not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities. If 

you think that your business, 

organization, or governmental 

jurisdiction qualifies as a small entity 

and that this rule would have a 

significant economic impact on it, 

please submit a comment to the Docket 

Management Facility at the address 

under ADDRESSES in the Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking, [USCG–2010– 

0194]. In your comment, explain why 

you think it qualifies and how and to 

what degree this rule would 

economically affect it. 

C. Assistance for Small Entities 

Under section 213(a) of the Small 

Business Regulatory Enforcement 

Fairness Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 104–121), 

we want to assist small entities in 

understanding this proposed rule so that 

they can better evaluate its effects on 

them and participate in the rulemaking. 

If the proposed rule would affect your 

small business, organization, or 

governmental jurisdiction and you have 

questions concerning its provisions or 

options for compliance, please consult 

Scott Hartley, U.S. Coast Guard Office of 

Operating and Environmental 

Standards, (CG–5222); telephone (202) 

372–1437, e-mail 

Scott.E.Hartley@uscg.mil. The Coast 

Guard will not retaliate against small 

entities that question or complain about 

this rule or any policy or action of the 

Coast Guard. 

D. Collection of Information 

This proposed rule would not require 

a new Collection of Information (COI) 

request under the Paperwork Reduction 

Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501–3520) but 

would increase the burden hours under 

two existing COI reports. An additional 

breakdown of these information and 

reporting costs are presented in the 

section ‘Costs’ in VI. Regulatory 

Analyses of this preamble. 

The information collected under the 

proposed rule is addressed in the 

existing COIs: OMB control number 

1625–0009 (Oil Record Book for Ships 

(33 CFR 151.25)), which was reviewed 

by the OMB on September 9, 2009 and 

will expire after the 2-year approval 

period ends on September 9, 2011, 

unless renewed; and OMB control 

number 1625–0041, Various 

International Agreement Pollution 

Prevention Certificates and Documents, 

and Equivalency Certificates which was 

reviewed by the OMB on November 19, 

2008, and will expire after the 3-year 

approval period ends on November 30, 

2011, unless renewed. 

As defined in 5 CFR 1320.3(c), 

‘‘collection of information’’ (COI) 

comprises reporting, recordkeeping, 

monitoring, posting, labeling, and other, 

similar actions. The title and 

description of the information 

collections, a description of those who 

must collect the information, and an 

estimate of the total annual burden 

follow. The estimate covers the time for 

reviewing instructions, searching 

existing sources of data, gathering and 

maintaining the data needed, and 

completing and reviewing the 

collection. 

Regarding OMB control number 

1625–0009, Oil Record Book for Ships 

(33 CFR 151.25); the current authorized 

annual burden is 19,425 hours and the 

proposed rule would increase the 

annual burden by approximately 9,111 

hours (46.9 percent). Information about 

this Information Collection Renewal 

(ICR) is shown in Table 6. 

Regarding OMB control number 

1625–0041, Various International 

Agreement Pollution Prevention 

Certificates and Documents, and 

Equivalency Certificates (33 CFR 

156.400 through 156.420 Subpart D– 

Prevention of Pollution During Transfer 

of Oil Cargo Between Oil Tankers at 

Sea), the current authorized annual 

burden for all collections in this control 

number is 2,067 hours and the proposed 

rule would increase the burden by a 

single non-recurring burden of 69,120 

hours, and a recurring annual burden of 

7,168 hours. The annual burden would 

increase from 2,067 hours to 9,235 

hours which equals approximately 347 

percent. The increase in burden hours 

from the proposed rule represents a 

non-recurring burden of 135 hours per 

ship and an additional recurring annual 

burden of 14 hours per ship. 

This information collection request 

involves the preparation of a STS 

Operations Plan for all oil tankers and 

tank barges of 150 gross tons and above 

that engage in transfers of oil at sea. 

This would require a non-recurring 

development burden of 135 hours per 

vessel for each of the 512 ships affected. 

This ICR would also require recurring 

annual burden for training (5 hours per 

ship) and plan revisions (9 hours per 

ship). Information on this ICR is shown 

in Table 7 (non-recurring burden) and 

Table 8 (recurring burden). 

The increases in the annual burdens 

are not considered material or 

substantive. To confirm this, the Coast 

Guard has submitted a change 

worksheet (OMB Form 83–C) to the 

Office of Information and Regulatory 

Affairs (OIRA) noting the change in the 

annual burden. 

Details of the two information 

collection requests are as follows: 

1. Information Collection Request: OMB 

control number 1625–0009 (Oil Record Book 

for Ships). 

Title: Oil Record Book for Ships (33 CFR 

151.25). 

Summary of the Information Collection 

Request: The Coast Guard uses the 

information recorded in the Oil Record Book 

to verify sightings of actual violations of the 

APPS, to determine the level of compliance 

with MARPOL 73/78, and as a means of 

reinforcing the discharge provisions. The 

actual recording of discharge information 

reinforces the intent of the regulations. 

Unless this information is recorded, the Coast 

Guard would have to rely solely on actual 

sightings of oil discharges for enforcement. 

Violation of the law could go undetected 

resulting in continued pollution of the sea by 

oil. The Coast Guard would have no method 

of determining the level of compliance with 

regulations. 

Need for Information: The Act to Prevent 

Pollution from Ships and MARPOL 73/78 

require that information about oil cargo or 

fuel operations be entered into an Oil Record 

Book. The requirement is codified in 33 CFR 

151.25. MARPOL 73/78 requires that the 

information be retained onboard a ship so 

that it is available for inspection, therefore, 

the electronic transmission of this 

information to the Coast Guard is not 

possible. 

Proposed Use of Information: The Coast 

Guard uses the information recorded in the 

Oil Record Book to verify sightings of actual 

violations of the APPS, to determine the level 

of compliance with MARPOL 73/78, and as 

a means of reinforcing the discharge 

provisions. The actual recording of discharge 

information reinforces the intent of the 

regulations. Unless this information is 

recorded, the Coast Guard would have to rely 

solely on actual sightings of oil discharges for 

enforcement. Violation of the law could go 

undetected, resulting in continued oil 

pollution of the sea. 

Description of the Respondents: Oil tankers 

and tank barges of 150 gross tons and above; 

ships 400 gross tons and above other than oil 

tankers (including freight barges equipped to 

discharge oil or oil mixtures); manned fixed 

or floating drilling rigs, except those that are 

not equipped to discharge oil or oil mixtures 

or rigs that are in compliance with the 

National Pollutant Discharge Elimination 


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System permit; and manned fixed or floating 

drilling platforms over 400 gross tons, 

primarily Mobile Offshore Drilling Units over 

400 gross tons. 

Number of Respondents: The current 

number of respondents is 1,546. This 

proposed rule would affect 1,672 

respondents. This increase would coincide 

with an increased number of ships in each 

category listed above in the Description of 

Respondents. No new categories of 

respondents would be added. 

Frequency of Response: The frequency of 

response is occasional reports for 

recordkeeping and reporting. The current 

number of annual responses authorized is 

466,200. This proposed rule would increase 

the number of annual responses to 684,784. 

Of the increase of 218,584 responses, 199,504 

(91 percent) would result from the increased 

reporting entries per ship and 19,080 (9 

percent) of the reporting entries would result 

from an increase in the number of ships 

reporting. 

Burden of Response: The burden of this 

proposed rule would require additional 

entries to the Oil Record Book to record 

seven types of events not currently recorded: 

(i) Disposal of oil residue; (ii) discharge 

overboard or disposal otherwise of bilge 

water that has accumulated in machinery 

spaces; (iii) bunkering of fuel or bulk 

lubricating oil; (iv) any failure of the oil 

filtering equipment; (v) closing of valves 

necessary for isolation of dedicated clean 

ballast tanks from cargo and stripping lines 

after slop tank discharge operations; (vi) 

disposal of oil residue; (vii) and any failure 

of the oil discharge monitoring and control 

system. The Coast Guard estimates that these 

additional entries would occur with the same 

frequency as the 17 events which currently 

require an Oil Record Book entry. Therefore, 

the increase in burden hours is 41.2 percent 

or from the current estimated 540 entries per 

ship per year for oil tankers and tank barges 

to 762 entries per year; and from 180 entries 

per ship per year for non-oil ships to 254 

entries per year. 

Estimate of Total Annual Burden: The 

current annual burden for this collection is 

19,424 hours. The proposed rule would 

increase the total annual burden by 

approximately 9,105 hours. The calculation 

of the annual burden increase for the Oil 

Record Book entries is shown in Table 6. 

2. Information Collection Request: OMB 

control number 1625–0041 MARPOL 73/78 

Related Documents STS Operations Plan. 

Title: Various International Agreement 

Pollution Prevention Certificates and 

Documents, and Equivalency Certificates (33 

CFR 156.400 through 156.420, Subpart D– 

Prevention of Pollution During Transfer of 

Oil Cargo Between Oil Tankers at Sea). 

Summary of the Information Collection 

Request: The Coast Guard is requiring oil 

tankers and tank barges of 150 gross tons and 

above that engage in transfers of oil at sea to 

comply with an international agreement 

(MARPOL 73/78), to which the U.S. is a 

signatory, in order to reduce the possibility 

of an accidental oil spill/discharge during a 

STS transfer operation. 

Need for Information: These provisions of 

the proposed rule incorporate the new 

Chapter 8 of the 2009 Amendments to Annex 

I adopted in MEPC.186(59) adopted in the 

2009 Amendments to Annex I. The 2009 

Amendments to Annex I relate to regulations 

covering STS operations. This Amendment 

entered into force on January 1, 2011 for all 

nations that are signatory to MARPOL 73/78. 

Proposed Use of Information: The Coast 

Guard uses this information to confirm that 

each ship involved in STS Operations is in 

compliance with the new Chapter 8 of the 

2009 Amendments to MARPOL 73/78. This 

procedural information documents that each 

ship involved in STS Operations is 

compliant with industry guidelines designed 

to ensure against oil discharges in STS 

Operations. 

Description of the Respondents: This ICR 

would apply to oil tankers and tank barges 

who engage in STS Operations. 

Number of Respondents: The current 

approval number of responses is 1,210, 

which represents 842 non-tank vessels and 

368 tank ships and barges. The proposed rule 

would require additional reporting from tank 

ships and barges whose population is 

currently 512. The increase in the number of 

respondents would be 144 ships (512¥368). 

Frequency of Response: The frequency of 

response is a non-recurring burden for the 

initial preparation of an STS Operations Plan 

and the recurring annual burden for updates 

to the plan and familiarization (training) of 

responsible persons. 

Burden of Response: The preparation of the 

STS Operations Plan involves the 

development of twelve procedures and we 

have estimated that most procedures would 

take approximately twelve hours to complete. 

The general requirements of the STS 

Operations Plan involve definitions of the 

responsibilities of the person in overall 

advisory control; descriptions of the required 

notifications to authorities; and general 

procedures for submitting radio navigational 

warnings and where copies of the STS 

Operations Plan should be located. The 

recurring burden of the plan has two 

components: training of 5 hours per vessel 

per year; and plan revisions of 9 hours per 

vessel per year. The calculations for the nonrecurring costs of plan preparation are shown 

in Table 7 and the calculations for the 

recurring annual costs are shown in Table 8. 

Estimate of Total Annual Burden: The 

current annual burden for this collection is 

2,067 hours. The proposed rule would 

increase the total burden by a non-recurring 

requirement of approximately 69,120 hours 

for preparation of the STS Operations Plan 

and a recurring burden of approximately 

7,168 hours. 


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TABLE 6—RECURRING

ANNUAL

BURDEN—OIL

RECORD

BOOK

ENTRIES

[OMB control number 1625–0009] 

Oil Record Book entries 

Current Collection of Information 

Total 

annual 

cost to 

industry 

Amended Collection of Information 

Total annual 

cost to 

industry 

Change from 

proposed rule 

Entries 

per ship 

per year 

Burden 

hours per 

entry 

Number 

of ships 

Burden 

hours 

Annual 

cost to 

industry 

per hour 

Entries 

per ship 

per year 

Burden 

hours per 

entry 

Number 

of ships 

Burden 

hours 

Annual 

cost to 

industry 

per hour 

Change 

in hours 

Change 

in cost 

Oil Tankers ............................................. 540 0.04167 61 1,372 $99.00 $135,890 762 0.04167 51 1,619 $99.00 $160,320 247 $24,430 Tank Barges ........................................... 540 0.04167 461 10,372 72.00 746,880 762 0.04167 461 14,638 72.00 1,053,930 4,264 307,050 Non-Oil Vessels ...................................... 180 0.04167 1,024 7,680 72.00 553,000 254 0.04167 1,160 12,278 72.00 883,990 4,593 330,990 

Totals ............................................... ................ ................ 1,546 19,425 ................ 1,435,770 ................ ................ 1,672 28,535 ................ 2,098,240 9,105 662,470 

Note: Numbers may not add due to rounding. 


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TABLE 7—BURDEN OF REPORTING FROM STS OPERATIONS PLAN REQUIREMENTS: NON-RECURRING BURDEN

[OMB control number 1625–00090041] 

Ship type Number of 

ships 

Current 

requirement 

Amended requirement—plan preparation 

(non-recurring burden) Total change 

in hours Burden hours 

per ship Cost per hour Total nonrecurring cost 

Oil Tanker ................................................................................. 51 ........................ 135 $36.00 $247,860 6,885 

Tank Barge ............................................................................... 461 ........................ 135 36.00 2,240,460 62,235 

Total .................................................................................. 512 ........................ ........................ ........................ 2,448,320 69,120 

Note: Numbers may not add due to rounding. 

TABLE 8—BURDEN OF REPORTING FROM STS OPERATIONS PLAN REQUIREMENTS: RECURRING BURDEN

[OMB control number 1625–00090041] 

Ship type Number of 

ships 

Current 

requirement 

Amended requirement—STS operations 

plan training 

(recurring burden) 

Amended requirement—STS operations plan 

revision 

(recurring burden) Total 

recurring 

costs 

Total 

change in 

hours Burden hours 

per ship 

Cost per 

hour 

Total 

recurring 

cost— 

training 

Burden hours 

per ship Cost per hour 

Total 

recurring 

cost—plan 

revision 

Oil Tanker ....... 51 ................. 5 $43.70 $11,144 9 $36.00 $16,524 $27,668 714 

Tank Barge ..... 461 ................. 5 43.70 100,729 9 36.00 149,364 250,093 6,454 

Total ........ 512 ................. .......................... ................. 111,873 .......................... .......................... 165,888 277,761 7,168 

Note: Numbers may not add due to rounding. 

If you submit comments on the COI, 

submit them both to OMB and to the 

Docket Management Facility where 

indicated under ADDRESSES in the 

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking [USCG– 

2010–0194], by the date under DATES. 

E. Federalism 

A rule has implications for federalism 

under Executive Order 13132, 

Federalism, if it has a substantial direct 

effect on State or local governments and 

would either preempt State law or 

impose a substantial direct cost of 

compliance on them. The U.S. Supreme 

Court has long recognized the field 

preemptive impact of the Federal 

regulatory regime for inspected vessels. 

See, e.g., Kelly v. Washington ex rel Foss 

Co., 302 U.S. 1 (1937) and the 

consolidated cases of United States v. 

Locke and Intertanko v. Locke, 529 U.S. 

89, 113–116 (2000). Therefore the Coast 

Guard’s view is that regulations issued 

under the authority of 33 U.S.C. 1903 

and 46 U.S.C. 3306 in the areas of 

design, construction, alteration, 

operation, hulls, fittings, equipment, 

appliances, propulsion machinery, 

auxiliary machinery, piping, and 

material safety labeling have preemptive 

effect over State regulation in these 

fields, regardless of whether the Coast 

Guard has issued regulations on the 

subject or not, and regardless of the 

existence of conflict between the State 

and Coast Guard regulation. For this 

reason, we do not believe that this rule 

has Federalism implications. 

While it is well settled that States may 

not regulate in categories in which 

Congress intended the Coast Guard to be 

the sole source of a vessel’s obligations, 

as these categories are within a field 

foreclosed from regulation by the States 

(see U.S. v. Locke, above), the Coast 

Guard recognizes the key role State and 

local governments may have in making 

regulatory determinations. Additionally, 

Sections 4 and 6 of Executive Order 

13132 require that for any rules with 

preemptive effect, the Coast Guard shall 

provide elected officials of affected State 

and local governments and their 

representative national organizations 

the notice and opportunity for 

appropriate participation in any 

rulemaking proceedings, and to consult 

with such officials early in the 

rulemaking process. Therefore, we 

invite affected State and local 

governments and their representative 

national organizations to indicate their 

desire for participation and consultation 

in this rulemaking process by 

submitting comments to the docket 

using one of the methods specified 

under ADDRESSES. In accordance with 

Executive Order 13132, the Coast Guard 

will provide a federalism impact 

statement to document (1) the extent of 

the Coast Guard’s consultation with 

State and local officials that submit 

comments to this proposed rule, (2) a 

summary of the nature of any concerns 

raised by State or local governments and 

the Coast Guard’s position thereon, and 

(3) a statement of the extent to which 

the concerns of State and local officials 

have been met. 

F. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1531–1538) requires 

Federal agencies to assess the effects of 

their discretionary regulatory actions. In 

particular, the Act addresses actions 

that may result in the expenditure by a 

State, local, or tribal government, in the 

aggregate, or by the private sector of 

$100,000,000 or more (adjusted for 

inflation) in any one year. Though this 

proposed rule would not result in such 

expenditure, we do discuss the effects of 

this rule elsewhere in this preamble and 

in the Regulatory Analysis. 

G. Taking of Private Property 

This proposed rule would not affect a 

taking of private property or otherwise 

have taking implications under 

Executive Order 12630, Governmental 

Actions and Interference with 

Constitutionally Protected Property 

Rights. 

H. Civil Justice Reform 

This proposed rule meets applicable 

standards in sections 3(a) and 3(b)(2) of 

Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice 

Reform, to minimize litigation, 

eliminate ambiguity, and reduce 

burden. 

I. Protection of Children 

We have analyzed this proposed rule 

under Executive Order 13045, 

Protection of Children from 

Environmental Health Risks and Safety 


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Risks. This rule is not an economically 

significant rule and would not create an 

environmental risk to health or risk to 

safety that might disproportionately 

affect children. 

J. Indian Tribal Governments 

This proposed rule does not have 

tribal implications under Executive 

Order 13175, Consultation and 

Coordination with Indian Tribal 

Governments, because it would not have 

a substantial direct effect on one or 

more Indian tribes, on the relationship 

between the Federal Government and 

Indian tribes, or on the distribution of 

power and responsibilities between the 

Federal Government and Indian tribes. 

K. Energy Effects 

We have analyzed this proposed rule 

under Executive Order 13211, Actions 

Concerning Regulations That 

Significantly Affect Energy Supply, 

Distribution, or Use. We have 

determined that it is not a ‘‘significant 

energy action’’ under that order because 

it is not a ‘‘significant regulatory action’’ 

under Executive Order 12866 and is not 

likely to have a significant adverse effect 

on the supply, distribution, or use of 

energy. The Administrator of the Office 

of Information and Regulatory Affairs 

has not designated it as a significant 

energy action. Therefore, it does not 

require a Statement of Energy Effects 

under Executive Order 13211. 

L. Technical Standards 

The National Technology Transfer 

and Advancement Act (15 U.S.C. 272 

note) directs agencies to use voluntary 

consensus standards in their regulatory 

activities unless the agency provides 

Congress, through the OMB, with an 

explanation of why using these 

standards would be inconsistent with 

applicable law or otherwise impractical. 

Voluntary consensus standards are 

technical standards (e.g., specifications 

of materials, performance, design, or 

operation; test methods; sampling 

procedures; and related management 

systems practices) that are developed or 

adopted by voluntary consensus 

standards bodies. 

This proposed rule uses the following 

voluntary consensus standards: 

1. Ship to Ship Transfer Guide, Petroleum, 

2. Manual on Oil Pollution, Section I: 

Pollution, 

3. Guide to Helicopter/Ship Operations, 

and 

4. ISO 8217:2005, Petroleum products. 

The proposed sections that reference 

these standards and the locations where 

these standards are available are listed 

in 33 CFR 155.140, 33 CFR 156.111, 33 

CFR 157.02, and 46 CFR 197.810. 

If you disagree with our analysis of 

the voluntary consensus standards 

listed above or are aware of voluntary 

consensus standards that might apply 

but are not listed, please send a 

comment to the docket using one of the 

methods under ADDRESSES. In your 

comment, please explain why you 

disagree with our analysis and/or 

identify voluntary consensus standards 

we have not listed that might apply. 

M. Environment 

We have analyzed this proposed rule 

under Department of Homeland 

Security Management Directive 023–01 

and Commandant Instruction 

M16475.lD, which guide the Coast 

Guard in complying with the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

U.S.C. 4321–4370f), and have made a 

preliminary determination that this 

action is one of a category of actions that 

do not individually or cumulatively 

have a significant effect on the human 

environment. A preliminary 

environmental analysis checklist 

supporting this determination is 

available in the docket where indicated 

under the ‘‘Public Participation and 

Request for Comments’’ section of this 

preamble. This rule involves regulations 

which are editorial or procedural; 

regulations concerning manning, 

documentation, admeasurement, 

inspection, and equipping of vessels; 

and congressionally mandated 

regulations. This rule falls under section 

2.B.2, figure 2–1, paragraphs 34(a) and 

(d) of the Instruction and under section 

6(b) of the ‘‘Appendix to National 

Environmental Policy Act: Coast Guard 

Procedures for Categorical Exclusions, 

Notice of Final Agency Policy’’ (67 FR 

48244, July 23, 2002). We seek any 

comments or information that may lead 

to the discovery of a significant 

environmental impact from this 

proposed rule. 

List of Subjects 

33 CFR Part 151 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Oil pollution, Penalties, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Water pollution control. 

33 CFR Part 155 

Alaska, Hazardous substances, 

Incorporation by reference, Oil 

pollution, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

33 CFR Part 156 

Hazardous substances, Incorporation 

by reference, Oil pollution, Reporting 

and recordkeeping requirements, Water 

pollution control. 

33 CFR Part 157 

Cargo vessels, Incorporation by 

reference, Oil pollution, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

46 CFR Part 197 

Benzene, Diving, Incorporation by 

reference, Marine safety, Occupational 

safety and health, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements, Vessels. 

For the reasons discussed in the 

preamble, the Coast Guard proposes to 

amend 33 CFR parts 151, 155, 156, and 

157, and 46 CFR part 197, as follows: 

Title 33—Navigation and Navigable 

Waters 

PART 151—VESSELS CARRYING OIL, 

NOXIOUS LIQUID SUBSTANCES, 

GARBAGE, MUNICIPAL OR 

COMMERCIAL WASTE, AND BALLAST 

WATER 

1. The authority citation for part 151 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1321, 1903, 1908; 46 

U.S.C. 6101; Pub. L. 104–227 (110 Stat. 

3034); E.O. 12777, 3 CFR, 1991 Comp. p. 351; 

Department of Homeland Security Delegation 

No. 170.1. 

2. Amend § 151.05 as follows: 

a. Remove the second definition for 

‘‘Oily mixture’’ that reads ‘‘Oily mixture 

means a mixture with any oil content, 

including bilge slops, oily wastes, oil 

residues (sludge), oily ballast water, and 

washings from cargo oil tanks’’; 

b. Relocate, in alphabetical order, the 

definitions for ‘‘Oil-like NLS’’ and ‘‘Oil 

tanker’’; 

c. Revise the definition for ‘‘Oil 

residue’’ as set out below; and 

d. Add new definitions, in 

alphabetical order, for ‘‘Oil residue 

(sludge)’’, ‘‘Oil residue (sludge) tank’’, 

‘‘Oily bilge water’’, and ‘‘Oily bilge 

water holding tank’’, as set out below. 

§ 151.05 Definitions. 

* * * * * 

Oil residue means oil cargo residue. 

Oil residue (sludge) means the 

residual waste oil products generated 

during the normal operation of a ship 

such as those resulting from the 

purification of fuel or lubricating oil for 

main or auxiliary machinery, separated 

waste oil from oil filtering equipment, 

waste oil collected in drip trays, and 

waste hydraulic and lubricating oils. 

Oil residue (sludge) tank means a tank 

which holds oil residue (sludge) from 

which sludge may be disposed directly 

through the standard discharge 


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connection or any other approved 

means of disposal. 

* * * * * 

Oily bilge water means water which 

may be contaminated by oil resulting 

from things such as leakage or 

maintenance work in machinery spaces. 

Any liquid entering the bilge system 

including bilge wells, bilge piping, tank 

top or bilge holding tanks is considered 

oily bilge water. 

Oily bilge water holding tank means a 

tank collecting oily bilge water prior to 

its discharge, transfer or disposal. 

* * * * * 

3. In § 151.13, revise paragraph (a) to 

read as follows: 

§ 151.13 Special areas for Annex I of 

MARPOL 73/78. 

(a) For the purposes of §§ 151.09 

through 151.25 of this subpart, the 

special areas are the Mediterranean Sea 

area, the Baltic Sea area, the Black Sea 

area, the Red Sea area, the Gulfs area, 

the Gulf of Aden, the Antarctic area, the 

North West European waters, the Oman 

area of the Arabian Sea, and the 

Southern South African Waters, which 

are described in § 151.06 of this subpart. 

The discharge restrictions are effective 

in the Mediterranean Sea, Baltic Sea, 

Black Sea, and the Antarctic area. 

* * * * * 

4. In § 151.25, revise paragraphs 

(d)(3), (d)(4), (e)(9), and (e)(10), and add 

paragraphs (d)(5), (d)(6), and (e)(11) to 

read as follows: 

§ 151.25 Oil Record Book. 

* * * * * 

(d) * * * 

(3) Disposal of oil residue; 

(4) Discharge overboard or disposal 

otherwise of bilge water that has 

accumulated in machinery spaces; 

(5) Bunkering of fuel or bulk 

lubricating oil; and 

(6) Any failure, and the reasons for, of 

the oil filtering equipment. 

(e) * * * 

(9) Closing of valves necessary for 

isolation of dedicated clean ballast tanks 

from cargo and stripping lines after slop 

tank discharge operations; 

(10) Disposal of oil residue; and 

(11) Any failure, and the reasons for, 

of the oil discharge monitoring and 

control system. 

* * * * * 

PART 155—OIL OR HAZARDOUS 

MATERIAL POLLUTION PREVENTION 

REGULATIONS FOR VESSELS 

5. The authority citation for part 155 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1231, 1321(j), 1903; 

46 U.S.C. 3703; E.O. 12777, 56 FR 54757, 3 

CFR, 1991 Comp., p. 351; Department of 

Homeland Security Delegation No. 0170.1. 

Sections 155.100 through 155.130, 150.350 

through 155.400, 155.430, 155.440, 155.470, 

155.1030(j) and (k), and 155.1065(g) are also 

issued under 33 U.S.C. 1903(b). Section 

155.490 also issued under section 4110(b) of 

Pub. L. 101–380. Sections 155.1110 through 

155.1150 also issued under 33 U.S.C. 2735. 

6. In § 155.140, add paragraph (d)(3) 

to read as follows: 

§ 155.140 Incorporation by reference. 

* * * * * 

(d) * * * 

(3) MARPOL 73/78, Annex I, 

regulation 12A, incorporation by 

reference approved for § 155.250. 

* * * * * 

7. Add § 155.250 to read as follows: 

§ 155.250 Oil fuel tank protection. 

Each ship with an aggregate oil fuel 

capacity of 600 cubic meters or more 

that is delivered on or after August 1, 

2010, must meet the minimum standard 

of oil fuel tank protection required by 

Annex I, regulation 12A (incorporated 

by reference, see § 155.140). 

8. In § 155.360, revise paragraph 

(a)(1), add paragraph (a)(3), revise 

paragraph (b) introductory text, and add 

paragraph (b)(3) to read as follows: 

§ 155.360 Oily mixture (bilge slops) 

discharges on oceangoing ships of 400 

gross tons and above but less than 10,000 

gross tons, excluding ships that carry 

ballast water in their fuel oil tanks. 

(a)(1) Except as provided in paragraph 

(a)(3) of this section, no person may 

operate an oceangoing ship of 400 gross 

tons and above but less than 10,000 

gross tons, excluding a ship that carries 

ballast water in its fuel oil tanks, unless 

it is fitted with approved 15 parts per 

million (ppm) oily-water separating 

equipment for the processing of oily 

mixtures from bilges or fuel oil tank 

ballast. 

* * * * * 

(3) Any ship certified under the 

International Code of Safety for HighSpeed Craft engaged on a scheduled 

service with a turn-around time not 

exceeding 24 hours and covering also 

non-passenger/cargo-carrying relocation 

voyages for these ships need not be 

provided with oil filtering equipment. 

These ships must be fitted with an oily 

bilge water holding tank having a 

volume adequate for the total retention 

onboard of the oily bilge water. All oily 

bilge water must be retained onboard for 

subsequent discharge to reception 

facilities. 

(b) No person may operate a ship 

under this section unless it is fitted with 

an oil residue (sludge) tank or tanks of 

adequate capacity to receive the oil 

residue that cannot be dealt with 

otherwise. 

* * * * * 

(3) Ships subject to this section 

must— 

(i) Be provided with a designated 

pump for disposal that is capable of 

taking suction from the oil residue 

(sludge) tank(s); and 

(ii) Have no discharge connections to 

the bilge system, oily bilge water 

holding tank(s), tank top or oily water 

separators except that the tank(s) may be 

fitted with drains, with manually 

operated self-closing valves and 

arrangements for subsequent visual 

monitoring of the settled water, that 

lead to an oily bilge water holding tank 

or bilge well, or an alternative 

arrangement, provided such 

arrangement does not connect directly 

to the bilge piping system. 

* * * * * 

9. In § 155.370, revise paragraph (a) 

introductory text, add paragraph (a)(5), 

revise paragraph (b) introductory text 

and add paragraph (b)(3) to read as 

follows: 

§ 155.370 Oily mixture (bilge slops)/fuel oil 

tank ballast water discharges on 

oceangoing ships of 10,000 gross tons and 

above and oceangoing ships of 400 gross 

tons and above that carry ballast water in 

their fuel oil tanks. 

(a) Except as provided in paragraph 

(a)(5) of this section, no person may 

operate an oceangoing ship of 10,000 

gross tons and above, or any oceangoing 

ship of 400 gross tons and above, that 

carries ballast water in its fuel oil tanks, 

unless it has— 

* * * * * 

(5) Any ship certified under the 

International Code of Safety for HighSpeed Craft engaged on a scheduled 

service with a turn-around time not 

exceeding 24 hours and covering also 

non-passenger/cargo-carrying relocation 

voyages for these ships need not be 

provided with oil filtering equipment. 

These ships must be fitted with an oily 

bilge water holding tank having a 

volume adequate for the total retention 

onboard of the oily bilge water. All oily 

bilge water must be retained onboard for 

subsequent discharge to reception 

facilities. 

* * * * * 

(b) No person may operate a ship 

under this section unless it is fitted with 

an oil residue (sludge) tank or tanks of 

adequate capacity to receive the oil 

residue that cannot be dealt with 

otherwise. 

* * * * * 

(3) Ships subject to this section 

must— 


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(i) Be provided with a designated 

pump for disposal that is capable of 

taking suction from the oil residue 

(sludge) tank(s); and 

(ii) Have no discharge connections to 

the bilge system, oily bilge water 

holding tank(s), tank top or oily water 

separators except that the tank(s) may be 

fitted with drains, with manually 

operated self-closing valves and 

arrangements for subsequent visual 

monitoring of the settled water, that 

lead to an oily bilge water holding tank 

or bilge well, or an alternative 

arrangement, provided such 

arrangement does not connect directly 

to the bilge piping system. 

* * * * * 

PART 156—OIL OR HAZARDOUS 

MATERIAL POLLUTION PREVENTION 

REGULATIONS FOR VESSELS 

10. The authority citation for part 156 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1231, 1321(j); 46 

U.S.C. 3703a, 3715, 6101; E.O. 11735, 3 CFR 

1971–1975 Comp., p. 793. Section 

156.120(bb) is also issued under 46 U.S.C. 

3703. 

11. Revise § 156.111 to read as 

follows: 

§ 156.111 Incorporation by reference. 

(a) Certain material is incorporated by 

reference into this part with the 

approval of the Director of the Federal 

Register under 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 

CFR part 51. To enforce any edition 

other than that specified in this section, 

the Coast Guard must publish notice of 

change in the Federal Register and the 

material must be available to the public. 

All approved material is available for 

inspection at the U.S. Coast Guard, 

Office of Compliance (CG–543), 2100 

2nd Street SW., Washington, DC 20593– 

0001, telephone 202–372–1251, and is 

available from the sources listed below. 

It is also available for inspection at the 

National Archives and Records 

Administration (NARA). For 

information on the availability of this 

material at NARA, call 202–741–6030 or 

go to: http://www.archives.gov/ 

federal_register/ 

code_of_federal_regulations/ 

ibr_locations.html. 

(b) Oil Companies International 

Marine Forum (OCIMF), 15th Floor, 96 

Victoria Street, London SW1E 5JW, 

England, telephone +44(0)20 7654 1200, 

http://www.ocimf.com/. 

(1) Ship to Ship Transfer Guide, 

Petroleum, Fourth Edition, 2005, 

incorporation by reference approved for 

§ 156.330(b), § 156.410(c)(2), and 

§ 156.410(f). 

(2) [Reserved] 

(c) International Maritime 

Organization (IMO), 4 Albert 

Embankment, London SE1 7SR, United 

Kingdom, telephone +44(0)20 7735 

7611, http://www.imo.org/. 

(1) Manual on Oil Pollution, Section 

I: Prevention, as amended, 

incorporation by reference approved for 

§ 156.410(c)(2), and § 156.410(f). 

(2) [Reserved] 

(d) International Chamber of 

Shipping, 12 Carthusian Street, London 

EC1M 6EB, England, telephone +44 20 

7417 8844, http://www.marisec.org/. 

(1) Guide to Helicopter/Ship 

Operations, Fourth Edition, 2009, 

incorporation by reference approved for 

§ 156.330(c). 

(2) [Reserved] 

§ 156.200 [Amended] 

12. In § 156.200 after the words 

‘‘when conducting response activities’’ 

add the words ‘‘, or to tank vessels of 

150 gross tons or more engaged in the 

transfer of oil cargo between tank 

vessels at sea on or after April 1, 2012.’’. 

§ 156.205 [Amended] 

13. In § 156.205 revise the definition 

of Lightering or Lightering operation to 

read as follows: 

§ 156.205 Definitions. 

* * * * * 

Lightering or Lightering operation 

means the transfer of a cargo of oil in 

bulk from one oil tanker less than 150 

gross tons to another oil tanker less than 

150 gross tons, or a cargo of hazardous 

material in bulk from one vessel to 

another, including all phases of the 

operation from the beginning of the 

mooring operation to the departure of 

the service vessel from the vessel to be 

lightered, except when that cargo is 

intended only for use as fuel or 

lubricant aboard the receiving vessel. 

14. In § 156.330, revise paragraphs (b) 

and (c) to read as follows: 

§ 156.330 Operations. 

* * * * * 

(b) Lightering operations should be 

conducted in accordance with the Oil 

Companies International Marine Forum 

(OCIMF) Ship to Ship Transfer Guide, 

Petroleum, Fourth Edition, 2005 

(incorporated by reference, see 

§ 156.111) to the maximum extent 

practicable. 

(c) Helicopter operations should be 

conducted in accordance with the 

International Chamber of Shipping 

Guide to Helicopter/Ship Operations, 

Fourth Edition, 2009 (incorporated by 

reference, see § 156.111) to the 

maximum extent practicable. 

* * * * * 

15. Add subpart D, consisting of 

§§ 156.400 through 156.420, to read as 

follows: 

Subpart D—Prevention of Pollution During 

Transfer of Oil Cargo Between Oil Tankers 

at Sea 

Sec. 

156.400 Applicability. 

156.405 Definitions. 

156.410 General. 

156.415 Notification. 

156.420 Reporting of Incidents. 

§ 156.400 Applicability. 

Subpart D—Prevention of Pollution 

During Transfer of Oil Cargo Between 

Oil Tankers at Sea 

(a) This subpart applies to oil tankers 

engaged in the ship-to-ship transfer of 

oil cargo between oil tankers (STS 

Operations), and to their STS 

Operations conducted on or after April 

1, 2012, when at least one of the oil 

tankers is of 150 gross tonnage and 

above. These rules are in addition to the 

rules of subpart A of this part, as well 

as the rules in the applicable sections of 

parts 151, 153, 155, 156, and 157 of this 

chapter. 

(b) This subpart does not apply to STS 

Operations— 

(1) If the oil cargo is intended only for 

use as a fuel or lubricant aboard the 

receiving vessel (bunker operations); 

(2) When the oil transfer operation is 

for the purpose of securing the safety of 

a ship, saving life at sea, or addressing 

specific pollution incidents to minimize 

damage from pollution; or 

(3) When at least one of the ships 

involved in the oil transfer operation is 

a warship or a naval auxiliary or other 

ship owned or operated by a nation and 

used, at the time of the transfer, in 

government noncommercial service 

only. 

(4) When the STS Operations are 

necessary for the purpose of securing 

the safety of a ship or saving life at sea, 

or for combating specific pollution 

incidents in order to minimize the 

damage from pollution; except that such 

vessels are subject to the requirements 

of § 156.420. 

§ 156.405 Definitions. 

(a) In addition to the definitions 

specifically stated in this section, the 

definitions in § 154.105 of this chapter 

apply to this subpart except definitions 

for Tank Barge, Tank Ship and Tank 

Vessel. 

(b) Definitions specific to this part— 

Authorized Classification Society 

means a recognized classification 

society that has been delegated the 

authority to conduct certain functions 


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and certifications on behalf of the Coast 

Guard. 

Flag State means the authority under 

which a country exercises regulatory 

control over the commercial vessel 

which is registered under its flag. This 

involves the inspection, certification, 

and issuance of safety and pollution 

prevention documents. 

Marine environment means— 

(1) The navigable waters of the United 

States; 

(2) The waters of an area over which 

the United States asserts exclusive 

fishery management authority; and 

(3) The waters superjacent to the 

Outer Continental Shelf of the United 

States. 

Oil tanker means a vessel that is 

constructed or adapted primarily to 

carry crude oil or products in bulk as 

cargo. This includes a tank barge, a 

tankship, and a combination carrier, as 

well as a vessel that is constructed or 

adapted primarily to carry noxious 

liquid substances in bulk as cargo and 

which also carries crude oil or products 

in bulk as cargo. 

STS Operations means the transfer of 

oil cargo carried in bulk from one oil 

tanker to another at sea, when at least 

one of the oil tankers is of 150 gross 

tonnage and above. 

§ 156.410 General. 

(a) After April 1, 2012, oil tankers 

subject to this subpart, and for each U.S. 

oil tanker, wherever located, subject to 

this subpart, shall carry onboard an STS 

Operations Plan that prescribes how 

that vessel will conduct STS 

Operations. 

(b) Any oil tanker subject to this 

subpart must carry onboard an STS 

Operations Plan, prescribing how to 

conduct STS Operations, no later than 

the date of the first annual, 

intermediate, or renewal survey of the 

oil tanker, which must be carried out on 

or after January 1, 2011. 

(c) The STS Operations Plan must 

be— 

(1) Written in the working language of 

the oil tanker’s crew; 

(2) Developed using the information 

contained in the best practice guidelines 

for STS Operations identified in the 

IMO Manual on Oil Pollution, Section 1: 

Prevention, as amended, and in the ICS 

and OCIMF Ship to Ship Transfer Guide 

(Petroleum), fourth edition, 2005 (both 

documents are incorporated by 

reference, see § 156.111); and 

(3) Approved by the vessel’s Flag 

State for oil tankers operated under the 

authority of a country other than the 

United States. For U.S. oil tankers, the 

STS Operations Plan must be approved 

by the Commandant (CG–5431) or an 

Authorized Classification Society. 

(d) When chapter IX of the 

International Convention for the Safety 

of Life at Sea, 1974, as amended is 

applicable to the vessel, the STS 

Operations Plan may be incorporated 

into an existing required Safety 

Management System. 

(e) Any oil tanker subject to this 

subpart must comply with the vessel’s 

approved STS Operations Plan while 

engaging in STS Operations. 

(f) The person in overall advisory 

control of STS Operations must be 

qualified to perform all relevant duties, 

taking into account the qualifications 

found in the best practice guidelines for 

STS Operations identified in the IMO 

Manual on Oil Pollution, Section I: 

Prevention, as amended, and in the ICS 

and OCIMF Ship to Ship Transfer Guide 

(Petroleum), fourth edition, 2005 (both 

documents are incorporated by 

reference, see § 156.111). 

(g) In addition to any records required 

by the vessel’s approved STS 

Operations Plan, each STS operation 

must be recorded in the oil tanker’s Oil 

Record Book, required by § 151.25 of 

this chapter. 

(h) All records of STS Operations 

shall be retained onboard for 3 years 

and be readily available for inspection. 

(i) No oil tanker may transfer oil in a 

port or place subject to the jurisdiction 

of the United States, if the oil cargo has 

been transferred by an STS Operation in 

the marine environment beyond the 

baseline, unless: 

(1) Both oil tankers engaged in the 

STS Operation have, onboard, at the 

time of transfer all certificates required 

by this chapter for transfer of oil cargos, 

including a valid Certificate of 

Inspection or Certificate of Compliance, 

as applicable to any transfer of oil taking 

place in a port or place subject to the 

jurisdiction of the United States; 

(2) Both oil tankers engaged in the 

STS operation have onboard at the time 

of transfer, evidence that each vessel is 

operating in compliance with the 

National Response System as described 

in section 311(j) of the Federal Water 

Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 

1321(j)). Additionally, the vessels must 

comply with the Declaration of 

Inspection requirements delineated in 

§ 156.150 and a vessel response plan if 

required under part 155 of this chapter; 

and 

(3) Both oil tankers engaged in STS 

Operations have onboard, at the time of 

transfer, an International Oil Pollution 

Prevention (IOPP) Certificate or 

equivalent documentation of 

compliance with Annex I, as would be 

required by part 151 of this chapter for 

vessels in navigable waters of the 

United States. The IOPP Certificate or 

documentation of compliance shall be 

that prescribed by §§ 151.19 and 151.21 

of this chapter, and shall be effective 

under the same timetable as specified in 

§ 151.19. 

(j) In an emergency, the Captain of the 

Port (COTP), upon request, may 

authorize a deviation from any 

requirement in this part if the COTP 

determines that its application will 

endanger persons, property, or the 

environment. 

§ 156.415 Notification. 

(a) Except as provided for in 

paragraph (g) of this section, the master, 

owner or agent of each oil tanker subject 

to this subpart planning to conduct STS 

Operations in the territorial sea or 

exclusive economic zone of the United 

States must give at least 48 hours 

advance notice to the COTP nearest the 

geographic position chosen to conduct 

these operations. This advance notice 

must include: 

(1) The oil tanker’s name, call sign or 

official number, and registry; 

(2) The cargo type and approximate 

amount onboard; 

(3) The number of transfers expected, 

the amount of cargo expected to be 

transferred during each transfer, and 

whether such transfer will be conducted 

at anchor or underway; 

(4) The date, estimated time of arrival, 

and geographical location at the 

commencement of the planned STS 

Operations; 

(5) The estimated duration of STS 

Operations; 

(6) Whether STS operations are to be 

conducted at anchor or underway; 

(7) The name and destination of 

receiving oil tanker(s); 

(8) Identification of STS Operations 

service provider or person in overall 

advisory control and contact 

information; and 

(9) Confirmation that the oil tanker 

has onboard an approved STS 

Operations Plan. 

(c) If the estimated arrival time of an 

oil tanker to the reported geographic 

location for the commencement of STS 

operation changes by more than 6 hours, 

the master, owner, or agent of that oil 

tanker must provide a revised estimated 

time of arrival to the COTP. 

(d) Where STS Operations are 

conducted as a result of collision, 

grounding, tank rupture or any similar 

emergency, the master, owner, or agent 

of a vessel must give immediate notice 

to the Coast Guard office. 

(e) In addition to the other 

requirements in this section, the master, 

owner, or agent of a vessel that requires 

a Certificate of Compliance (COC) or 

other special Coast Guard inspection in 


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order to conduct STS Operations must 

request the COC or other inspection 

from the cognizant Officer in Charge, 

Marine Inspection (OCMI) at least 72 

hours prior to commencement of STS 

Operations. 

(f) The STS Operation advanced 

notice is in addition to the Notification 

of Arrival requirements in 33 CFR Part 

160. 

(g) The master, owner or agent of each 

oil tanker subject to this subpart 

planning to conduct STS Operations in 

a designated lightering zone must give 

at least 24 hours advance notice to the 

COTP nearest the geographic position 

chosen to conduct these operations. 

This advance notice must include the 

items listed in paragraph (a) of this 

section. 

(h) If STS operations are conducted 

under exigent circumstances to secure 

the safety of a ship, save life at sea, or 

combat specific incidents in order to 

minimize the damage from pollution 

within the territorial sea or exclusive 

economic zone of the United States, the 

master, owner, or agent of each oil 

tanker subject this subpart shall provide 

notice with adequate explanation, as 

soon as practicable, to the COTP nearest 

the geographic position where the 

exigent STS operation took place. 

§ 156.420 Reporting of incidents. 

(a) Any vessel affected by fire, 

explosion, collision, grounding, or any 

similar emergency that poses a threat to 

the vessel(s) engaged in STS Operations 

must report the incident to the nearest 

Coast Guard office. 

(b) The receiving vessel in an STS 

operation must report, in accordance 

with the procedures specified in 

§ 151.15 of this chapter, any incident of 

discharge of oil into the water. 

(c) Immediately after the addressing of 

resultant safety concerns, all marine 

casualties must be reported to the 

nearest COTP, Sector Office, Marine 

Inspection Office, or OCMI in 

accordance with 46 CFR part 4. 

PART 157—RULES FOR THE 

PROTECTION OF THE MARINE 

ENVIRONMENT RELATING TO TANK 

VESSELS CARRYING OIL IN BULK 

16. The authority citation for part 157 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1903; 46 U.S.C. 3703, 

3703a (note); Department of Homeland 

Security Delegation No. 0170.1. Subparts G, 

H, and I are also issued under section 

4115(b), Pub. L. 101–380, 104 Stat. 520; Pub. 

L. 104–55, 109 Stat. 546. 

17. In § 157.02, add paragraphs (b)(9) 

and (b)(10) to read as follows: 

§ 157.02 Incorporation by reference: 

Where can I get a copy of the publications 

mentioned in this part? 

* * * * * 

(b) * * * 

(9) MARPOL 73/78, Annex I, 

regulation 22, incorporation by 

reference approved for § 157.14. 

(10) MARPOL 73/78, Annex I, 

regulation 23, incorporation by 

reference approved for § 157.20. 

* * * * * 

18. In § 157.08, add paragraph (o) to 

read as follows: 

§ 157.08 Applicability of subpart B. 

* * * * * 

(o) Section 157.11(h) applies to every 

oil tanker delivered on or after January 

1, 2010, meaning an oil tanker— 

(1) For which the building contract is 

placed on or after January 1, 2007; 

(2) In the absence of a building 

contract, the keel of which is laid or 

which is at a similar stage of 

construction on or after July 1, 2007; 

(3) The delivery of which is on or 

after January 1, 2010; or 

(4) That has undergone a major 

conversion— 

(i) For which the contract is placed on 

or after January 1, 2007; 

(ii) In the absence of a contract, the 

construction work of which is begun on 

or after July 1, 2007; or 

(iii) That is completed on or after 

January 1, 2010. 

19. In § 157.11, add paragraph (h) to 

read as follows: 

§ 157.11 Pumping, piping and discharge 

arrangements. 

* * * * * 

(h) Every oil tanker of 150 gross tons 

or more delivered on or after January 1, 

2010, as defined in § 157.08(o), that has 

installed a sea chest that is permanently 

connected to the cargo pipeline system, 

must be equipped with both a sea chest 

valve and an inboard isolation valve. 

The sea chest must be able to be isolated 

from the cargo piping system by use of 

a positive means while the tanker is 

loading, transporting, or discharging 

cargo. This positive means must be 

installed in the pipeline in such a way 

as to prevent, under all circumstances, 

the section of pipe between the sea 

chest valve and the inboard valve from 

being filled with cargo. 

20. Add § 157.14 to read as follows: 

§ 157.14 Pump-room bottom protection. 

Each oil tanker of 5,000 tons 

deadweight or more constructed on or 

after January 1, 2007, must meet the 

minimum standard of pump room 

bottom protection required by MARPOL 

73/78, as amended, Annex I, regulation 

22 (incorporated by reference, see 

§ 157.02). 

21. Amend § 157.19 as follows: 

a. Revise paragraph (a) introductory 

text to read as set out below; 

b. Redesignate paragraphs (b) through 

(e) as paragraphs (c) through (f), 

respectively; and 

c. Add new paragraph (b) to read as 

follows: 

§ 157.19 Cargo tank arrangement and size. 

(a) With the exception of those vessels 

listed in paragraph (b) of this section, 

this section applies to: 

* * * * * 

(b) This section does not apply to U.S. 

or foreign oil tankers delivered on or 

after January 1, 2010. 

* * * * * 

22. Add § 157.20 to read as follows: 

§ 157.20 Accidental oil outflow 

performance. 

Each oil tanker which is delivered on 

or after January 1, 2010 must meet the 

minimum standard of accidental oil 

outflow performance required by 

MARPOL 73/78 Annex I, regulation 23 

(incorporated by reference, see 

§ 157.02). 

Title 46—Shipping 

PART 197—GENERAL PROVISIONS 

23. The authority citation for part 197 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1509; 43 U.S.C. 1333; 

46 U.S.C. 3306, 3703, 6101; Department of 

Homeland Security Delegation No. 0170.1. 

24. Revise § 197.205 by adding 

paragraph (b)(3) and (b)(4) to read as 

follows: 

§ 197.205 Availability of standards. 

* * * * * 

(b) * * * 

(3) International Standards 

Organization, ISO Central Secretariat, 1, 

ch. de la Voie-Creuse, CP 56, CH–1211 

Geneva 20, Switzerland. 

(4) International Maritime 

Organization, 4 Albert Embankment, 

London SE1 7SR, United Kingdom. 

25. Add subpart D, consisting of 

§§ 197.801 through 197.820, to read as 

follows: 

Subpart D—Hazard Notification 

Sec. 

197.801 Applicability. 

197.805 Definitions. 

197.810 Incorporation by reference. 

197.820 MSDS Certificates. 

Appendix A to Subpart D— 

Recommendations for Material Safety 

Data Sheets (MSDS) for Marine Use That 

Meet the Particular Needs of the Marine 

Industry and Contain Safety, Handling, 

and Environmental Information To Be 


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21380 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 68 / Monday, April 9, 2012 / Proposed Rules 

Supplied to a Ship Prior to the Loading 

of Annex I Type Oil as Cargo in Bulk and 

the Bunkering of Oil Fuel 

Appendix B to Subpart D—Guidelines for the 

Completion of MSDS for the Annex I 

Type Oil as Cargo in Bulk and Oil Fuel 

Subpart D—Hazard Notification 

§ 197.801 Applicability. 

This subpart applies to all vessels 

subject to SOLAS 1974, including tank 

ships and barges that are carrying the 

liquids listed in MARPOL 73/78, Annex 

I List of Oils, in bulk as cargo or as oil 

fuel. 

§ 197.805 Definitions. 

As used in this subpart: 

MARPOL 73/78 means the 

International Convention for the 

Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 

1973 (done at London, November 2, 

1973), modified by the Protocol of 1978 

relating to the International Convention 

for the Prevention of Pollution from 

Ships, 1973 (done at London, February 

17, 1978). 

Oil means petroleum, whether in 

solid, semi-solid, emulsified, or liquid 

form, including, but not limited to, 

crude oil, fuel oil, sludge, oil refuse, oil 

residue, and refined products. This term 

also includes the substances listed in 

Appendix I of Annex I of MARPOL 73/ 

78. This term does not include animaland vegetable-based oil or noxious 

liquid substances (NLS) designated 

under Annex II of MARPOL 73/78. 

Oil fuel means oil used as fuel for 

machinery in the vessel in which it is 

carried. 

SOLAS 1974 means the International 

Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 

as amended. 

§ 197.810 Incorporation by reference. 

(a) Certain materials are incorporated 

by reference into this part with the 

approval of the Director of the Federal 

Register in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 

522(a) and 1 CFR part 51. To enforce 

any edition other than the one (b) in this 

section, the Coast Guard must publish 

notice of change in the Federal Register 

and the material must be available to the 

public. All approved material is 

available for inspection at U.S. Coast 

Guard, Office of Operating and 

Environmental Standards (CG–522), 

2100 Second Street SW., Washington, 

DC 20593–0001 and is available from 

the sources listed below. It is also 

available for inspection at the National 

Archives and Records Administration 

(NARA). For information on the 

availability of this material at NARA, 

call 202–741–6030, or go to: http:// 

www.archives.gov/federal_register/ 

code_of_federal_regulations/ 

ibr_locations.html. All approved 

material is available from the sources 

indicated in paragraph (b) of this 

section. 

(b) International Maritime 

Organization (IMO) Publications 

Section, International Maritime 

Organization, 4 Albert Embankment, 

London SE1 7SR, United Kingdom 

(1) Appendix 1 to Annex I of the 

International Convention for the 

Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 

1973, as modified by the Protocol of 

1978 relating to that convention 

(MARPOL 73/78), incorporation by 

reference approved for §§ 197.805 and 

197.820. 

(2) [Reserved] 

§ 197.820 MSDS Certificates. 

(a) Each vessel subject to SOLAS 1974 

must carry a Material Safety Data Sheet 

(MSDS) for each Annex I cargo and ship 

fuel carried in bulk after January 1, 

2011. 

(b) The data in the MSDS may be 

either specific to the individual cargo or 

fuel oil or it may be generic for that 

cargo or fuel oil. 

(c) Due to the human health hazards 

from benzene and hydrogen sulfide, and 

to the fact that sulfur can form hydrogen 

sulfide, the MSDS must contain the 

benzene, hydrogen sulfide, and sulfur 

concentration ranges and their related 

health hazards. 

(d) The MSDS information must be in 

the English language. However, if the 

crew cannot understand English, the 

MSDS must also be in the working 

language or languages of the ship. 

(e) Appendix A to Subpart D contains 

a non-mandatory example of one format 

for the MSDS. 

(f) Appendix B to Subpart D contains 

guidelines for completing the MSDS 

Appendix A to Subpart D. 

Appendix A to Subpart D— 

Recommendations for Material Safety 

Data Sheets (MSDS) for Marine Use 

That Meet the Particular Needs of the 

Marine Industry and Contain Safety, 

Handling, and Environmental 

Information To Be Supplied to a Ship 

Prior to the Loading of Annex I Type 

Oil as Cargo in Bulk and the Bunkering 

of Oil Fuel 

Section Heading Content 

1 ............. Identification of the substance or mixture 

and of the supplier.

• Name of the category. See guidance in Annex II for Annex I type oil cargoes and oil 

fuels. 

• The name of the substances. 

• Trade name of the substances. 

• Description on Bill of Lading (B/L), Bunker Delivery Note or other shipping document. 

• Other means of identification. 

• Suppliers details (including name, address, telephone number, etc.). 

• Emergency telephone number. 

2 ............. Hazards identification .................................. • GHS* classification of the substance/mixture and any regional information. 

• Other hazards which do not result in classification (e.g., hydrogen sulphide) or are 

not covered by the GHS. See Guidelines in Annex II. 

3 ............. Composition/information on ingredients ...... • Common name, synonyms, etc. 

• Impurities and stabilizing additives which are themselves classified and which contribute to the classification of the substances. 

• The chemical identity and concentration or concentration ranges of all ingredients 

which are hazardous within the meaning of GHS and are present above their cut-off 

levels. Cut-off level for reproductive toxicity, carcinogenicity and category 1 mutagenicity is 0.1%. Cut-off level for all other hazard classes is 1%. See Guidelines in 

Annex II. 

4 ............. First aid measures ....................................... • Description of necessary measures, subdivided according to the different routes of 

exposure, i.e. inhalation, skin and eye contact, and ingestion. 

• Most important symptoms/effects, acute and delayed. 

• Indication of immediate medical attention and special treatment, if necessary. 


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Section Heading Content 

5 ............. Fire-fighting measures ................................. • Suitable extinguishing media. 

• Specific hazards arising from the chemical (e.g., nature of any hazardous combustion products). 

• Special protective equipment and precautions for fire-fighters. 

6 ............. Accidental release measures ...................... • Personal precautions, protective equipment and emergency procedures. 

• Environmental precautions. 

• Methods and materials for containment and clean-up. 

7 ............. Handling and storage .................................. • Precautions for safe handling. 

• Conditions for safe storage, including any incompatibilities. 

8 ............. Exposure controls/personal protection ........ • Control parameters (e.g., occupational exposure limit values). 

• Appropriate technical precautions. 

• Individual protection measures, such as personal protective equipment. 

9 ............. Physical and chemical Properties ............... See Guidelines in Annex II. 

10 ........... Stability and reactivity ................................. • Chemical stability. 

• Possibility of hazardous reactions. 

• Conditions to avoid (e.g., static discharge). 

11 ........... Toxicological information ............................. • Concise but complete and comprehensible description of the various toxicological 

(health) effects and the available data used to identify those effects, including: 

D Information on the likely routes of exposure (inhalation, ingestion, skin and eye 

contact); Symptoms related to the physical, chemical and toxicological characteristics; 

D Delayed and immediate effects and also chronic effects from short- and longterm exposure. 

• Numerical measures of toxicity (such as acute toxicity estimates). 

• See Guidelines in Annex II. 

12 ........... Ecological information ................................. • Ecotoxicity (aquatic and terrestrial, where available). 

• Persistence and degradability. 

• Bioaccumulation potential. 

• Mobility in soil. 

• Other adverse effects. 

• See Guidelines in Annex II. 

13 ........... Disposal considerations .............................. Description of waste residues and information on their safe handling and methods of 

disposal, in line with MARPOL 73/78 requirements. 

14 ........... Transport information .................................. • UN number, where applicable. 

• UN Proper shipping name, where applicable. 

• Transport Hazard class(es), where applicable. 

• Special precautions that a user needs to be aware of or needs to comply with in 

connection with transport (e.g., heating and carriage temperatures). 

• Note that this product is being carried. 

15 ........... Regulatory information ................................ Safety, health and environmental regulations specific for the product in question. 

16 ........... Other information, including information on 

preparation and revision of the MSDS.

• Version No. 

• Date of issue. 

• Issuing source. 

Globally Harmonized System of 

Classification and Labeling of Chemicals 

(GHS), United Nations (2007 edition, as 

revised). 

Appendix B to Subpart D—Guidelines 

for the Completion of MSDS for the 

Annex I Type Oil as Cargo in Bulk and 

Oil Fuel 

1 Categories of Liquids 

The following categories subdivide the full 

scope of substances covered by Annex I of 

MARPOL 73/78 and set in groups specific 

products for general identification purposes. 

.1 Crude oils; 

.2 Fuel and residual oils, including ship’s 

bunkers*; 

.3 Unfinished distillates, hydraulic oils and 

lubricating oils; 

.4 Gas oils, including ship’s bunkers**; 

.5 Kerosenes; 

.6 Naphthas and condensates; 

.7 Gasoline blending stocks; 

.8 Gasoline and spirits; and 

.9 Asphalt solutions. 

2 Properties and Information 

In addition to properties and information 

specified in Annex 1, the following 

properties and information should be 

reported: 

.1 For the following provide appropriate 

hazards identification in section 2, 

composition/information on ingredients 

in section 3, and toxicological 

information in section 11 of the MSDS: 

.1 Benzene. If present ≥0.1% by weight 

(even if naturally occurring ingredient of 

the material); 

.2 Hydrogen sulphide. If present at any 

concentration, in liquid and vapor 

phases, or if possible to accumulate in a 

tank’s vapor space; and 

.3 Total Sulphur. If present ≥0.5% by 

weight, identify in section 3 and warn of 

potential for hydrogen sulphide 

evolution in sections 2 and 11; 

.2 For physical and chemical properties in 

section 9 of the MSDS: 

.1 Appearance (physical state, color, etc.); 

.2 Odor; 

.3 Pour point; 

.4 Boiling range; 

.5 Flashpoint; 

.6 Upper/lower flammability or explosive 

limits; 

.7 Vapor pressure (Reid vapor pressure 

(RVP) when appropriate); 

.8 Vapor density; 

.9 Density; 

.10 Auto-ignition temperature; and 

.11 Kinematic viscosity; and 

.3 For ecological information in section 12 

of the MSDS: Persistent or non-persistent 

oil as per the International Oil Pollution 

Compensation (IOPC) Fund definition*. 

* Refer to standard ISO 8217:2005, 

Petroleum products. Fuels (class F). 

Specifications of marine fuels, table 2. 

** Refer to standard ISO 8217:2005, 

Petroleum products. Fuels (class F). 

Specifications of marine fuels, table 1. 

Dated: March 1, 2012. 

F.J. Sturm, 

Acting Director of Commercial Regulations, 

and Standards, U.S. Coast Guard. 

[FR Doc. 2012–7919 Filed 4–6–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9110–04–P 


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