Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 160 / Monday, August 23, 2021 / Notices 47127 

vessels of over 200 gross registered tons 

(GRT) is authorized to serve as master 

on inspected vessels of less than 100 

GRT within any restrictions on their 

merchant mariner credential (MMC). 

The Coast Guard will use the Policy 

Letter ‘‘Issuance of Endorsements for 

Master of Self-Propelled Vessels of Less 

Than 100 GRT to Mariners Holding 

Endorsements as Mate of Self-Propelled 

Vessels of 200 GRT or More’’ and 46 

CFR 15.901 in issuing endorsements for 

mariners to serve as a master on vessels 

less than 100 GRT. The Coast Guard 

issued this policy letter to clarify the 

process for the issuance of national 

officer endorsements for master of selfpropelled vessels of less than 100 GRT 

for mariners who hold national 

endorsements for mate of inspected selfpropelled vessels of 200 GRT or more. 

For mariners holding a MMC 

endorsement that authorizes service as 

mate on inspected self-propelled vessels 

of 200 GRT or more, the Coast Guard 

may include in the mariner’s MMC a 

national endorsement as master of selfpropelled vessels of less than 100 GRT. 

This will apply to the following national 

endorsements: 

(1) Chief Mate of Self-Propelled 

Vessels of Unlimited Tonnage; 

(2) Second Mate of Self-Propelled 

Vessels of Unlimited Tonnage; 

(3) Third Mate of Self-Propelled 

Vessels of Unlimited Tonnage; 

(4) Mate of Self-Propelled Vessels of 

Less Than 1,600 GRT; 

(5) Mate of Self-Propelled Vessels of 

Less Than 500 GRT; 

(6) Chief Mate (OSV); 

(7) Mate (OSV); and 

(8) Mate (Pilot) of Towing Vessels. 

Mariners holding one of the 

endorsements above authorizing service 

on either near-coastal waters or oceans 

will be issued an endorsement as Master 

of Near Coastal Self-Propelled Vessels of 

Less Than 100 GRT. Mariners holding 

one of the endorsements above for 

inland waters or for Great Lakes and 

inland waters will be issued a master 

less than 100 GRT endorsement with the 

same route as their mate endorsement. 

Mariners holding endorsements as Chief 

Mate (OSV) and Mate (OSV) will be 

issued endorsements as master of less 

than 100 GRT that are not restricted to 

offshore supply vessels. Mariners 

holding endorsements as Mate (Pilot) of 

Towing Vessels will be issued 

endorsements as master of less than 100 

GRT that are not restricted to towing 

vessels. All other restrictions on the 

mariner’s mate endorsement will apply 

to the endorsement for master for less 

than 100 GRT. 

Mariners seeking to add the master 

less than 100 GRT endorsement to their 

MMCs, must specifically apply for it in 

order for the Coast Guard to add the 

endorsement to their credential. 

However, mariners holding one of the 

endorsements listed in above are not 

required to have the endorsement as 

master in their MMC in order to serve 

as master on an inspected vessel of less 

than 100 GRT. As specified in 46 CFR 

15.901(a), any mariner holding an 

endorsement authorizing service as 

mate on an inspected vessel of 200 GRT 

or more may serve as master on a vessel 

of less than 100 GRT on the same route 

as their equivalent mate endorsement. 

This notice is issued under authority 

of 5 U.S.C. 552(a). 

Dated: August 18, 2021. 

J.G. Lantz, 

U.S. Coast Guard, Director of Commercial 

Regulations and Standards. 

[FR Doc. 2021–18090 Filed 8–20–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9110–04–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection 

Uruguay Beef Imports Approved for 

the Electronic Certification System 

(eCERT) 

AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border 

Protection, Department of Homeland 

Security. 

ACTION: General notice. 

SUMMARY: This document announces 

that the export certification requirement 

for certain imports of beef from the 

Oriental Republic of Uruguay (Uruguay) 

subject to a tariff-rate quota will be 

accomplished through the Electronic 

Certification System (eCERT). All 

imports of beef from Uruguay that are 

subject to the tariff-rate quota must have 

a valid export certificate with a 

corresponding eCERT transmission at 

the time of entry, or withdrawal from 

warehouse, for consumption. The 

United States Government (USG) has 

approved the request from Uruguay to 

transition, from the way the USG 

currently receives export certificates 

from Uruguay, to eCERT as the method 

of transmission. The transition to eCERT 

will not change the tariff-rate quota 

filing process or requirements. 

Importers will continue to provide the 

export certificate numbers from 

Uruguay in the same manner as when 

currently filing entry summaries with 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 

The format of the export certificate 

numbers will remain the same for the 

corresponding eCERT transmissions. 

DATES: The use of the eCERT process for 

certain Uruguayan beef importations 

subject to a tariff-rate quota will be 

effective for beef entered, or withdrawn 

from a warehouse, for consumption on 

or after August 30, 2021. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julia 

Peterson, Chief, Quota and Agriculture 

Branch, Trade Policy and Programs, 

Office of Trade, (202) 384–8905, or 

HQQUOTA@cbp.dhs.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

There is an existing tariff-rate quota 

on certain beef from the Oriental 

Republic of Uruguay (Uruguay) 

pursuant to Additional U.S. Note 3 of 

Chapter 2 of the Harmonized Tariff 

Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). 

The tariff-rate quota for beef from 

Uruguay was established by section 6 of 

the Presidential Proclamation No. 6763 

(December 23, 1994), as a result of the 

Uruguay Round Agreements, approved 

by Congress in section 101 of the 

Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19 

U.S.C. 3511(a), Pub. L. 103–465, 108 

Stat. 4814). Tariff-rate quotas permit a 

specified quantity of merchandise to be 

entered or withdrawn for consumption 

at a reduced duty rate during a specified 

period. Furthermore, section 2012.3 of 

title 15 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations (CFR) states that beef may 

only be entered as a product of an 

eligible country for a tariff-rate quota if 

the importer makes a declaration to U.S. 

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) 

that a valid export certificate is in effect 

with respect to the beef. In addition, the 

CBP regulations, at 19 CFR 132.15, set 

forth provisions relating to the 

requirement that an importer must 

possess a valid export certificate at the 

time of entry, or withdrawal from 

warehouse, for consumption, to claim 

the in-quota tariff rate of duty on entries 

of beef subject to the tariff-rate quota. 

The Electronic Certification System 

(eCERT) is a system developed by CBP 

that uses electronic data transmissions 

of information normally associated with 

a required export document, such as a 

license or certificate, to facilitate the 

administration of quotas and ensure that 

the proper restraint levels are charged 

without being exceeded. Uruguay 

currently submits export certificates to 

CBP via email, and in the 

administration of the quota, CBP 

validates these certificates with the 

certificate numbers provided by 

importers on their entry summaries. 

Uruguay requested to participate in the 

eCERT process to comply with the 

United States’ tariff-rate quota for beef 

exported from Uruguay for importation 


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47128 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 160 / Monday, August 23, 2021 / Notices 

1 If there is no associated foreign government 

eCERT transmission available upon entry of the 

merchandise, an importer may enter the 

merchandise for consumption subject to the overquota tariff rate or opt not to enter the merchandise 

for consumption at that time (e.g., transfer the 

merchandise to a Customs bonded warehouse or 

foreign trade zone or export or destroy the 

merchandise). 

2 If an importer enters the merchandise for 

consumption subject to the over-quota tariff rate 

and the associated foreign government eCERT 

transmission becomes available afterwards, an 

importer may claim the in-quota rate of duty by 

filing a post summary correction (before 

liquidation) or a protest under 19 CFR part 174 

(after liquidation). In either event, the in-quota rate 

of duty is allowable only if there are still quota 

amounts available within the original quota period. 

1See Ready Campaign, Floods (updated Apr. 9, 

2021) at http://www.ready.gov/floods (last accessed 

July 15, 2021). See also National Weather Service, 

Flood Related Hazards at http://www.weather.gov/ 

safety/flood-hazards (‘‘Approximately seventy-five 

percent of all Presidential disaster declarations are 

associated with flooding.’’) (last accessed July 15, 

2021). 

2See Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate 

Disasters: Summary Stats, at http://

www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions/summary-stats (last 

accessed July 7, 2021). 

3See Historical Flood Risk and Costs at http://

www.fema.gov/data-visualization/historical-floodrisk-and-costs (last accessed, July 9, 2021) 

4See Why Buy Flood Insurance at http://

www.floodsmart.gov/flood-insurance/why (last 

accessed July 1, 2021). 

into the United States. CBP has 

coordinated with Uruguay to implement 

the eCERT process, and now Uruguay is 

ready to participate in this process by 

transmitting its export certificates to 

CBP via eCERT. 

Foreign countries participating in 

eCERT transmit information via a global 

network service provider, which allows 

connectivity to CBP’s automated 

electronic system for commercial trade 

processing, the Automated Commercial 

Environment (ACE). Specific data 

elements are transmitted to CBP by the 

importer of record (or an authorized 

customs broker) when filing an entry 

summary with CBP, and those data 

elements must match eCERT data from 

the foreign country before an importer 

may claim any applicable in-quota tariff 

rate of duty. An importer may claim an 

in-quota tariff rate when merchandise is 

entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, 

for consumption, only if the information 

transmitted by the importer matches the 

information transmitted by the foreign 

government. If there is no transmission 

by the foreign government upon entry, 

an importer must claim the higher overquota tariff rate.1 An importer may 

subsequently claim the in-quota tariff 

rate under certain limited conditions.2

This document announces that 

Uruguay will be implementing the 

eCERT process for transmitting export 

certificates for beef entries subject to the 

tariff-rate quota. Imported merchandise 

that is entered, or withdrawn from 

warehouse, for consumption on or after 

August 30, 2021, must match the eCERT 

transmission of an export certificate 

from Uruguay in order for an importer 

to claim the in-tariff quota rate. The 

transition to eCERT will not change the 

tariff-rate quota filing process or 

requirements. Importers will continue to 

provide the export certificate numbers 

from Uruguay in the same manner as 

when currently filing entry summaries 

with CBP. The format of the export 

certificate numbers will not change as a 

result of the transition to eCERT. CBP 

will reject entry summaries that claim 

an in-quota tariff rate when filed 

without a valid export certificate in 

eCERT. 

Dated: August 16, 2021. 

AnnMarie R. Highsmith, 

Executive Assistant Commissioner, Office of 

Trade. 

[FR Doc. 2021–18009 Filed 8–20–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

Federal Emergency Management 

Agency 

[Docket ID: FEMA–2021–0021] 

Request for Information on the 

National Flood Insurance Program’s 

Community Rating System 

AGENCY: Federal Emergency 

Management Agency, Department of 

Homeland Security (DHS). 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

information. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Emergency 

Management Agency (FEMA) is issuing 

this Request for Information (RFI) to 

receive input from the public on 

transforming the Community Rating 

System (CRS) under the National Flood 

Insurance Program (NFIP) to better align 

with the current understanding of flood 

risk and flood risk approaches and to 

incentivize communities to not only 

manage but also lower their flood risk 

through floodplain management 

initiatives. The NFIP’s CRS program is 

a voluntary incentive program that 

recognizes and encourages community 

floodplain management practices that 

exceed the minimum requirements of 

the NFIP for floodplain management. As 

FEMA undertakes a series of initiatives 

that will transform the NFIP, the agency 

is evaluating the CRS program and its 

potential to support FEMA, State, local, 

Tribal, and Territorial community goals 

and needs. 

DATES: Written comments are requested 

on or before September 22, 2021. Latefiled comments will be considered to 

the extent practicable. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by Docket ID: FEMA–2021– 

0021, through the Federal eRulemaking 

Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 

Follow the instructions for submitting 

comments. Please note that this RFI 

period is not rulemaking and the 

Federal Rulemaking Portal is being 

utilized only as a mechanism for 

receiving comments. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Rachel Sears, Supervisory Emergency 

Management Specialist, Federal 

Insurance and Mitigation 

Administration, Federal Emergency 

Management Agency, FEMA-CRS-Next@

fema.dhs.gov, 202–212–3800. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Public Participation 

Interested persons are invited to 

comment on this notice by submitting 

written data, views, or arguments using 

the method identified in the ADDRESSES

section. 

Instructions: All submissions must 

include the agency name and Docket ID 

for this notice. All comments received 

will be posted without change to http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Commenters are 

encouraged to identify the number of 

the specific question or questions to 

which they are responding. 

Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background documents or 

comments received, go to http://

www.regulations.gov and search for the 

Docket ID. 

II. Background 

Floods are the most common and 

most destructive natural disaster in the 

United States.1 Every year, flooding 

causes hundreds of millions of dollars 

in damage to homes and businesses 

around the United States.2 Anywhere it 

can rain, it can flood. With 99% of 

counties in the United States having 

experienced a flood 3 and when just one 

inch of water can cause $25,000 in 

damage in a home,4 communities across 

the country must make difficult 

decisions about protecting lives and 

property from flooding. 

Standard homeowners and 

commercial property insurance policies 

do not cover flood losses. To meet the 

need for this vital coverage, FEMA 

administers the National Flood 

Insurance Program (NFIP), which offers 

reasonably priced flood insurance to all 

properties in communities that comply 

with minimum standards for floodplain 


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