Document ID: USCG-2016-0748-0001
Agency: uscg
Document Type: Proposed Rule
Title: Marine Casualty Reporting Property Damage Thresholds
Posted Date: 2017-01-23T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 13 (Monday, January 23, 2017)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 7755-7766]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-01323]

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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

46 CFR Part 4

[Docket No. USCG-2016-0748]
RIN 1625-AC33

Marine Casualty Reporting Property Damage Thresholds

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard proposes to amend the monetary property damage 
threshold amounts for reporting a marine casualty, and for reporting a 
type of marine casualty called a ``serious marine incident'' (SMI). The 
initial regulations setting these dollar threshold amounts were 
promulgated in the early1980s and they have not been updated. Because 
the monetary thresholds for reporting have not kept pace with 
inflation, relatively minor casualties must be reported. Additionally, 
the regulations require mandatory drug and alcohol testing following an 
SMI; consequently, testing is being conducted for casualties that are 
less significant than those intended to be captured by the original 
regulations. Updating the regulations will reduce the burden on vessel 
owners and operators, and will also reduce the amount of Coast Guard 
resources expended to investigate these incidents.

DATES: Comments and related material must be submitted to the online 
docket via http://www.regulations.gov, or reach the Docket Management 
Facility, on or before March 24, 2017.
    Comments sent to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on 
collection of information must reach OMB on or before March 24, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments using one of the listed methods, and see 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below for more information on public 
comments.
    Collection of information. You must submit any comments on the 
collection of information discussed in Section IV of this preamble both 
to the Coast Guard's docket and to the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) in the White House Office of Management and 
Budget. OIRA submissions can use one of the listed methods.
     Email (preferred)_oira_submission@omb.eop.gov (include 
the docket number and ``Attention: Desk Officer for Coast Guard, DHS'' 
in the subject line of the email).
     Fax--202-395-6566.
     Mail--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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information about this document, 
call or email CDR Randy Waddington, CG-INV, Coast Guard; telephone 202-
372-1029, email HQS-PF-fldr-CG-INV@uscg.dhs.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents for Preamble

I. Public Participation and Request for Comments
II. Abbreviations
III. Background, Basis, and Purpose
IV. Discussion of Proposed Rule
V. Regulatory Analyses
    A. Regulatory Planning and Review
    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

[[Page 7756]]

    K. Energy Effects
    L. Technical Standards
    M. Environment

I. Public Participation and Request for Comments

    We view public participation as essential to effective rulemaking, 
and we will consider all comments and material received during the 
comment period. Your comment can help shape the outcome of this 
rulemaking. If you submit a comment, please include the docket number 
for this rulemaking, indicate the specific section of this document to 
which each comment applies, and provide a reason for each suggestion or 
recommendation.
    We encourage you to submit comments through the Federal eRulemaking 
Portal at http://www.regulations.gov. If your material cannot be 
submitted using http://www.regulations.gov, contact the person in the 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document for alternate 
instructions. Documents mentioned in this notice of proposed rulemaking 
(NPRM), and all public comments, are in our online docket at http://www.regulations.gov and can be viewed by following that Web site's 
instructions. Additionally, if you go to the online docket and sign up 
for email alerts, you will be notified when comments are posted or a 
final rule is published.
    We accept anonymous comments. All comments received will be posted 
without change to http://www.regulations.gov and will include any 
personal information you have provided. For more about privacy and the 
docket, you may review a Privacy Act notice regarding the Federal 
Docket Management System in the March 24, 2005, issue of the Federal 
Register (70 FR 15086).
    We are not planning to hold a public meeting but will consider 
doing so if public comments indicate a meeting would be helpful. We 
would issue a separate Federal Register notice to announce the date, 
time, and location of such a meeting.

II. Abbreviations

BLS Bureau of Labor Statistics
CFR Code of Federal Regulations
CPI-U Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers
DHS Department of Homeland Security
E.O. Executive Order
FR Federal Register
MISLE Marine Information for Safety and Law Enforcement
NVIC Navigation and Vessel Inspection Circular
OCMI Officer in Charge, Marine Inspection
OMB Office of Management and Budget
SMI Serious marine incident
Sec.  Section symbol
U.S.C. United States Code

III. Background, Basis, and Purpose

    Pursuant to 46 U.S.C. 6101, the Coast Guard is required to 
prescribe regulations on marine casualty reporting and the manner of 
reporting. Based on this authority, we promulgated regulations in part 
4 of Title 46 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) that included, 
among other criteria, monetary property damage threshold amounts for 
reporting a ``serious marine incident'' \1\ and for reporting a marine 
casualty.\2\ The original regulations setting these property damage 
threshold amounts were promulgated in the 1980s and they have not since 
been updated. In this NPRM, the Coast Guard proposes to update the 
dollar threshold amounts for property damage in 46 CFR 4.03-2(a)(3) and 
4.05-1(a)(7) to account for inflation.
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    \1\ 46 CFR 4.03-2.
    \2\ 46 CFR 4.05-1.
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    In 2013 through 2014, Coast Guard undertook a review of marine 
casualty reporting requirements during our development of Navigation 
and Vessel Inspection Circular (NVIC) 01-15, resulting in a Federal 
Register notice \3\ requesting public comment on the draft NVIC 01-15. 
Several commenters from industry and the public noted that property 
damage threshold amounts for reported marine casualties and serious 
marine incidents (SMIs) had not been updated to reflect inflation and 
supported an inflation adjustment to the thresholds. Furthermore, in 
response to a task to examine the Coast Guard's marine casualty 
reporting requirements, the Coast Guard's Towing Vessel Safety Advisory 
Committee recommended that we amend the monetary thresholds in 46 CFR 
part 4 to account for inflation.\4\
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    \3\ 79 FR 2466 (January 14, 2014).
    \4\ Towing Safety Advisory Committee, Task 13-09, 
Recommendations for Improvement of Marine Casualty Reporting Final 
Report. This report is accessible at https://homeport.uscg.mil/tsac.
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    There is Coast Guard and stakeholder consensus that the early 1980s 
property damage monetary threshold amounts listed in 46 CFR 4.03-2 and 
4.05-1 have not kept pace with inflation. Over time, this has resulted 
in the reporting of a greater number casualties involving relatively 
minor property damage. As was explained in the 1980 interim final rule, 
``the Coast Guard's selection of a monetary value as a reporting 
criterion is based upon the premise that increased repair costs are 
indicative of the increased seriousness of a marine casualty [. . .] 
The monetary damage criterion has been chosen as the most effective 
method of ensuring that only the more serious casualties are 
reported.'' (45 FR 77439, 77440). Accordingly, it has never been our 
intent to require owners or operators to notify us of casualties 
involving relatively minor property damage; consequently, we are 
amending the property damage monetary threshold amounts in order to 
eliminate the reporting of insignificant property damage incidents. The 
marine casualty reports impacted by this NPRM are those marine 
casualties where the only outcome was property damage in the amount of 
$25,000.01 through $72,000. Additionally, because the regulations 
require mandatory drug and alcohol testing following an SMI, current 
regulations require chemical testing for casualties that reach a 
minimum threshold of $100,000 in property damage. Due to cost increases 
caused by inflation, however, casualties that result in property damage 
between $100,000 and $200,000 are no longer representative of a 
``serious'' casualty. The lack of inflation updates to our marine 
casualty regulations has resulted in an additional administrative and 
financial burden on vessel owners and operators, as well as on Coast 
Guard resources used to investigate these incidents. This NPRM would 
result in an estimated annual cost savings of $40,809 to industry due 
to a reduction in the hourly burden of reporting and recordkeeping for 
both marine casualties and SMIs, and a reduction in an estimated annual 
cost savings of $4,649 for chemical testing for marine casualties 
designated as SMIs. This NPRM would result in Coast Guard cost savings 
by reducing the hourly burden costs to investigate marine casualties as 
well as the costs associated with processing marine casualty forms.
    As a result of updating the dollar amount thresholds to account for 
inflation, we anticipate there would be a decrease in the number of 
commercial vessel casualties reported to the Coast Guard. The changes 
proposed by this NPRM would also likely decrease the number of 
casualties that fall within the current definition of an SMI, and 
thereby reduce the amount of chemical tests administered following an 
SMI that result in property damage of $100,000.01 through $200,000. 
However mandatory chemical testing would still be required if the 
property damage meets the revised dollar threshold amount (in excess of 
$200,000) proposed by this NPRM. The intent of setting a dollar amount 
threshold in our marine casualty reporting regulation and within the 
definition of ``serious

[[Page 7757]]

marine incident'' is to ensure that the Coast Guard is aware of those 
incidents that could be indicative of more serious problems and that 
may be averted in the future with timely intervention.
    These proposed changes would provide a benefit for both the marine 
industry and the Coast Guard because they would reduce the hourly 
burden or eliminate the marine casualty reporting requirements for 
incidents involving property damage between the existing and proposed 
thresholds, and reduce SMI chemical testing requirements for incidents 
involving property damage in the range of $100,000 through $200,000. As 
a result, the marine industry and Coast Guard resources would be able 
to focus efforts on higher consequence incidents.

IV. Discussion of Proposed Rule

    The Coast Guard proposes to amend 46 CFR 4.03-2 and 4.05-1. The 
proposed changes would replace the existing reportable marine casualty 
property damage threshold amount of $25,000 with $72,000 in 46 CFR part 
4.05-1(a) (7), and replace the SMI property damage threshold of 
$100,000 with $200,000 in 46 CFR part 4.03-2(a) (3). These threshold 
amounts are being updated to account for inflation.
    The Coast Guard determined the inflation adjustment factor using 
the change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) 
from the original dollar thresholds set in 1980 for marine casualty 
property damage and 1988 for SMI property damage. The CPI-U is 
calculated and published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of 
Labor Statistics, \5\ and uses the period of 1982 to 1984 as the base 
level where the CPI-U = 100. We calculated the inflation adjustment by 
comparing the average CPI-U for the base years (82.408 in 1980 and 
118.258 in 1988) with the average CPI-U for 2015 (237.017). This 
resulted in an inflation adjustment factor of 1.876 \6\ for the marine 
casualty dollar threshold and a factor of 1.004 \7\ for the SMI dollar 
threshold.
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    \5\ CPI Detailed Report December 2015, Table 24. http://www.bls.gov/cpi/cpid1512.pdf.
    \6\ (237.017 - 82.408)/82.408 = 1.876.
    \7\ (237.017 - 118.258)/118.258 = 1.004.
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    For the marine casualty reporting threshold, we multiplied the 
inflation adjustment factor of 1.876 by the current threshold of 
$25,000 to calculate the raw inflation increment of $46,900, resulting 
in a total revised threshold of $72,000 (25,000 + $46,900 rounded to 
the nearest thousand).
    For the SMI dollar threshold, we multiplied the inflation 
adjustment factor of 1.004 by the current threshold of $100,000 to 
calculate the raw inflation increment of $100,400, resulting in a total 
revised threshold of $200,000 (100,000 + $100,400 rounded to the 
nearest thousand).

V. Regulatory Analyses

    We developed this NPRM after considering numerous statutes and 
Executive Orders (E.O.s) related to rulemaking. Below we summarize our 
analyses based on these statutes or E.O.s.

A. Regulatory Planning and Review

    Executive Orders 12866 (``Regulatory Planning and Review'') and 
13563 (``Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review'') direct agencies 
to assess the costs and benefits of available regulatory alternatives 
and, if regulation is necessary, to select regulatory approaches that 
maximize net benefits (including potential economic, environmental, 
public health and safety effects, distributive impacts, and equity). 
Executive Order 13563 emphasizes the importance of quantifying both 
costs and benefits, of reducing costs, of harmonizing rules, and of 
promoting flexibility. This NPRM has not been designated a 
``significant regulatory action,'' under section 3(f) of Executive 
Order 12866. Accordingly, the rule has not been reviewed by the Office 
of Management and Budget.
    This Regulatory Analysis provides an evaluation of the economic 
impacts associated with this NPRM. The Coast Guard proposes to amend 
two sections in part 4 of Title 46 of the CFR, 46 CFR 4.03-2 and 4.05-
1. Under this NPRM, the Coast Guard proposes to replace the reportable 
marine casualty dollar threshold of $25,000 with $72,000 in 46 CFR part 
4.05-1(a) (7), and replace the SMI dollar threshold of $100,000 with 
$200,000 in 46 CFR part 4.03-2(a) (3) to update the thresholds to 
account for inflation, as discussed in Section IV of this NPRM. Table 1 
provides a summary of the affected population, costs, and benefits 
after implementation of this NPRM.

               Table 1--Summary of the Impacts of the NPRM
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             Category                              Summary
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Applicability.....................  Replace the reportable marine
                                     casualty dollar threshold of
                                     $25,000 with $72,000.
                                    Replace the SMI dollar threshold of
                                     $100,000 with $200,000. Owners,
                                     agents, masters, operators, or
                                     persons in charge involved in a
                                     marine casualty and crewmembers who
                                     are required to undergo chemical
                                     testing.
Affected Population...............  Annual average of 316 vessel owners,
                                     operators, or their representatives
                                     reporting a marine casualty, 21
                                     marine employers reporting an SMI,
                                     and average of 32 vessel
                                     crewmembers completing chemical
                                     testing would no longer be required
                                     to report these incidents to the
                                     Coast Guard.
Costs.............................  No quantitative costs.
Benefits..........................  $45,458 annualized and $319,281 10-
                                     year present value monetized
                                     industry benefits (cost savings)
                                     (7% discount rate).
                                    $637,688 annualized and $4,478,854
                                     10-year present value monetized
                                     Government benefits (cost savings)
                                     (7% discount rate).
                                    Total of industry and Government
                                     benefits: $683,146 annualized and
                                     $4,798,134 10-year present value
                                     monetized combined benefits (cost
                                     savings) (7% discount rate).
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Affected Population
    We expect that this NPRM would affect the owners, agents, masters, 
operators, or persons in charge of a commercial vessel who, pursuant to 
46 CFR 4.05-1, are required to notify the nearest Sector Office 
whenever a vessel is involved in a marine casualty. Specifically, the 
proposed regulations in this NPRM would affect those individuals who 
would have completed the necessary forms (CG-2692 series) to report a 
marine casualty where the only outcome was property damage of 
$25,000.01 through $72,000, or an SMI

[[Page 7758]]

with property damage of $100,000.01 through $200,000 (CG-2692 series, 
supplemented with an appended SMI written report (CG-2692B).\8\
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    \8\ ``Report of Required Chemical Drug and Alcohol Testing 
Following a Serious Marine Incident.'' See, 46 CFR 4.05-10.
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    We used incident investigation data from the Coast Guard's Marine 
Information for Safety and Law Enforcement (MISLE) system from 2012 
through 2014 \9\ to estimate the average number of vessel crewmembers 
affected by this NPRM. From 2012 through 2014, we found there was an 
average of 5,967 reports of a marine casualty per year, with one 
individual per vessel who we assume to be a vessel crewmember 
completing each report. An average of 271, or 4.5 percent of the annual 
5,967 marine casualty reports, involved an SMI.
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    \9\ This 3-year time period was used to be consistent with the 
existing Collection of Information, entitled ``Report of Marine 
Casualty & Chemical Testing of Commercial Vessel Personnel,'' which 
has OMB Control Number 1625-0001.
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    Of the 5,967 marine casualty reports, approximately 5.3 percent 
were for a reportable marine casualty where the only outcome was 
property damage of $25,000.01 through $72,000. Therefore, we expect 
that an average of approximately 316 fewer reports of marine casualties 
would be required per year. Vessel owners and operators would benefit 
from a reduction in the time burden associated with a crewmember no 
longer having to prepare and submit the required marine casualty 
reporting paperwork.
    Of the 271 casualty reports that involved an SMI, approximately 7.9 
percent (21 out of 271) were ones in which the sole outcome of the SMI 
was property damage of $100,000.01 through $200,000. Based on that 
annual average, the amendments proposed in this NPRM would likely 
result in a reduction of about 21 SMI written reports (CG-2692B) per 
year due to the proposed change to the monetary threshold amount for an 
SMI involving property damage. Because property damage of $100,000.01 
through $200,000 exceeds the threshold for a reportable marine 
casualty, the forms for a marine casualty report (CG-2692 series) would 
still need to be completed. However, marine employers would no longer 
be required to complete the additional paperwork required for an SMI 
written report (CG-2692B). Consequently, marine employers would benefit 
from a reduction in the time burden associated with an SMI written 
report (CG-2692B) as well as cost savings associated with chemical 
savings.
Benefits or Cost Savings to Industry
    The benefit or cost savings to industry is the difference between 
the current baseline cost to industry and the cost to industry after 
implementation of this NPRM.

Current Reporting Cost to Industry for CG-2692 and CG-2692B

    To estimate the benefit to industry, we first estimate the current 
cost to industry. The cost to industry includes costs for reporting and 
recordkeeping for a reportable marine casualty and the costs for 
chemical testing for marine casualties designated as SMIs. The 
reporting and recordkeeping costs for marine casualties include the 
time to complete the forms (CG-2692 series) for a marine casualty, the 
time for approximately 10 percent of the forms to be internally 
reviewed before submission, and the time to complete the additional SMI 
written report (CG-2692B) pursuant to 46 CFR 4.06-60(a) if a marine 
casualty is designated as an SMI. The time estimates and wage rates for 
reporting and recordkeeping are taken from the existing Collection of 
Information, entitled ``Report of Marine Casualty & Chemical Testing of 
Commercial Vessel Personnel,'' which has OMB Control Number 1625-
0001.\10\ We use the same time estimates and wage rates in this 
analysis to maintain consistency and to capture the changes due to this 
NPRM.
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    \10\ Existing Collection of Information, ``Report of Marine 
Casualty & Chemical Testing of Commercial Vessel Personnel'', OMB 
Control Number 1625-0001, Docket Number USCG-2015-0910, can be found 
at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2015/10/23/2015-27019/information-collection-request-to-office-of-management-and-budget-omb-control-number-1625-0001.
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    An average of 5,967 marine casualty reports are submitted annually 
by vessel owners or operators. For each reportable marine casualty, the 
existing Collection of Information estimates that it takes about 1 hour 
for a vessel crewmember to complete the necessary forms (CG-2692 
series). The existing Collection of Information also estimates that the 
position of vessel crewmember is analogous to a government employee at 
the grade level of a GS-03. The fully loaded wage rate for a GS-03 is 
$26 per hour, according to Commandant Instruction 7310.1P, 
``Reimbursable Standard Rates.'' \11\ The annual baseline cost to 
complete the current 5,967 CG-2692 series forms would be $155,142 
(5,967 marine casualty reports x $26).
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    \11\ Out of Government Rate for GS-03. Hourly Rates for 
Personnel ($), Enclosure (2) to Commandant Instruction 7310.1P. We 
use this version to maintain consistency with the existing COI 1625-
0001.
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    We estimate that it takes, on average, 1 hour to complete the CG-
2692 series forms. However, we received public comments in 2011 on 
existing COI number 1625-0001 stating that completing the CG-2692 form 
takes more than one hour and one commenter stated that it can take up 
to 8 to 12 hours to complete the form.\12\ The reason for this 
difference is that some entities choose to have the forms reviewed by 
shore-side personnel, such as an attorney prior to submission to the 
Coast Guard. We adjusted our burden estimate to account for the 
additional layer of review. To account for this additional time, 10 
percent of the forms submitted would have 10 hours of additional 
burden. The additional time reflects internal review by individuals 
employed by the owner or operator in addition to the vessel crewmember 
who completes the form. The additional reviewers may be shoreside 
representatives, port engineers, and attorneys, among others. We 
estimate the wage rate for this added review is done by personnel 
analogous to a government employee at the grade level of a GS-14. The 
fully loaded wage rate for a GS-14 is $101 per hour, per Commandant 
Instruction 7310.1P. The total annual cost of this additional time is 
$602,970 (597 marine casualty reports x 10 additional burden hours x 
$101).
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    \12\ Docket ID: USCG-2011-0710. Comments can be found at https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=USCG-2011-0710.
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    When a marine casualty is designated as an SMI, the marine employer 
must also complete an SMI written report (CG-2692B). (See 46 CFR 4.06-
60.) We estimate that it takes about 0.5 hours for a marine employer 
analogous to a government employee at the grade level of a GS-03 to 
complete this form. The annual cost to complete an SMI written report 
(CG-2692B) is about $3,523 (271 SMI reports x 0.5 hours x $26 per hour 
wage rate).
    Table 2 shows a summary of the current industry costs for reporting 
and recordkeeping.

[[Page 7759]]

                     Table 2--Current Annual Industry Costs for Reporting and Recordkeeping
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                                   Crewmembers/    Burden hours     Annual hour                     Annual cost
           Requirement               responses     per response       burden         Wage rate        burden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Written report of marine                   5,967               1           5,967             $26        $155,142
 casualty.......................
Additional Burden for 10% of                 597              10           5,970             101         602,970
 Respondents....................
SMI written report..............             271             0.5             136              26           3,523
                                 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals......................  ..............  ..............          12,073  ..............         761,635
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Estimates may not sum due to independent rounding.

    As mentioned earlier in this NPRM, when a marine casualty is 
designated as an SMI, the crewmembers involved are required to take a 
chemical test pursuant to 46 CFR 4.06-3. The marine employer incurs 
costs for the actual costs of the chemical test and the time it takes 
for a crewmember to take the chemical test. The actual cost of the 
chemical test includes the costs of the chemical test collection kits, 
collector fees, Coast Guard alcohol-testing swabs, and costs of 
overnight mailing. These costs can vary, but on average, the actual 
chemical test costs approximately $100 per test.\13\ Each vessel 
crewmember involved in an SMI is required to take a chemical test. The 
number of vessel crewmembers required to take a chemical test can vary 
depending on the circumstances of the SMI. We analyzed the casualty 
reports that involved an SMI from MISLE and found an average of 1.5 
crewmembers per SMI were required to take a chemical test. We used an 
estimate of 1.5 crewmembers to estimate the costs of chemical testing 
to account for the variation in crewmembers involved in SMIs. With an 
average of 271 SMIs per year, the current annual cost for the actual 
chemical tests is $40,650 (271 SMIs x average of 1.5 crewmembers x $100 
per test).
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    \13\ Most marine employers use a consortium that simplifies and 
reduces the costs per test and also assists in managing a company's 
drug-testing program. There are variables associated with the cost 
of testing, as costs can vary depending on the number of personnel 
included in a plan and the type of testing plan adopted by a 
particular company. Based on discussions with industry and Coast 
Guard medical testing contract data that is not publically 
available, we estimated testing costs of $79 and $114. We are, 
therefore, using an average cost of $100 for this analysis 
[($79+$114)/2, rounded].
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    In addition to the cost of the chemical tests, there is a cost 
associated with the time it takes a vessel crewmember to complete the 
chemical test. We estimate that it takes 1 hour for a crewmember to 
complete the chemical test.\14\ We obtained the wage rate of the 
crewmember from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), using 
Occupational Series 53-5000, Water Transportation Workers (May 2015). 
The BLS reports that the mean hourly wage rate for a water 
transportation worker is $31.11.\15\ To account for employee benefits, 
we use a load factor of 1.53, which we calculated from 2016 first 
quarter BLS data.\16\ The loaded wage for a crewmember is estimated at 
$47.60 ($31.11 wage rate x 1.53 load factor). The cost of the time for 
a crewmember to take the chemical test is $19,349 (271 SMIs x average 
of 1.5 crewmembers x 1 hour burden x $47.60 wage rate). Therefore, the 
current annual cost to industry for chemical testing is $59,999 (see 
Table 3). Adding the costs for chemical testing of $59,999 to the cost 
for reporting and recordkeeping of $761,635 (see Table 2), brings the 
current total annual cost to industry to $821,634.
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    \14\ Hourly estimate is from Coast Guard subject matter experts, 
and takes into account that these are not planned tests, but instead 
are emergent tests--required as a result of accidents--that must be 
taken no later than 32 hours after the incident.
    \15\ Mean wage, http://www.bls.gov/oes/2015/may/oes_nat.htm
    \16\ Employer Costs for Employee Compensation provides 
information on the employer compensation and can be found at http://data.bls.gov/data/. The loaded wage factor is equal to the total 
compensation of $27.61 divided by the wages and salary of $18.05. 
Values for the total compensation and wages and salary are for all 
private industry workers in the transportation and material moving 
occupations, 2016 1st quarter.

                           Table 3--Current Annual Industry Costs for Chemical Testing
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      Average         Cost of                                      Total cost of
          SMIs per year             crewmembers       testing      Hours to take     Wage rate        testing
                                  tested per SMI    procedures         test                         procedures
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
271.............................             1.5            $100               1          $47.60         $59,999
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total Reporting Costs to Industry After Implementation of the NPRM

    Increasing the dollar threshold amount for a reportable marine 
casualty involving property damage, as well as the dollar threshold 
amount for property damage within the definition of a ``serious marine 
incident,'' would reduce the number of marine casualty responses by 5.3 
percent, and the number of SMIs by 7.9 percent, annually. The burden 
hours per response would remain the same, but we estimate that the 
total number of responses would decrease to 5,651 for marine casualties 
and 250 for SMIs, resulting in 316 fewer reported marine casualties and 
21 fewer SMIs. The following sections replicate the calculation of 
marine casualty reporting and chemical testing, but reflect the reduced 
number of reports and testing under the revised thresholds.
    For each reportable marine casualty, we estimate that it takes 
about 1 hour for a vessel crewmember to complete all parts of the 
necessary forms at a wage rate of $26. We estimate that the cost to 
complete the reduced number of marine casualty forms would be $146,926 
(5,651 marine casualty reports x $26).
    In addition to the time to complete the forms, some of the marine 
casualty forms would require additional processing time. The additional 
processing time reflects internal review by individuals employed by the 
owner or operator, in addition to the time needed by the vessel 
crewmember who completes the form. The additional reviewers may be 
shoreside representatives, port engineers, or attorneys, among others. 
To account for

[[Page 7760]]

this time, 10 percent \17\ of the forms submitted (565 forms) would 
have 10 hours of additional burden, and the wage rate for this added 
review would be done by personnel analogous to a government employee at 
the grade level of a GS-14. We estimate that the total cost of this 
additional time after the implementation of this NPRM would be $570,650 
(565 marine casualty reports x 10 additional burden hours x $101).
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    \17\ Docket ID: USCG-2011-0710, https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=USCG-2011-0710.
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    As mentioned earlier in this NPRM, when a marine casualty is 
designated as an SMI, the marine employer must complete an SMI written 
report (CG-2692B). We estimate that it takes about 0.5 hours for a 
marine employer analogous to a government employee at a grade level of 
a GS-03 to complete this form.\18\ We estimate that the cost to 
complete the additional forms for an SMI after implementation of this 
NPRM would be $3,250 (250 SMI reports x 0.5 hours x $26 per hour wage 
rate).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \18\ The wage rate for a marine employer to complete the form 
CG-2692B and to report chemical test results to the OCMI is taken 
from existing COI number 1625-0001.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Table 4 shows a summary of the industry costs after implementation 
of this NPRM.

        Table 4--Annual Industry Costs for Reporting and Recordkeeping With Revised Reporting Thresholds
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                   Crewmembers/    Burden hours     Annual hour                     Annual cost
           Requirement               responses     per response       burden         Wage rate        burden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Written report of marine                   5,651               1           5,651             $26        $146,926
 casualty.......................
Additional Burden for 10% of                 565              10           5,650             101         570,650
 Respondents....................
SMI written report..............             250             0.5             125              26           3,250
                                 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals......................  ..............  ..............          11,426  ..............         720,826
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Estimates may not sum due to independent rounding.

    The marine employer incurs the actual costs of the chemical test as 
well as the wage burden it takes for a crewmember to complete the 
chemical test. On average, each chemical test costs approximately $100. 
We use an estimate of 1.5 crewmembers to estimate the costs of chemical 
testing to account for the variation in crewmembers involved in SMIs. 
With an average of 250 SMIs per year, the annual cost after 
implementation of this NPRM for the actual chemical tests is $37,500 
(250 SMIs x average of 1.5 crewmembers x $100 per test).
    In addition to the cost of the chemical tests, there is a cost 
associated with the time it takes a vessel crewmember to complete the 
chemical test. We estimate that it takes 1 hour for a crewmember to 
complete the chemical test at a loaded wage rate of $47.60 per hour. We 
estimate that the cost of the time for a crewmember to take the 
chemical test under the NPRM would be $17,850 (250 SMIs x average of 
1.5 crewmembers x 1 hour burden x $47.60 wage rate). Therefore, the 
annual cost to industry for chemical testing after implementation of 
this NPRM would be $55,350 (see Table 5). Adding the costs for chemical 
testing of $55,350 to the cost for reporting and recordkeeping of 
$720,826 (see Table 4) brings the estimated total annual cost to 
industry to $776,176, if this NPRM is implemented.

              Table 5--Annual Industry Costs for Chemical Testing After Implementation of the NPRM
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      Average         Cost of                                      Total cost of
          SMIs per year             Crewmembers       testing      Hours to take     Wage Rate        testing
                                  tested per SMI    procedures         test                         procedures
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
250.............................             1.5            $100               1          $47.60         $55,350
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The current annual burden of reporting marine casualties and SMIs 
under the current dollar amount thresholds is $821,634. The annual 
burden of reporting under the proposed new thresholds would be 
$776,176. Therefore, we estimate that the annual cost savings or 
benefit to industry after implementation of this NPRM would be $45,458. 
Table 6 shows a summary of the annual current industry cost burden, the 
annual industry cost burden after implementation of the NPRM, and the 
annual cost savings resulting from implementation of this NPRM.

         Table 6--Total Annual Cost Savings to Industry by Requirement After Implementation of the NPRM
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                      Annual          Annual
                                                                  Current annual   industry cost   industry cost
                           Requirement                             industry cost   burden after    savings after
                                                                      burden      implementation  implementation
                                                                                      of NPRM         of NPRM
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Written report of marine casualty...............................        $155,142        $146,926          $8,216
Additional burden for 10% of respondents........................         602,970         570,650          32,320
SMI written report..............................................           3,523           3,250             273
Testing procedures..............................................          59,999          55,350           4,649
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................................         821,634         776,176          45,458
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 7761]]

    The total 10-year undiscounted industry cost savings of this NPRM 
would be $454,584. Table 7 shows the 10-year estimated discounted cost 
savings to industry to be about $319,281 with an annualized cost 
savings of approximately $45,458 using a 7-percent discount rate.

    Table 7--Total Estimated Cost Savings or Industry Benefits of the NPRM Over a 10-year Period of Analysis
                                      [Discounted Costs at 7 and 3 Percent]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                       Total             Total, discounted
                              Year                                 undiscounted  -------------------------------
                                                                       costs            7%              3%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1...............................................................         $45,458         $42,484         $44,134
2...............................................................          45,458          39,705          42,849
3...............................................................          45,458          37,108          41,601
4...............................................................          45,458          34,680          40,389
5...............................................................          45,458          32,411          39,213
6...............................................................          45,458          30,291          38,071
7...............................................................          45,458          28,309          36,962
8...............................................................          45,458          26,457          35,885
9...............................................................          45,458          24,726          34,840
10..............................................................          45,458          23,109          33,825
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................................         454,584         319,281         387,769
    Annualized..................................................  ..............          45,458          45,458
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Benefits or Cost Savings to Government

    The benefit to the Federal Government is the difference between the 
baseline current cost to the Coast Guard and the cost to the Coast 
Guard after implementation of this NPRM.

Current Costs to Government

    We first estimated the current costs to the Coast Guard, which 
include the cost to investigate a marine casualty and the cost of 
processing marine casualty forms. Because an SMI is a type of marine 
casualty, the estimate for the cost of the investigation and the 
processing of the casualty forms includes those incidents that 
constitute an SMI. Reportable marine casualties are investigated by the 
Coast Guard. Some investigations may be more complex than others, 
depending on the incident. The Coast Guard reviewed the CG-741 (Coast 
Guard Office of Shore Forces) Sector Staffing Model to estimate the 
average number of hours per investigation across all incident types. 
The Sector Staffing Mode assigns a total hourly effort for the type of 
incident (e.g., allision, grounding, collision) that is matched against 
MISLE data, which then provides the resource needs for each sector. The 
Coast Guard estimates that, across all types of incidents, these 
investigations take an average of 25 hours for a Lieutenant (LT; O-3) 
to complete. There is an average of 5,967 marine casualty cases per 
year. The fully loaded wage rate for an O-3 is $78 per hour, per 
Commandant Instruction 7310.1P. As shown in Table 8, the current annual 
cost of investigations is $11,635,650 (5,967 reportable marine 
casualties x 25 burden hours x $78 wage rate).
    The Coast Guard must process the forms submitted for each 
reportable marine casualty. The Coast Guard currently processes an 
average of 5,967 marine casualty reports per year. To maintain 
consistency and capture the changes to this NPRM, the time estimates 
and wage rates for processing the forms are taken from the existing COI 
1625-0001. For each reportable marine casualty, we estimate that it 
takes about 1 hour by a Lieutenant Junior Grade (LTJG; O-2) to process 
the forms (CG-2692 series), including auditing at a local field 
investigation office and the entry of pertinent information into Coast 
Guard's MISLE system. The fully loaded wage rate for an O-2 is $68 per 
hour, per Commandant Instruction 7310.1P. As shown in Table 8, the 
current annual cost for the Coast Guard to process reportable marine 
casualties is $405,756 (5,967 reportable marine casualties x 1 burden 
hour x $68 wage rate). We estimate that the total current annual cost 
to the Federal Government would be $12,041,406.

                                    Table 8--Current Annual Government Costs
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Reportable
          Cost category               marine       Burden hours    Annual hours      Wage rate      Annual cost
                                    casualties     per response
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Investigation...................           5,967              25         149,175             $78     $11,635,650
Processing marine casualty                 5,967               1           5,967              68         405,756
 reports........................
                                 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............      12,041,406
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Under this NPRM, increasing the dollar amount threshold for 
property damage would reduce the number of reportable marine casualties 
by 5.3 percent, resulting in 316 fewer reportable marine casualties. 
The burden hours per response for investigations and processing marine 
casualty reports would remain the same, but the average number of 
reportable marine casualties would decrease to 5,651 per year. We 
estimate that it takes an average of 25 hours for an O-3 to complete 
and investigate and about 1 hour for an O-2 to process the forms for 
each reportable marine casualty. As shown in Table 9, the annual cost 
for the Coast Guard to complete

[[Page 7762]]

investigations under the NPRM would be approximately $11,019,450 (5,651 
reportable marine casualties x 25 hour burden x $78). The annual cost 
to process reportable marine casualties after implementation of this 
NPRM would be approximately $384,268 (5,651 reportable marine 
casualties x 1 hour burden x $68). We estimate that the total annual 
cost to the Federal Government would be approximately $11,403,718 after 
implementation of this NPRM.

                   Table 9--Estimated Annual Government Costs After Implementation of the NPRM
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Reportable
          Cost category               marine       Burden hours    Annual hours      Wage rate      Annual cost
                                    casualties     per response
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Investigation...................           5,651              25         141,275             $78     $11,019,450
Processing marine casualty                 5,651               1           5,651              68         384,268
 report.........................
                                 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............      11,403,718
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The current annual cost to the Coast Guard to process marine 
casualty reports is $12,041,406. The annual cost to the Coast Guard 
after implementation of this NPRM would be approximately $11,403,718. 
Therefore, the annual Federal Government benefit of reducing those 
reportable marine casualties that involve property damage alone would 
be $637,688. Though this reduction does not result in a need for fewer 
Coast Guard investigators, the existing investigators would be able to 
focus on higher priority investigations. We estimate the total 
undiscounted cost savings or benefit of this NPRM to the Federal 
Government to be $6,376,880 over the 10-year period of analysis. Table 
10 shows the total estimated 10-year discounted cost savings to the 
Federal Government to be $4,478,854, with an annualized cost savings of 
$637,688 using a 7-percent discount rate.

   Table 10--Total Estimated Cost Savings or Government Benefits of the NPRM Over a 10-Year Period of Analysis
                                      [Discounted costs at 7 and 3 percent]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                       Total             Total, discounted
                              Year                                 undiscounted  -------------------------------
                                                                       costs            7%              3%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1...............................................................        $637,688        $595,970        $619,115
2...............................................................         637,688         556,981         601,082
3...............................................................         637,688         520,543         583,575
4...............................................................         637,688         486,489         566,578
5...............................................................         637,688         454,663         550,075
6...............................................................         637,688         424,918         534,054
7...............................................................         637,688         397,120         518,499
8...............................................................         637,688         371,140         503,397
9...............................................................         637,688         346,860         488,735
10..............................................................         637,688         324,168         474,500
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................................       6,376,880       4,478,854       5,439,608
    Annualized..................................................  ..............         637,688         637,688
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total Benefits of the NPRM
    Table 11 presents the total estimated benefits or cost savings of 
the NPRM using 7- and 3-percent discount rates. We estimate the total 
10-year (industry and Federal Government) undiscounted cost savings of 
this NPRM to be about $6,831,464. We estimate the total 10-year 
discounted cost savings of this NPRM to be about $4,798,134 and the 
annualized benefit to be about $683,146 using a 7-percent discount 
rate.

                Table 11--Total Estimated Benefits of the NPRM Over a 10-Year Period of Analysis
                                    [Discounted benefits at 7 and 3 percent]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                       Total             Total, discounted
                              Year                                 undiscounted  -------------------------------
                                                                       costs            7%              3%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1...............................................................        $683,146        $638,455        $663,249
2...............................................................         683,146         596,687         643,931
3...............................................................         683,146         557,651         625,176
4...............................................................         683,146         521,169         606,967
5...............................................................         683,146         487,074         589,288
6...............................................................         683,146         455,209         572,124
7...............................................................         683,146         425,429         555,461
8...............................................................         683,146         397,597         539,282

[[Page 7763]]

 
9...............................................................         683,146         371,586         523,575
10..............................................................         683,146         347,277         508,325
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................................       6,831,464       4,798,134       5,827,377
    Annualized..................................................  ..............         683,146         683,146
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

B. Small Entities

    Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601-612, we have 
considered whether this NPRM 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.
    This NPRM reduces the burden on industry by increasing the 
monetized threshold amounts for reporting a marine casualty incident 
and an SMI. There is no effect on any crewmember, owner, or operator of 
a vessel that does not have a reportable marine casualty or serious 
marine incident. There is no effect on any crewmember, owner, or 
operator of a vessel that has a marine casualty with property damage 
less than or equal to $25,000, or an SMI with damage less than or equal 
to $100,000, as these individuals currently do not have to report the 
casualty and would not have to do so under this NPRM. There is no 
effect on any crewmember, owner, or operator of a vessel that has a 
marine casualty with property damage greater than $72,000, or an SMI 
with property damage greater than $200,000, as these individuals must 
currently report such casualties and perform chemical testing, and 
would continue to be required to do so under this NPRM.
    This NPRM would not impose any direct costs on any specific 
industry. The only affected individuals are owners or operators of 
those vessels that would be involved in a marine casualty where the 
only outcome is property damage of $25,000.01 through $72,000, or an 
SMI where the only outcome is property damage of $100,000.01 through 
$200,000. These entities, which would have incurred costs to report 
these casualties or conduct chemical testing, would be positively 
impacted from this NPRM because of the increase in the monetized 
threshold amounts.
    As discussed in Section V of this NPRM, we expect that an average 
of approximately 316 fewer reports of marine casualties would be 
required per year, with one individual per vessel who we assume to be a 
vessel crewmember completing each report. We assume the 316 marine 
casualty reports occur on 316 separate vessels. It is possible a vessel 
could have multiple incidents in one year, resulting in multiple marine 
casualty reports, but for this analysis we assume the 316 fewer reports 
are ascribed to 316 separate vessels. We compared this affected 
population to the total population that could have a marine casualty 
and be required to prepare and submit marine casualty reporting 
paperwork. We used the MISLE Vessel Population data to estimate the 
total population that could be impacted. We found the current total 
population of vessels that could have a marine casualty and be required 
to submit paperwork is 209,475.\19\ Therefore, the 316 fewer vessels 
preparing marine casualty paperwork represents 0.15 percent of the 
total population.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \19\ Population data was pulled from MISLE on 9/28/2016. The 
population is for commercial vessels that are active and in-service. 
The population includes commercial fishing vessels, fish processing 
vessels, freight barges, industrial vessels, mobile offshore 
drilling units, offshore supply vessels, oil recovery, passenger 
(inspected and uninspected), passenger barges (inspected and 
uninspected), public freights, public tankship/barges, unclassified 
public vessels, research vessels, school ships, tank barges, tank 
ships, and towing vessels.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The owners or operators of these 316 vessels would benefit from a 
reduction in time burden associated with a crewmember no longer having 
to prepare and submit the required marine casualty reporting paperwork. 
Table 6 in Section V summarizes the annual cost savings to industry by 
requirement. Table 13 below shows these annual cost savings, as well as 
the vessel population we estimated would benefit from each reduction in 
paperwork or testing requirement.

                        Table 13--Maximum Potential Cost Savings per Vessel per Incident
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                      Maximum
                                                                   Total annual       Vessel         potential
                           Requirement                             cost savings     population     cost savings
                                                                                                    per vessel
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Written report of marine casualty...............................          $8,216             316             $26
Additional Burden for 10% of Respondents........................          32,320              32           1,010
SMI written report..............................................             273              21              13
Testing Procedures..............................................           4,649              21             221
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Totals......................................................          45,458  ..............           1,270
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The total cost savings per vessel for the population of 316 vessels 
benefiting from this NPRM will vary depending on the requirements. For 
example, we estimate that 32 of the vessels (10 percent of population, 
rounded) would have savings due to a reduction in marine casualty 
reports ($26) and an additional savings for the additional

[[Page 7764]]

burden of reviewing the paperwork ($1,010) in any given year. 
Therefore, a one-time savings could be $1,036 for a vessel with only 
these two requirements. The minimum savings would be $26 for a vessel 
that only had the requirement of preparing and submitting the marine 
casualty report. If a vessel would have had to complete all the 
requirements in Table 13, the maximum cost savings would be $1,270. 
This maximum cost savings would be for a vessel with a marine casualty 
designated as an SMI that completed additional paperwork and reported 
the chemical test results to the OCMI. Therefore, the owner or operator 
of the 316 vessels impacted by this NPRM would have to have maximum 
annual revenues of $2,600 to $127,000 for this NPRM to have a positive 
impact greater than 1 percent.
    Therefore, pursuant to section 605(b) of the Regulatory Flexibility 
Act, 5 U.S.C. 605(b), the Coast Guard certifies that this NPRM would 
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities because the increase in the monetized property damage 
threshold amounts reduces the reporting burden on crewmembers or vessel 
owners or operators who complete the marine casualty reports or perform 
the required chemical testing, as described above. This NPRM would 
reduce the hour burden associated with marine casualty reporting and 
chemical testing and would not adversely impact small entities as 
defined by the SBA in 13 CFR. 121.201. If you think that your business, 
organization, or governmental jurisdiction qualifies as a small entity 
and that this NPRM would have a significant economic impact on it, 
please submit a comment to the Docket Management Facility at the 
address under the ADDRESSES section of this NPRM. In your comment, 
explain why you think it qualifies and how and to what degree this NPRM 
would economically affect it.

C. Assistance for Small Entities

    Under section 213(a) of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement 
Fairness Act of 1996, Public Law 104-121, we want to assist small 
entities in understanding this NPRM so that they can better evaluate 
its effects on them and participate in the rulemaking. If you think 
that the NPRM would affect your small business, organization, or 
governmental jurisdiction and you have questions concerning its 
provisions or options for compliance, please consult with the Coast 
Guard personnel listed under the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT 
section of this NPRM. 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.
    Small businesses may send comments on the actions of Federal 
employees who enforce, or otherwise determine compliance with, Federal 
regulations to the Small Business and Agriculture Regulatory 
Enforcement Ombudsman and the Regional Small Business Regulatory 
Fairness Boards. The Ombudsman evaluates these actions annually and 
rates each agency's responsiveness to small business. If you wish to 
comment on actions by employees of the Coast Guard, call 1-888-REG-FAIR 
(1-888-734-3247).

D. Collection of Information

    This NPRM would call for a collection of information under the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520). As defined in 5 
CFR 1320.3(c), ``collection of information'' comprises reporting, 
recordkeeping, monitoring, posting, labeling, and other similar 
actions. The title and description of the information collection, a 
description of those who must collect the information, and an estimate 
of the total annual burden follow.
    Under the provisions of the NPRM, the Coast Guard would collect 
information from ship personnel who are involved in marine casualties 
resulting in more than $72,000 in property damage, and serious marine 
incidents resulting in more than $200,000 in property damage. This 
proposed requirement would amend an existing collection of information 
by effectively reducing the number of instances requiring information 
to be collected under OMB control number 1625-0001.
    Title: Report of Marine Casualty & Chemical Testing of Commercial 
Vessel Personnel.
    OMB Control Number: 1625-0001.
    Summary of the Collection of Information: This NPRM would require 
responses such as the preparation of written notification in the form 
of CG-2692 (series), and the processing of records. We use this 
information to identify pertinent safety lessons and to initiate 
appropriate steps for reducing the likelihood of similar accidents in 
the future. The collection of information would aid the regulated 
public in assuring safe practices.
    Need for Information: These reporting requirements permit the Coast 
Guard to initiate the immediate investigation of marine casualties as 
required by 46 U.S.C. 6301, in order to determine the causes of 
casualties and whether existing safety standards are adequate, or 
whether new laws or regulations need to be developed. Receipt of a 
marine casualty report is often the only way in which the Coast Guard 
becomes aware of a marine casualty. It is therefore a necessary first 
step that provides the Coast Guard with the opportunity to determine 
the extent to which a casualty will be investigated.
    Proposed Use of Information: In the short term, the information 
provided in the report may also trigger corrective safety actions 
addressing immediate hazards or defective conditions, further 
investigations of mariner conduct or professional competence, or civil 
or criminal enforcement actions by the Coast Guard, other Federal 
agencies, or state and local authorities. In the long term, information 
contained in the report becomes part of the MISLE marine casualty 
database at Coast Guard Headquarters. The Coast Guard uses this 
information in MISLE to identify safety problems and long term trends, 
publish casualty summaries and annual statistics for public use, 
establish whether additional safety oversight or regulation is needed, 
measure the effectiveness of existing regulatory programs, and better 
focus limited Coast Guard marine safety resources.
    Description of the Respondents: The respondents are those owners, 
agents, masters, operators, or persons in charge that notify the 
nearest Sector Office, Marine Inspection Office, or Coast Guard Group 
Office whenever a vessel is involved in a marine casualty. 
Specifically, this NPRM would affect those vessel crewmembers and 
marine employers who completed the necessary forms to report a marine 
casualty where the only outcome was property damage of $25,000.01 
through $72,000, or an SMI with property damage of $100,000.01 through 
$200,000 (CG-2692 series).
    Number of Respondents: We estimate the number of respondents would 
be 5,651 per year. This is a decrease of 316 respondents from an OMB-
approved number of respondents of 5,967 per year. We estimate 250 of 
these marine casualty respondents would fall under the category of SMI 
respondents and be required to fill out an additional SMI written 
report (CG-2692B). This is a decrease of 21 respondents per year from 
271 respondents.
    Frequency of Response: The notification response would be required 
only if a marine casualty occurs as defined in 46 CFR 4.03-2 and 46 CFR 
4.05-1.
    Burden of Response: For each response, we estimate that it takes 
about 1 hour for a vessel crewmember to complete all of the necessary 
forms

[[Page 7765]]

(CG-2692 series). In addition, some marine casualty forms may undergo 
additional processing by the respondents. To account for this 
additional time, 10 percent of the forms submitted would have 10 hours 
of additional burden.\20\ When a marine casualty is designated as an 
SMI, the marine employer must also complete an SMI written report (CG-
2692B). We estimate that it takes about 0.5 hours for a respondent to 
complete an SMI written report (CG-2692B).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \20\ The Coast Guard estimates that it takes up to 1 hour to 
complete Form CG-2692 (series). However, we received public comments 
in 2013 on COI number 1625-0001 stating that some submitters take 
more time--up to 8 to 12 hours--to complete the form. Docket ID: 
USCG-2011-0710, https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=USCG-2011-0710. 
The reason for this difference is that some entities have the 
form(s) reviewed by shore-side personnel, such as an attorney, prior 
to submission to the Coast Guard. The practice of having a form 
reviewed by an attorney is not required by Coast Guard regulation. 
While we believe that this does not typically occur, we adjusted our 
burden estimate to account for the added review.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimate of Total Annual Burden: We estimate that the number of 
responses would decrease by 316 per year. At 1 hour per response, the 
reduced burden for submitting the responses would be 316 hours. In 
addition, 10 percent of these responses would have required additional 
processing of 10 hours per response, for a reduction of an additional 
320 burden hours.\21\ We estimate 21 of the responses would have been 
designated as an SMI. At 0.5 hours per SMI, the burden would be reduced 
by 11 hours (rounded). Therefore, this NPRM would decrease the total 
annual burden by 647 hours.\22\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \21\ Due to rounding in the estimates, the current burden for 
the additional review is 5,970 hours. The burden under this NPRM is 
5,650 hours, which is a reduction of 320 hours.
    \22\ The current annual burden in COI 1625-0001 for completing 
the marine casualty forms, the additional processing for some 
respondents, and the time to complete the SMI forms is 12,073 hours. 
The annual burden under this NPRM is 11,426 hours, a reduction of 
647 hours.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As required by 44 U.S.C. 3507(d), we will submit a copy of this 
NPRM to OMB for its review of the collection of information.
    We ask for public comment on the proposed collection of information 
to help us determine how useful the information is, whether it can help 
us perform our functions better, whether it is readily available 
elsewhere, how accurate our estimate of the burden of collection is' 
how valid our methods for determining burden are, how we can improve 
the quality, usefulness, and clarity of the information, and how we can 
minimize the burden of collection.
    If you submit comments on the collection of information, submit 
them both to OMB and to the Docket Management Facility where indicated 
under the ADDRESSES section of this NPRM, by the date under the DATES 
section.
    You are not required to respond to a collection of information 
unless it displays a currently valid control number from OMB. Before 
the Coast Guard could enforce the collection of information 
requirements in this NPRM, OMB would need to approve the Coast Guard's 
request to collect this information.

E. Federalism

    A rule has implications for federalism under E.O. 13132 
(``Federalism'') if it has a substantial direct effect on States, on 
the relationship between the national government and the States, or on 
the distribution of power and responsibilities among the various levels 
of government. We have analyzed this NPRM under E.O. 13132 and have 
determined that it is consistent with the fundamental federalism 
principles and preemption requirements as described in E.O.13132. Our 
analysis follows.
    It is well settled that States may not regulate in categories 
reserved for regulation by the Coast Guard. It is also well settled 
that Coast Guard regulations promulgated under the authority of 46 
U.S.C. 6101 are within a field foreclosed from regulation by the 
States. See U.S. v. Locke, 529 U.S. 89, 115-16 (2000) (stating 
``Congress intended that the Coast Guard regulations be the sole source 
of a vessel's [marine casualty] reporting obligations.'').
    This NPRM would change the property damage threshold amounts for 
reporting marine casualties and serious marine incidents, which is 
within the sole purview of the Coast Guard to regulate pursuant to 46 
U.S.C. 6101 and the principles discussed in Locke. Thus, the proposed 
regulations are consistent with the principles of federalism and 
preemption requirements in E.O. 13132.
    While it is 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, we recognize the key role that State and local 
governments may have in making regulatory determinations. Additionally, 
for rules with federalism implications and preemptive effect, E.O 13132 
specifically directs agencies to consult with State and local 
governments during the rulemaking process. If you believe this NPRM has 
implications for federalism under E.O. 13132, please contact the person 
listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION section of this preamble.

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 (adjusted for 
inflation) or more in any one year. Though this NPRM would not result 
in such an expenditure, we do discuss the effects of this NPRM 
elsewhere in this preamble.

G. Taking of Private Property

    This NPRM would not cause a taking of private property or otherwise 
have taking implications under E.O. 12630 (``Governmental Actions and 
Interference with Constitutionally Protected Property Rights'').

H. Civil Justice Reform

    This NPRM meets applicable standards in sections 3(a) and 3(b)(2) 
of E.O. 12988, (``Civil Justice Reform''), to minimize litigation, 
eliminate ambiguity, and reduce burden.

I. Protection of Children

    We have analyzed this NPRM under E.O. 13045 (``Protection of 
Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks''). This NPRM 
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 NPRM does not have tribal implications under E.O. 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 NPRM under E.O. 13211 (``Actions Concerning 
Regulations That Significantly Affect Energy Supply, Distribution, or 
Use''). We have determined that this NPRM is not a ``significant energy 
action'' under that order because it is not a ``significant regulatory 
action'' under E.O. 12866 and is not likely to have a significant 
adverse effect on the supply, distribution, or use of energy.

L. Technical Standards

    The National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act, codified as a

[[Page 7766]]

note to 15 U.S.C. 272, directs agencies to use voluntary consensus 
standards in their regulatory activities unless the agency provides 
Congress, through 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 NPRM does not use technical standards. Therefore, we did not 
consider the use of voluntary consensus standards.

M. Environment

    We have analyzed this NPRM under Department of Homeland Security 
Management Directive 023-01 and Commandant Instruction M16475.1D, which 
guide the Coast Guard in complying with the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969, 42 U.S.C. 4321-4370f, and we 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 categorical exclusion determination is 
available in the docket where indicated under the ``Public 
Participation and Request for Comments'' section of this preamble.
    This NPRM involves regulations concerning marine casualties and 
proposes to update the monetary threshold amounts for a reportable 
marine casualty as well as the definition of an SMI relative to 
property damage. Thus, we expect that this NPRM would likely be 
categorically excluded under Section 2.b.2 and figure 2-1, paragraph 
34(d) of the Instruction. We seek any comments or information that may 
lead to the discovery of a significant environmental impact from this 
NPRM.

List of Subjects in 46 CFR Part 4

    Administrative practice and procedure, Drug testing, 
Investigations, Marine safety, National Transportation Safety Board, 
Nuclear vessels, Radiation protection, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements, Safety, Transportation.

    For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Coast Guard proposes 
to amend 46 CFR part 4 as follows:

TITLE 46--SHIPPING

PART 4--MARINE CASUALTIES AND INVESTIGATIONS

0
1. The authority citation for part 4 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1231; 43 U.S.C. 1333; 46 U.S.C. 2103, 
2303a, 2306, 6101, 6301, and 6305; 50 U.S.C. 198; Department of 
Homeland Security Delegation No. 0170.1. Subpart 4.40 issued under 
49 U.S.C. 1903(a)(1)(E).

0
2. In Sec.  4.03-2, revise paragraph (a) (3) to read as follows:

Sec.  4.03-2  Serious marine incident.

    (a) * * *
    (3) Damage to property, as defined in Sec.  4.05-1(a)(7) of this 
part, in excess of $200,000;
* * * * *
0
3. In Sec.  4.05-1, revise paragraph (a)(7) to read as follows:

Sec.  4.05-1  Notice of marine casualty.

    (a) * * *
    (7) An occurrence causing property-damage in excess of $72,000, 
this damage including the cost of labor and material to restore the 
property to its condition before the occurrence, but not including the 
cost of salvage, cleaning, gas-freeing, drydocking, or demurrage.
* * * * *

    Dated: January 13, 2017.
V.B. Gifford,
Captain, U.S. Coast Guard, Director of Inspections and Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2017-01323 Filed 1-19-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 9110-04-P