I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3331 
To amend title 46, United States Code, with respect to merchant mariner 
credential examination working groups, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 13, 2025 
Mr. CARBAJAL (for himself and Mr. EZELL) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To amend title 46, United States Code, with respect to 
merchant 
mariner 
credential 
examination 
working 
groups, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mariner Exam Mod-
ernization Act’’. 
SEC. 2. EXAMINATIONS FOR MERCHANT MARINER CREDEN-
TIALS. 
Section 7510 of title 46, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) in subsection (c)— 
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(A) in the subsection heading by striking 
‘‘EXAM
REVIEW’’ and inserting ‘‘WORKING 
GROUP’’; 
(B) in paragraph (1)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘90 days’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘180 days’’; 
(ii) by striking ‘‘Coast Guard Author-
ization Act of 2016’’ and insert ‘‘Mariner 
Exam Modernization Act’’; 
(iii) by striking ‘‘new questions for in-
clusion in’’ and inserting ‘‘questions, con-
tent, and relevancy of’’; 
(iv) by redesignating subparagraphs 
(E), (F), and (G) as subparagraphs (F), 
(G), and (H), respectively; and 
(v) by inserting after subparagraph 
(D) the following: 
‘‘(E) at least 2 individuals that have taken 
and passed the examination in the 5 years be-
fore the commissioning of the working group;’’; 
(C) in paragraph (4)— 
(i) in the paragraph heading by strik-
ing ‘‘BASELINE
REVIEW’’ and inserting 
‘‘REVIEW’’; 
(ii) in subparagraph (A)— 
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(I) by striking ‘‘Within 1 year’’ 
and inserting ‘‘Not later than 270 
days’’; 
(II) by striking ‘‘Coast Guard 
Authorization Act of 2016’’ and in-
serting ‘‘Mariner Exam Modernization 
Act’’; 
(III) by striking ‘‘Secretary’’ and 
inserting ‘‘Commandant’’; 
(IV) by redesignating clauses (i), 
(ii), (iii), and (iv) as clauses (ii), (iii), 
(iv), and (vii), respectively; 
(V) in clause (iv), as so redesig-
nated, by striking ‘‘; and’’ and insert-
ing a semicolon; 
(VI) by inserting before clause 
(ii) the following: 
‘‘(i) industry standards, practices, and 
technology to be considered in the Mer-
chant Mariner Credentialing Examina-
tion;’’; and 
(VII) by inserting after clause 
(iv) the following: 
‘‘(v) the relevancy of examination top-
ics and contents; 
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‘‘(vi) any redundancy of core com-
petencies between the Merchant Mariner 
Credentialing Examination and Standards 
of 
Training, 
Certification, 
and 
Watchingkeeping competencies; and’’; 
(iii) by striking subparagraph (B) and 
inserting the following: 
‘‘(B) REPORT
TO
COMMANDANT.—Upon 
completion of the review under this paragraph, 
a report shall be provided to the Commandant 
which shall include findings of the review with 
recommendations for updates to the Merchant 
Marine Credentialling Examination.’’; 
(D) by striking paragraphs (3), (5), and 
(8); 
(E) by redesignating paragraphs (4) and 
(9) as paragraphs (5) and (8), respectively; and 
(F) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 
following: 
‘‘(3) MEETING OF WORKING GROUP.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Commandant 
shall convene the working group annually or at 
the creation of new examination questions, 
whichever occurs sooner. 
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‘‘(B) REMOTE PARTICIPATION.—The Com-
mandant shall allow any member of the working 
group to participate remotely if the member of 
the working group does not have the means to 
participate in person. 
‘‘(4) USE OF QUESTIONS.—The Commandant 
may not use questions developed for use in the Mer-
chant Mariner Credentialing Examination until such 
questions are reviewed and approved by the working 
group.’’; 
(2) by redsignating subsection (d) as subsection 
(e); and 
(3) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(d) PLAN.— 
‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 270 days 
after the completion of the review under paragraph 
(4) of subsection (c), the Commandant shall develop 
a plan to update and modernize the Merchant Mar-
iner Credentialing Examination and implement the 
recommendations developed by the review under 
such paragraph. 
‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The plan developed under 
paragraph (1) shall include— 
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‘‘(A) the elimination or updating of out-
dated topics, contents, core competencies, or 
questions covered by the Merchant Mariner 
Credentialing Examination; 
‘‘(B) the modernization of testing proce-
dures consistent with contemporary procedures 
for standardized testing administration and 
evaluation; and 
‘‘(C) the development of methods to collect 
examination data on pass and fail rates for 
questions and the overall examination for future 
analysis and comparison uses. 
‘‘(3) COORDINATION.—In developing the plan 
under paragraph (1), the Commandant shall develop 
such plan in consultation with the working group 
and individuals with expertise in modern best prac-
tices for relevant standardized testing. 
‘‘(4) BRIEFING REQUIRED.—Not later than 1 
year after the date of enactment of the Mariner 
Exam Modernization Act, the Coast Guard shall 
provide to the Committee on Transportation and In-
frastructure of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor-
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tation of the Senate a briefing on the review and 
plan developed under this subsection.’’. 
Æ 
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