Two New Coast Guard Rules

Today’s Federal Register contained two Coast Guard rules (actually an NPRM and a Final Rule) that might be of interest to the chemical security community. The Notice of Proposed Rule Making concerns safety and security requirements for new Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and Liquefied Hydrogen Gas (LHG) storage facilities. The Final Rule covers identification requirements for crewmembers on foreign commercial vessels in US waters. Waterway Suitability Assessment The proposed rule for LNG and LHG facilities will codify the current requirements for a waterway suitability assessment (WSA) that are currently outlined in the Coast Guard guidance document, Navigation and Vessel Inspection Circular (NVIC) 05-08. The WSA is the safety and security review that must be submitted to the Coast Guard to meet Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) regulatory requirements for LNG facilities. This proposed rule proposes to apply the WSA requirements to LHG facilities even though they are not generally regulated by FERC. Crewmember Identification Documents This Final Rule implements requirements of the Maritime Transportation Security Act (MTSA) that requires the Coast Guard to be able to positively identify all crewmembers on vessels operating on vessels in U.S. navigable waters. U.S. and registered alien crewmembers are already covered under the TWIC regulations. This Rule, which goes into effect on May 28th, 2009, will extend that capability to all foreign crewmembers without requiring the use of the TWIC process. Future Reviews Once I have had a chance to look over these two rules in detail, I will see if they look like they would be of general interest to the chemical security community. If they are, I will look at them in more detail in future blogs.