[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 182 (Monday, September 21, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50440-50446]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-25163]



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Part IV





Department of Transportation





_______________________________________________________________________



Coast Guard



_______________________________________________________________________



Mariner Licensing and Documentation; Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 182 / Monday, September 21, 1998 / 
Notices  

[[Page 50440]]



DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Coast Guard
[USCG-1998-4448]


Mariner Licensing and Documentation

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard's National Maritime Center is holding a public 
meeting to discuss the feasibility of and alternatives available for 
privatizing certain aspects of its Mariner Licensing and Documentation 
(MLD) program, specifically, examinations for mariner licenses and 
merchant mariner documents. In addition, the Coast Guard seeks written 
comments from any party who is unable to attend the meeting or who 
wishes to submit comments on this topic.

DATES: The meeting will be held on October 22 through 23, 1998, from 
8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Comments must reach the Docket Management 
Facility on or before October 23, 1998.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Best Western Hotel New 
Orleans East, 12340 Interstate 10 Service Road, New Orleans, LA 70128; 
hotel telephone (504) 241-5100. You may mail your comments to the 
Docket Management Facility [USCG-1998-4448], U.S. Department of 
Transportation (DOT), room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, 
DC 20590-0001, or deliver them to room PL-401 on the Plaza Level of the 
Nassif Building at the same address, between the hours of 10 a.m. and 5 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except for Federal holidays. The telephone 
number is 202-366-9329.
    The Docket Management Facility maintains the public docket for this 
notice. Comments, and documents as indicated in this notice, will 
become part of this docket and will be available for inspection or 
copying at room PL-401, on the Plaza Level of the Nassif Building at 
the same address, between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
except Federal holidays. You may also access this docket on the 
Internet at http://dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
For questions on this notice, contact Mr. Albert G. Kirchner, Jr., 
National Maritime Center, U.S. Coast Guard, 4200 Wilson Boulevard, 
Suite 510, Arlington, VA 22203-1804, telephone 8703-235-1950, facsimile 
703-235-0017, or electronic mail address [email protected]. 
For questions on viewing or submitting material to the docket contact 
Ms. Dorothy Walker, Chief, Dockets, Department of Transportation, 
telephone 202-366-9329.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Requests for Comments

    The Coast Guard encourages interested persons to respond to this 
request by submitting written data, views or arguments. Persons 
submitting comments should include their names and addresses, identify 
this notice [USCG-1998-4448] and the specific section of this document 
to which each comment or question applies, and give the reason for each 
comment. Please submit all comments and attachments in an unbound 
format, no larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, suitable for copying and 
electronic filing to the Docket Management Facility at the address 
under ADDRESSES. Persons wanting acknowledgment of receipt of comments 
should enclose stamped, self-addressed postcards or envelopes. The 
Coast Guard will consider all comments received during the comment 
period.

Information on Service for Individuals With Disabilities

    For information on facilities or services for individuals with 
disabilities or to request special assistance at the meeting, contact 
Mr. Albert G. Kirchner Jr at the address or phone number under FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT as soon as possible.

Background Information

    The Coast Guard focus group report, ``Licensing 2000 and Beyond'' 
(November, 1993), recommended that the Coast Guard's Mariner Licensing 
and Documentation (MLD) program adopt new methods of verifying 
competency of mariners and that the Coast Guard consider Third Party 
and Fourth Party testing systems that maximize the significant benefits 
new technology offers. The focus group defined a ``Third Party'' as one 
who trains or teaches the mariner, and a ``Fourth Party'' as someone, 
other than the Coast Guard or a Third Party, who administers a test or 
makes an objective judgment about the competency of the mariner. A copy 
of this report is available for inspection in the Docket at the address 
listed under ADDRESSES.
    In response to work of the focus group, a final rule (61 FR 47060) 
was published on September 6, 1996, that enabled the Coast Guard to 
implement recommendations for alternative testing and evaluation 
systems, and modernize examination methods. This meeting will address 
initiating Fourth Party services in the Coast Guard's MLD program.
    Presently, 17 Regional Examination Centers (RECs), listed in Table 
1, administer the Coast Guard's MLD program. The Coast Guard currently 
issues 72 different licenses and documents. Tables 2.0 and 2.1 depict 
the names of these licenses and documents, and also provide the numbers 
of original applications, renewals, endorsements, and duplicates 
processed for each.

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    For MLD transactions, the RECs may provide up to three distinct 
services to the mariner: (1) evaluation of qualifications of the 
applicant; (2) conduct of examination(s) related to the license or 
document; and (3) issuance of the license or document to the mariner 
who meets all requirements. The Coast Guard is currently interested in 
privatizing only the examination portion of these services.
    The current fees for these services are published in 46 CFR Parts 
10 and 12. The Coast Guard bases its fees for a particular service on 
the latest calculations of the costs involved in providing that 
service, without overcharging. Not all license and document processes 
involve examinations; most licenses and documents require an evaluation 
of qualifications transaction, and all require an issuance transaction. 
When examining 46 CFR Parts 10 and 12, the indication of an examination 
fee for a particular license or document means that an examination is 
given.
    Recently, the Coast Guard implemented a program in which mariners 
may take a Coast Guard-approved course at a privately operated training 
school and the Coast Guard will accept satisfactory completion of that 
course in lieu of a Coast Guard examination. Thus, in some cases, the 
mariner may present the REC with a certificate of completion for a 
Coast Guard-approved course taken in lieu of a Coast Guard examination, 
and not be required to pay for and take the Coast Guard examination at 
the REC. Licenses for which Coast Guard-approved courses in lieu of 
Coast Guard examinations exist are marked with an asterisk in Table 
2.0. Additional courses in those license categories and courses for 
additional license categories may be approved in the future. No data is 
available to indicate how many mariners are using this Coast Guard-
approved training in lieu of Coast Guard examination alternative.
    When the Coast Guard conducts an examination for a particular 
license or document, that examination is made up of various modules, 
some of which may also be used in more than one of the licensing or 
documentation examinations. A Coast Guard test question data bank 
randomly generates questions for each module. The number of modules in 
any particular license or document examination and the time the full 
examination takes, varies. Generally, the larger the vessel the mariner 
is being licensed to operate and the fewer the operating restrictions 
on the license, the longer and more exhaustive the examination is. Some 
examinations involve only a few modules and take as little as 4 hours 
to complete while others can involve up to 19 modules and take five 
days to complete.

Discussion

    The Coast Guard seeks information that may be useful when it 
considers the feasibility of and alternatives in privatizing 
examinations in its Mariner Licensing and Documentation (MLD) program.
    The Coast Guard needs feedback on the following issues

1. Feasibility of a Privatized Examination System

    Before the Coast Guard can determine the desirability of a 
privatized examination system, we need to learn about its feasibility 
and know that it is advantageous for both the Coast Guard and the 
mariner. As part of this process, the Coast Guard will provide an 
overview to the commercial learning and examination industry of its 
present mariner licensing and documentation program, including the 
Coast Guard's reduced reliance on REC administered examinations and the 
potential impact this would have on the business decision to enter the 
market. After the overview is presented, small group visits to nearby 
REC New Orleans will be conducted to permit first hand observation of 
Coast Guard examinations being administered to actual customers from 
the marine profession. We expect the overview presentation and the on-
site visit to provide the core information necessary for commercial 
suppliers to determine whether the administration of MLD examinations 
is a potentially attractive business opportunity. Included in this 
assessment would be the views from industry on the levels of automation 
that would be desirable for such a system, and the ability of 
commercial providers to provide quality services to the mariner that 
are affordable, yet profitable.

2. The Effect of Such a System on the Quality of Services, and the 
Costs of These Licenses and Documents to the Mariner

    If the administration of MLD licensing and documentation 
examinations is an attractive business opportunity to certain segments 
of the commercial training and examination industry, we would like 
their views on how better, more responsive examination services could 
be delivered and what the cost estimates for the various services would 
be. As part of these cost estimates, the Coast Guard is interested in 
how costs are determined, the three factors having the greatest effect 
on cost, and the ``break even'' points associated with these cost 
estimates.

3. Maintaining the Integrity of the Licensing and Documentation System 
to Ensure That Those Who are Licensed and Documented are Fully 
Competent and do not Jeopardize Marine Safety or Environmental 
Protection

    Among the concerns in privatization of our MLD examinations are the 
potential for compromise of the present integrity of the system, and 
the need for the highest level of protection of the private information 
about individual mariners. We would like to learn more about the 
capabilities of commercial providers in these areas and how they 
address similar concerns with their current clientele.

4. Determining the Timing and Sequence To Implement Privatized MLD 
Examinations

    The core activities of a MLD examination privatization would be 
largely confined to the conduct of the actual licensing and 
documentation examinations. We would like to engage in dialogue with 
commercial training and examination service providers to learn how they 
could implement a privatized examination process, how long the process 
would take, what staff training would be required, what site 
preparations would be necessary, and how they would interface with the 
Coast Guard's random test generation capability.

5. The Range of Options and Arrangements Open for Providing Privatized 
Mariner Licensing and Documentation Examination Administration Services

    We think there are a number of ways MLD privatized examination 
services could be structured. These could range from awarding a no-cost 
contract to a single, nation-wide provider to opening this opportunity 
to an unlimited number of ``qualified'' service providers. Another 
possibility is that the current Regional Examination Centers could be 
run as Government-owned, Contractor operated (GO-CO) facilities or, 
converted entirely, to Contractor-owned, Contractor operated (CO-CO) 
facilities. Another possibility for privatization is to encourage the 
expansion of the current Coast Guard program for training courses in 
lieu of examinations until requirements for every Coast Guard license 
and document can be verified through this means. We believe there are 
certain advantages, disadvantages, and vulnerabilities

[[Page 50445]]

associated with each of the many possible options across this range. 
For example, there is concern that a service provider could go out of 
business after the Coast Guard and mariners have come to depend on its 
service. We would like to gauge commercial interest prior to developing 
a design for privatized MLD examination services. Once we understand 
the advantages and disadvantages various options pose to commercial 
providers, the Coast Guard, and the mariner, we will work towards an 
optimal system design for a potential pilot test and evaluation. This 
evaluation may occur as early as 1999.

6. Identification of the Coast Guard Resources Needed To Effectively 
Operate and Conduct Oversight of a Privatized System

    To decide if a privatized examination system has value, the costs 
must be weighed against the benefits. Privatized examination 
administration will shift many of the current Coast Guard costs of MLD 
to the service provider(s) and reconfigure those costs that remain with 
the Coast Guard. Because of the sensitivities of system integrity, 
security, and safeguarding of private information, one of the Coast 
Guard costs will be to maintain an active and effective oversight 
mechanism, no matter what form a privatized MLD examination 
administration system takes. We need to know more about how the 
commercial examination industry handles these matters in order to 
determine the resources that might be required of the Coast Guard to 
properly conduct oversight of a privatized examination administration 
system.

7. Experience of Other Agencies, Professional Organizations, and 
Service Providers in Privatizing Licensing and Similar Functions in 
Other Professions or Industries

    We would like to learn more from others who have undergone 
privatization of a critical professional examination system or from 
those who have helped others successfully put these types of systems in 
place.

8. Other Valuable Lessons Learned To Assist the Coast Guard in 
Determining If Privatizing Merchant Mariner Licensing and Documentation 
Examination Administration Can Be Accomplished in a Smooth, Effective 
and Cost Efficient Manner

    Finally, we would like to have help from anyone who is willing to 
share ``lessons learned'' in making the decision to privatize, or not 
to privatize, a professional qualifications or competency system 
similar to MLD licensing and document examinations. This can be in such 
areas as making cost calculations and comparisons, writing performance 
specifications, developing audit and oversight systems, deciding on 
quality control techniques and performance metrics, or any other 
insights that would help the Coast Guard in its decision on whether or 
not to privatize MLD examinations.

Public Meeting

    The meeting will be held in the form of an informal workshop open 
to the public. It is intended to bring together people knowledgeable 
about the issues addressed in this notice to assist the Coast Guard in 
assessing the feasibility and best course of action in the 
privatization of merchant mariner licensing and documentation 
examination administration.
    The proposed agenda is as follows:

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                            October 22, 1998                            
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8:30 a.m................  Call to Order, Review   Captain M.M.          
                           of Agenda &             Rosecrans, Commanding
                           Introductions.          Officer, National    
                                                   Maritime Center.     
8:45 a.m................  ``Licensing 2000 and    Captain M.M.          
                           Beyond''.               Rosecrans, Commanding
                                                   Officer, National    
                                                   Maritime Center.     
9:00 a.m................  Overview of MLD         Mr. S. A. Walker,     
                           Processes & Business    Chief, Mariner       
                           Dimensions.             licensing &          
                                                   Evaluations Branch.  
9:30 a.m................  Move to Regional        Private               
                           Examination Center,     Transportation.      
                           New Orleans.                                 
10:00 a.m...............  Visits begin to         Coast Guard Staff.    
                           Regional Examination                         
                           Center, New Orleans.                         
1:00 p.m................  Lunch Break...........  ......................
2:00 p.m................  Visits resume at        Coast Guard Staff.    
                           Regional Examination                         
                           Center, New Orleans.                         
3:30 p.m................  Move to Conference      Private               
                           Site.                   Transportation.      
4:00 p.m................  General Questions and   Facilitator.          
                           Summary of Day's                             
                           Observations.                                
4:30 p.m................  Adjournment...........  Captain M.M.          
                                                   Rosecrans.           
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                            October 23, 1998                            
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8:30 a.m................  Call to Order & Review  Facilitator.          
                           of Agenda.                                   
9:00 a.m................  Issue 1: Feasibility    Facilitator.          
                           of MLD Privatization.                        
9:45 a.m................  Issue 2: Service        Facilitator.          
                           Possibilities and                            
                           Cost Implications to                         
                           the Mariner.                                 
10:30 a.m...............  Issue 3: System         Facilitator.          
                           Integrity and Privacy                        
                           of Records.                                  
11:15 a.m...............  Issue 4: Elements and   Facilitator.          
                           Sequencing                                   
                           Considerations of MLD                        
                           Privatization.                               
12 noon.................  Lunch.................  ......................
1:00 p.m................  Issue 5: Options and    Facilitator.          
                           Arrangements                                 
                           Facilitator for                              
                           Privatized Service                           
                           Delivery.                                    
1:45 p.m................  Issue 6: Resource       Facilitator.          
                           Requirements and                             
                           Professional                                 
                           Organizations.                               
2:30 p.m................  Break.................  ......................
2:45 p.m................  Issue 7: Experience of  Facilitator.          
                           Other Agencies.                              
3:30 p.m................  Issue 8: Valuable       Facilitator.          
                           Lessons of Others.                           
4:15 p.m................  Summary and Wrap Up...  Facilitator.          
4:30 p.m................  Adjournment...........  Captain M.M.          
                                                   Rosecrans.           
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[[Page 50446]]

    Dated: September 11, 1998.
Joseph J. Angelo,
Director of Standards, Marine Safety and Environmental Protection.
[FR Doc. 98-25163 Filed 9-18-98; 8:45 am]
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