[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 151 (Friday, August 4, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48041-48042]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-19834]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Coast Guard

[USCG 2000-7694]


Guidelines for Proficiency in Advanced Fire-Fighting

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of Availability and Request for Comments.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard announces the availability of, and seeks 
public comments on, the national performance measures proposed here for 
use as guidelines when mariners demonstrate their proficiency in 
Advanced Fire-Fighting. A working group of the Merchant Marine 
Personnel Advisory Committee (MERPAC) developed and recommended 
national performance measures for this proficiency. The Coast Guard has 
adapted the measures recommended by MERPAC.

DATES: Comments and related material must reach the Docket Management 
Facility on or before October 3, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Please identify your comments and related material by the 
docket number of this rulemaking [USCG 2000-7694]. Then, to make sure 
they enter the docket only once, submit them by just one of the 
following means:

    (1) By mail to the Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department 
of Transportation, room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, 
DC 20590-0001.
    (2) By delivery to room PL-401 on the Plaza level of the Nassif 
Building, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 
5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The 
telephone number is 202-366-9329.
    (3) By fax to the Docket Management Facility at 202-493-2251.
    (4) Electronically through the Web Site for the Docket 
Management System at http://dms.dot.gov.

    The Docket Management Facility maintains the public docket for this 
Notice. Comments and related material received from the public, as well 
as documents mentioned 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, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, 
DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal 
holidays. You may also find this docket on the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov.
    The measures proposed here are also available from Mr. Mark Gould 
or Mr. Gerald Miante, Maritime Personnel Qualifications Division, 
Office of Operating and Environmental Standards, Commandant (G-MSO-1), 
U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters, telephone 202-267-0229.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions on this Notice or on the 
national performance measures proposed here, write or call Mr. Gould or 
Mr. Miante where indicated under ADDRESSES. For questions on viewing or 
submitting material to the docket, call Ms. Dorothy Beard, Chief of 
Dockets, Department of Transportation, telephone 202-366-9329.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

What Action Is the Coast Guard taking?

    Table A-VI/3 of the Code accompanying the International Convention 
on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers 
(STCW), 1978, as amended in 1995, articulates qualifications for 
ensuring merchant mariners' attaining the minimum standard of 
competence through demonstrations of their proficiency in Advanced 
Fire-Fighting. The Coast Guard tasked MERPAC with referring to the 
Table, modifying and specifying it as it deemed necessary, and 
recommending national performance measures. The Coast Guard has adapted 
the measures recommended by MERPAC and is proposing them here for use 
as guidelines for assessing that proficiency. Next we set forth the 
Four Skills by which a mariner must demonstrate that proficiency and we 
give an example of a Performance Condition, a Performance Behavior, and

[[Page 48042]]

three Performance Standards for one of the skills.
    Four Skills: Control fire-fighting operations aboard ships; 
organize and train fire parties; inspect and service fire-detection and 
fire-extinguishing systems and equipment; and investigate and compile 
reports on incidents involving fire.
    The Performance Condition for the skill entitled, ``investigate and 
compile reports on incidents involving fire'' is: ``In a mockup of a 
shipboard-fire or in a live fire-training facility, when presented with 
the remains of a fire in a fully involved and heavily damaged space 
(consistent with that of a ship of 500 Gross Tonnage (ITC) or more) for 
which the point(s) of origin and cause are unknown''.
    The Performance Behavior for the same skill is: ``when asked, the 
candidate will describe the process of determining the point(s) of 
origin of the fire, using burn patterns; charred debris, material and 
structural damage, discoloration, and distortion, and other physical 
evidence.''
    The Performance Standards for the same skill are: ``descriptions of 
physical evidence are relevant to determining the point of origin; 
process continually eliminates areas that are not points of origin; and 
the point(s) of origin is (are) identified correctly and completely.''
    If the mariner properly meets all of the Performance Standards, he 
or she passes the practical demonstration. If he or she fails to 
properly carry out any of the Performance Standards, he or she fails 
it.

Why Is the Coast Guard Taking This Action?

    The Coast Guard is taking this action to comply with STCW, as 
amended in 1995 and incorporated into domestic law at 46 CFR parts 10, 
12, and 15 in 1997. Guidance from the International Maritime 
Organization on shipboard assessments of proficiency suggests that 
Parties develop standards and measures of performance for practical 
tests as part of their programs for training and assessing seafarers.

How May I Participate in This Action?

    You may participate in this action by submitting comments and 
related material on the national performance measures proposed here. 
(Although the Coast Guard does not seek public comment on the measures 
recommended by MERPAC, as distinct from the measures proposed here, 
those measures are available on the Internet at the Homepage of MERPAC, 
http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-m/advisory/merpac/merpac.htm.) These measures 
are available on the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov. They are also 
available from Mr. Gould or Mr. Miante where indicated under ADDRESSES. 
If you submit written comments please include-
     Your name and address;
     The docket number for this Notice [USCG 2000-7694];
     The specific section of the performance measures to which 
each comment applies; and
     The reason for each comment.
    You may mail, deliver, fax, or electronically submit your comments 
and related material to the Docket Management Facility, using an 
address or fax number listed in ADDRESSES. Please do not submit the 
same comment or material more than once. If you mail or deliver your 
comments and material, they must be on 8\1/2\-by-11-inch paper, and the 
quality of the copy should be clear enough for copying and scanning. If 
you mail your comments and material and would like to know whether the 
Docket Management Facility received them, please enclose a stamped, 
self-addressed postcard or envelope. The Coast Guard will consider all 
comments and material received during the 60-day comment period.
    Once we have considered all comments and related material, we will 
publish a final version of the national performance measures for use as 
guidelines by the general public. Individuals and institutions 
assessing the competence of mariners may refine the final version of 
these measures and develop innovative alternatives. If you vary from 
the final version of these measures, however, you must submit your 
alternative to the National Maritime Center for approval by the Coast 
Guard under 46 CFR 10.303(e) before you use it as part of an approved 
course or training program.

    Dated: July 27, 2000.
Joseph J. Angelo,
Director of Standards, Marine Safety and Environmental Protection.
[FR Doc. 00-19834 Filed 8-3-00; 8:45 am]
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