[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 66 (Thursday, April 5, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18145-18146]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-8313]



[[Page 18145]]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Coast Guard

[USCG 2001-9269]


Guidelines for Assessing a Merchant Mariner's Proficiency through 
Demonstrations of Skills as an Officer in Charge of an Engineering 
Watch in a Manned Engine Room or as a Designated Duty Engineer in a 
Periodically Unmanned Engine Room

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 a mariner demonstrates his or her competence as 
an officer in charge of an engineering watch in a manned engine room or 
as a designated duty engineer in a periodically unmanned engine room. A 
working group of the Merchant Marine Personnel Advisory Committee 
(MERPAC) developed and recommended 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 June 4, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Please identify your comments and related material by the 
docket number of this rulemaking [USCG 2001-9269]. Then, to make sure 
they enter the docket just 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 Facility at 202-493-2251.
    (4) Electronically through the Web Site for the Docket Management 
System at http://dms.dot.gov.
    The 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.
    The measures proposed here are available on the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov. They are also available from Mr. Mark Gould, 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 
where indicated under ADDRESSES. For questions on viewing or submitting 
material to the docket, call Ms. Dorothy Beard, Chief, Dockets, 
Department of Transportation, telephone 202-366-9329.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

What Action Is the Coast Guard Taking?

    Table A-III/1 of the STCW Code accompanying the treaty on Standards 
of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW), 1978, 
as amended in 1995, articulates qualifications for proficiency as an 
officer in charge of an engineering watch in a manned engine room or as 
a designated duty engineer in a periodically unmanned engine room. 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 now for use as guidelines 
when assessing a mariner's competence (manifest knowledge, 
understanding, and proficiency, or, in the jargon, ``KUP'') as an 
officer in charge of an engineering watch in a manned engine room or as 
a designated duty engineer in a periodically unmanned engine room.
    Here follow the four Functions that a mariner must demonstrate to 
qualify as an officer in charge of an engineering watch in a manned 
engine room or as a designated duty engineer in a periodically unmanned 
engine room, with an example of a Performance Condition, a Performance 
Behavior, and five Performance Criteria for one of the four.
    Four Functions (all at the operational level): Marine engineering; 
Electrical, electronic, and control engineering; Maintenance and 
repair; and Controlling the operation of the ship and care for persons 
on board.
    Under the Function of ``Marine Engineering at the operational 
level'' (and under the competence of ``Use appropriate tools for 
fabrication and repair operations typically performed on ships,'' and 
under the KUP of ``Characteristics and limitations of materials used in 
construction and repair of ships and equipment'') the sole Performance 
Condition is: ``In a workshop [or] laboratory or other safe working 
environment, given proper tools, lighting, ventilation, and a thin 
steel plate of no less than \1/4\ inch thickness, * * *''. This calls 
for, in the case of this Condition, a single Performance Behavior.
    The Performance Behavior for the same Function and Condition is: 
``[T]he candidate will plan, prepare and safely cut a [3-inch] circular 
hole in the plate using oxyacetylene process and describe actions as 
they are being performed.'' This Behavior calls for five Performance 
Criteria.
    The Performance Criteria for the same Behavior are: ``(1) The plan 
and layout of the job are correct, [are] in proper sequence, and 
incorporate all safety considerations; (2) All required equipment is 
set up and job is properly laid out; (3) The hole is cut according to 
plan and within tolerance of [plus or minus] \1/8\ inch; (4) Actions 
being executed are described correctly as they are being performed; 
[and] (5) No safety violations are observed.''
    If the mariner properly meets all of the Performance Criteria, he 
or she passes the practical demonstration. If he or she fails to 
properly carry out any of the Criteria, he or she fails the 
demonstration.

Why Is the Coast Guard Taking This Action?

    The Coast Guard is taking this action to comply with STCW, as 
amended in 1995 and 1997 and incorporated into domestic law at 46 CFR 
parts 10, 12, and 15 in 1997 and since. 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/

[[Page 18146]]

merpac.htm.) The measures proposed here, again, are available on the 
Internet at http://dms.dot.gov. They are also available from Mr. Gould 
where indicated under ADDRESSES. If you submit written comments please 
include--
     Your name and address;
     The docket number for this Notice [USCG 2001-9269];
     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 
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: March 28, 2001.
Howard L Hime,
Acting Director of Standards.
[FR Doc. 01-8313 Filed 4-4-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-15-U