[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 59 (Wednesday, March 27, 2002)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 14643-14645]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-7235]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Coast Guard

33 CFR Part 173

[USCG 1999-6094]
RIN 2115-AF87


Raising the Threshold of Property Damage for Reports of Accidents 
Involving Recreational Vessels

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard removes a suspended provision, which would 
have required the public to report collisions of recreational vessels 
involving two or more vessels, regardless of the amount of damage to 
property. This removal streamlines reporting criteria and reduces 
paperwork burdens on the public, the States, and the Coast Guard, for 
accidents causing minor or cosmetic damage. The remaining provision, 
which requires the public to report damage to vessels and other 
property when it totals $2,000 or more or there is a complete loss of 
any vessel, is in effect as published.

DATES: Effective March 27, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Comments and materials received from the public, as well as 
documents mentioned in this preamble as being available in the docket, 
are part of docket USCG 1999-6094 and are available for inspection or 
copying at the Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC, 
between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal 
holidays. The telephone number is 202-366-9329. You may also find this 
docket on the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this rule, 
contact Bruce Schmidt, Project Manager, Office of Boating Safety, 
Program Management Division, Coast Guard, by e-mail at 
[email protected] or by telephone at 202-267-0955.
    If you have questions on viewing the docket, call Dorothy Beard, 
Chief, Dockets, Department of Transportation, telephone 202-366-9329.
    You may obtain a copy of this rule by calling the U.S. Coast Guard 
Infoline at 1-800-368-5647 or by accessing either the Web Site for the 
Office of Boating Safety, at http://www.uscgboating.org, or the 
Internet Site for the Docket Management Facility, at http://dms.dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background and Purpose

    The National Association of State Boating Law Administrators 
(NASBLA) is a professional association whose members include officials 
of States, commonwealths, and provinces. These officials are 
responsible for administering and enforcing the boating laws of their 
jurisdictions. The Boating Accident Investigation, Reporting, and 
Analysis Committee (BAIRAC) is a subcommittee of NASBLA and is 
responsible for the reporting and analysis of accidents.
    The Boating Law Administrators (BLAs) who serve on BAIRAC are 
experts in enforcement, education for boating safety, and investigation 
of boating accidents. Through their experience with and knowledge of 
various types of boat damage and subsequent repair costs, they strongly 
encouraged the Coast Guard to raise the threshold of property damage 
for reports of accidents involving recreational vessels to a level that 
reflects current prices of boats and costs of repair.
    BAIRAC asked the Coast Guard to initiate a rulemaking that would 
change the threshold for reports of accidents involving only property 
damage from $500 to $2,000 and would amend the reportable conditions to 
include all accidents involving collisions of multiple vessels. While 
the Coast Guard concurred that a threshold of $2,000 for those 
accidents involving only property damage would enable States' accident 
investigators to focus on reports of safety-related damage and 
eliminate most of the reports of cosmetic damage, we needed to study 
the feasibility of requiring the reports of all multi-vessel accidents.
    Data within the Boating Accident Report Database (BARD) for 1998 
show that 1,718 reported multi-boat collisions involved only property 
damage. Of those 1,718, 1,002 involved property damage below the 
proposed threshold of $2,000. Taking a closer look at the data, we 
discovered that nearly 90% of those 1,002 involve property damage at or 
below a threshold of $1,500. We considered most of these more cosmetic 
than safety-related. So, recognizing the

[[Page 14644]]

need to reduce the number of reports for minor or cosmetic damage, the 
need to reduce the administrative burden on the public and the States 
of reports for such damage, and the need for States' accident 
investigators to focus on safety-related damage, we did not mandate 
reports of all multi-boat collisions at that time.
    After we published our Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), we 
received five comments that urged us to include a provision that 
required reports of all multi-vessel collisions because most of these 
accidents are caused by boat operators who violate navigation rules. As 
first written, our Final Rule would have raised the reporting threshold 
to $2000, yet also have required that all multi-vessel accidents must 
be reported; however, shortly after the publication date, though before 
the effective date of the Rule, we received a comment that recommended 
that we suspend the provision to require reports of multi-vessel 
collisions. The commenter indicated that his State could not comply 
with the Rule because his State did not require such reports, nor could 
the legislature in his State meet before the effective date of the 
Rule. (All States currently require owners or operators to report 
accidents costing $500 or more; however, few States require them to 
report all accidents. To change this, each State's legislature would 
have to vote to require reports of all multi-vessel accidents.) While 
the portion of the Rule that raised the threshold went into effect as 
planned, we suspended the multi-vessel provision and requested 
comments. On the basis of the feedback we received from that Notice of 
Suspension, we are removing the suspended provision.
    This Rule will raise the threshold of property damage for reports 
of accidents involving recreational vessels (including multi-vessel 
accidents) from the current level of $500 to $2000. This higher 
threshold will reduce the numbers of reports of accidents involving 
minor or cosmetic damage and reduce the burden of paperwork on the 
boating public, the States, and the Coast Guard itself.

Regulatory History

    We published an NPRM [65 FR 38229 (June 20, 2000)]. In it, we 
proposed to raise the threshold of reporting accidents from $500 to 
$2000. To it, we received seventeen comments. Twelve of them supported 
raising the threshold of property damage to $2,000; five of those 
twelve also supported requiring the reporting of all accidents 
involving collisions of two or more vessels, regardless of the amount 
of property damage. The five not among the twelve opposed raising the 
threshold of property damage at all.
    We decided to move forward with our plan to raise the reporting 
threshold to $2000. On the basis of comments submitted by NASBLA and 
BAIRAC, we also planned on requiring reports of all accidents involving 
collisions of two or more vessels, regardless of the amount of property 
damage, because boat operators who violate a navigation rule cause most 
of these accidents. We published a Final Rule to codify these plans [66 
FR 21671 (May 1, 2001)].
    Shortly after publication of the Final Rule, we received a comment 
that indicated that many States would be unable to comply with the 
requirement to report all multi-vessel accidents, because few States 
have such a requirement in their books, few States have statutory 
authority to require such reports, and many States' legislative 
calendars preclude compliance by the published effective date, July 2, 
2001.
    In response to this comment, we suspended the provision that 
required the reporting of all multi-vessel accidents, and we requested 
further comments [66 FR 33844 (June 26, 2001)]. We reopened the comment 
period to accommodate a request by NASBLA, so they could meet as a body 
and forward their official comment to us [66 FR 53754 (October 24, 
2001)]. On the basis of the comments we received, we are removing the 
provision we suspended, which would have required the reporting of all 
multi-vessel accidents; and, though it is already in effect, we are 
finalizing the remainder of the rule: report damage to vessels and 
other property that totals $2,000 or more and report the complete loss 
of any vessel.

Discussion of Comments and Changes

    We received a total of nine comments to our Partial Suspension of 
Rule; Request for Comments. One comment was submitted to this docket in 
error; another requested that we reopen the comment period; therefore, 
we analyzed a total of seven comments.
    While all commenters were concerned with either safety, reporting 
efficiency, or both, their approaches to achieve these goals varied. 
Three commenters indicated that they do not favor removing 33 CFR 
173.55(a)(3)(ii), that is, they prefer requiring reports on all multi-
vessel accidents, regardless of cost. One of these three indicated 
willingness to compromise by keeping the reporting threshold for multi-
vessel accidents at $500.
    Two of the three comments in favor of requiring reports of all 
multi-vessel accidents, regardless of the amount of damage to property, 
came from State Boating Law Administrators (BLAs). One indicated that 
suspending the effective date for a year would be acceptable in giving 
the States time to gain statutory authority to require reports of 
multi-vessel accidents. The second was concerned that many multi-vessel 
accidents involving smaller boats would go unreported. The third 
thought that, without reports of these accidents, it would be difficult 
to determine whether a safety problem exists. After thoughtfully 
considering the three comments, the Coast Guard decided that the 
prospect of all States' getting statutory authority to uniformly 
require reports of multi-vessel accidents is not realistic either from 
a logistical or from a legislative perspective.
    Two BLA commenters indicated that they do favor removing the 
provision, because their States would not have the statutory authority 
to require reports of all multi-vessel accidents. These two indicated 
that changing their States' laws to eliminate the value of property 
damage for multi-vessel accidents would be difficult and time-
consuming. They recommend keeping the reporting threshold for multi-
vessel accidents at $500 since all States maintain at least a $500 
reporting threshold and, therefore, legislation would be unnecessary 
for reporting multi-vessel accidents at that level. After thoughtfully 
considering these two comments, the Coast Guard decided that a uniform 
threshold of $2,000 for reports of property damage that includes multi-
vessel accidents would be better understood by those individuals 
required to file accident reports.
    Another commenter favored removing the provision out of concern for 
our workload.
    We agree that the requirement to report multi-vessel accidents 
would create an undue burden for those required to process all reports 
of multi-vessel accidents in each State.
    NASBLA wrote to the docket and requested that we reopen the comment 
period so they could discuss this rulemaking at their next scheduled 
meeting. We did to accommodate their request. NASBLA (whose 
subcommittee, BAIRAC, had recommended that the Coast Guard raise the 
reporting threshold in the first place) indicated that a majority of 
their members voted to recommend removing the provision and to 
uniformly report all accidents with $2,000 or more in property damage 
including two-vessel collisions. On the basis of the comments we 
received, especially that of NASBLA, which represents boating 
authorities of all 50 States and the U.S. Territories, we are

[[Page 14645]]

removing the provision that requires all multi-vessel collisions to be 
reported. Therefore, as previously published in the Final Rule, 
regardless of whether multiple vessels are involved, an accident report 
is required only when damage to vessels and other property totals 
$2,000 or more or there is a complete loss of any vessel.
    While the threshold of $2,000 for reports of accidents with only 
property damage now becomes the minimum set by Federal rule, States 
remain free to impose stricter requirements. Thus, a State could 
require reports of accidents involving collisions of multiple vessels, 
even if they resulted only in property damage below the threshold of 
$2,000.
    Also note that, if, after an accident, a vessel valued at less than 
$2000 is a complete loss, that too must be reported. The Coast Guard 
will continue to collect, analyze, and report data so that, together 
with the States, industry, and public, we can enhance the safety of 
recreational boating.

List of Subjects in 33 CFR Part 173

    Marine safety, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.


    For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Coast Guard amends 
33 CFR part 173 as follows:

PART 173--VESSEL NUMBERING AND CASUALTY AND ACCIDENT REPORTING

Subpart C--Casualty and Accident Reporting

    1. The citation of authority for part 173 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 31 U.S.C. 9701; 46 U.S.C. 2110, 6101, 12301, 12302; 
OMB Circular A-25; 49 CFR 1.46.


Sec. 173.55  [Amended]

    2. Revise Sec. 173.55(a)(3) to read as follows:


Sec. 173.55  Report of casualty or accident.

    (a) * * *
    (3) Damage to vessels and other property totals $2,000 or more or 
there is a complete loss of any vessel;
* * * * *

    Dated: March 20, 2002.
Kenneth T. Venuto,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Acting Assistant Commandant for 
Operations.
[FR Doc. 02-7235 Filed 3-26-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-15-U