[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 151 (Tuesday, August 6, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50975-50976]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-19845]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Coast Guard

[USCG 2002-12973]


Guidelines for Assessing Merchant Mariners Through Demonstrations 
of Proficiency as Mate (Pilot) of Towing Vessels

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of availability and request for public 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 as Mates 
(Pilots) of Towing Vessels. These measures were developed from 
recommendations and input provided by the Towing Safety Advisory 
Committee (TSAC).

DATES: Comments and related material must reach the Docket Management 
Facility on or before October 7, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Please identify your comments and related material by the 
docket number of this notice [USCG 2002-12973]. 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,

[[Page 50976]]

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. Gerald P. 
Miante, Assistant Executive Director of TSAC, Maritime Personnel 
Qualifications Division, Office of Operating and Environmental 
Standards, Room 1210 (G-MSO-1), U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters, 2100 
Second Street SW., Washington, DC 20593-0001, telephone 202-267-0229, 
or e-mail address [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions on this Notice or on the 
national performance measures proposed here, write, call or e-mail Mr. 
Miante where indicated under ADDRESSES. For questions on viewing or 
submitting material to the docket, call Ms. Dorothy Beard, Chief, 
Dockets, Department of Transportation, telephone 202-366-5149.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:   

What Action Is the Coast Guard Taking?

    An interim rule on Licensing and Manning for Officers of Towing 
Vessels [USCG 1999-6224] appeared in the Federal Register on Thursday, 
April 26, 2001 [66 FR 20931]. It requires certain candidates for 
licenses as officers of towing vessels to hold completed Towing 
Officers' Assessment Records (TOARs). This is to ensure that these 
mariners attain the minimum standard of competence through 
demonstrations of their proficiency as Mates (Pilots) of Towing 
Vessels.
    The Coast Guard charged the TSAC with creating first a list of 
tasks or duties that candidates should be able to perform, and, 
subsequently, recommending national performance measures for completing 
those tasks. The TSAC's License Implementation Work Group completed the 
list in early 2001, and this turned up as the ``TOAR'' in the Coast 
Guard's guidance document for the implementation of the new rules, 
Navigation and Inspection Circular (NVIC) 4-01, ``Licensing and Manning 
for Officers of Towing Vessels.'' Recently, the TSAC approved the 
Working Group's second effort, their recommendation of assessment 
criteria or performance measures that Designated Examiners (DEs) can 
use in judging candidates' execution of the required tasks.
    The Coast Guard has reviewed the measures recommended by the TSAC. 
We are here presenting them for public comment on their suitability for 
use as guidelines in assessing proficiency.
    The guidelines are set up as follows: First, the TOARs come in four 
varieties, according to the candidate's intended route or area of 
operation: Near-Coastal and Oceans, Great Lakes and Inland, Western 
Rivers, and Limited areas. Next, within each TOAR, we assign a letter 
to each of a series of main tasks or duties. Then we assign a number to 
each of several sub-tasks under these, indicate whether each sub-task 
is common to all routes, and finally set forth particular performance 
measures.
    For example, in the TOAR for Near-Coastal and Oceans, main task or 
duty ``D'' is ``Maneuvering'' and sub-task D-1 directs the candidate to 
``Maneuver a light boat.'' An ``X'' evident in the second column 
indicates that this sub-task applies to all candidates for all TOARs.
    Under the name of sub-task D-1, we instruct the DE generally to 
``Have the mariner demonstrate the ability to safely navigate the 
vessel in the following scenarios:''
    One of these scenarios is ``Landing'', with the Performance 
Standard that ``the mariner land safely on a vessel and dock, both with 
and against the current'' and ``[e]nsure that the mariner maintain a 
safe speed with no headway or excess momentum at the moment of 
contact.''
    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 the interim 
rule on towing officers published in 2001. To act as a DE and determine 
whether a candidate has successfully completed the required 
demonstrations, the would-be DE must himself or herself be approved by 
the Coast Guard's National Maritime Center (NMC), and also have 
relevant experience in the task(s) being demonstrated, have read a 
guidance document for assessors published by the Coast Guard at http://www.uscg.mil/NMC/assessorman.pdf, and employ a set of approved 
assessment criteria. These versions of the TOARs should fulfill this 
last condition.

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. 
These measures are available on the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov, 
under this docket number [USCG 2002-12973]. They are also available 
from Mr. Miante where indicated under ADDRESSES. If you submit written 
comments please include--
     Your name and address;
     The docket number for this Notice [USCG 2002-12973];
     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: July 30, 2002.
Joseph J. Angelo,
Director of Standards, Marine Safety, Security & Environmental 
Protection.
[FR Doc. 02-19845 Filed 8-5-02; 8:45 am]
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