[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 119 (Friday, June 20, 2003)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 36957-36959]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-15640]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

33 CFR Part 181

[USCG-2003-14272]
RIN 1625-AA53


Country of Origin Codes and Revision of Regulations on Hull 
Identification Numbers

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard proposes to allow U.S. manufacturers of 
recreational boats to display a 2-character, country of origin code 
before the 12-character Hull Identification Number (HIN) without 
separating the 2-character code by means of borders or on a separate 
label as is currently required by the HIN regulations. The current 
prohibition adversely affects U.S. manufacturers who seek to export 
some of their recreational boats. The removal of the current 
restriction would allow U.S. manufacturers to comply with the 
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) HIN standard, 
without changing the information collected by States on undocumented 
vessels they register.

DATES: Comments and related material must reach the Docket Management 
Facility on or before September 18, 2003.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by the Coast Guard docket 
number USCG-2003-14272 to the Docket Management Facility at the U.S. 
Department of Transportation. To avoid duplication, please use only one 
of the following methods:
    (1) Web site: http://dms.dot.gov.
    (2) Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    (3) Fax: 202-493-2251.
    (4) Delivery: 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.
    (5) Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this proposed 
rule, call Mr. Alston Colihan, Office of Boating Safety, Coast Guard, 
telephone 202-267-0984. If you have questions on viewing or submitting 
material to the docket, call Ms. Dorothy Beard, Chief, Dockets, 
Department of Transportation, telephone 202-366-5149.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Public Participation and Access to Comments

    We encourage you to participate in this rulemaking by submitting 
comments and related materials. All comments received will be posted, 
without change, to http://dms.dot.gov and will include any personal 
information you have provided. We have an agreement with the Department 
of Transportation (DOT) to use the Docket Management Facility. Please 
see the ``Privacy Act'' paragraph below.
    Submitting comments. If you submit a comment, please include your 
name and address, identify the docket number for this rulemaking (USCG-
2003-14272), indicate the specific section of this document to which 
each comment applies, and give the reason for each comment. You may 
submit your comments and material by electronic means, mail, fax, or 
delivery to the Docket Management Facility at the address under 
ADDRESSES; but please submit your comments and material by only one 
means. If you submit them by mail or delivery, submit them in an 
unbound format, no larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, suitable for 
copying and electronic filing. If you submit them by mail and would 
like to know that they reached the Facility, please enclose a

[[Page 36958]]

stamped, self-addressed postcard or envelope. We will consider all 
comments and material received during the comment period. We may change 
this proposed rule in view of them.
    Viewing comments and documents: To view comments, as well as 
documents mentioned in this preamble as being available in the docket, 
go to http://dms.dot.gov at any time and conduct a simple search using 
the docket number. You may also visit the Docket Management Facility in 
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.
    Privacy Act. Anyone can search the electronic form of all comments 
received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual 
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf 
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review the 
Department of Transportation's Privacy Act Statement in the Federal 
Register published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477), or you may visit 
http://dms.dot.gov.

Public Meeting

    We do not now plan to hold a public meeting. But you may submit a 
request for one to the Docket Management Facility at the address under 
ADDRESSES explaining why one would be beneficial. If we determine that 
one would aid this rulemaking, we will hold one at a time and place 
announced by a later notice in the Federal Register.

Background and Purpose

    In 1995, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 
issued a Hull Identification Number standard (ISO 10087:1995(E)) 
consisting of the same format as the existing Coast Guard 12-character 
HIN (manufacturer's identification, serial number, month of 
manufacture, year of manufacture, and model year) preceded by a 2-
character country code and a hyphen. Under the ISO HIN standard, a boat 
made in the U.S. for export to a foreign country would bear a HIN such 
as: US-ABC12345G303.
    Boat manufacturers in the United States that export to Europe 
started using the ISO HIN standard beginning with the 1996 model year. 
According to ISO 10087:1995(E), paragraph (4), Composition of HIN, ``A 
HIN shall consist of 14 consecutive characters plus a hyphen * * *.'' 
But our regulation for displaying information near the HIN, 33 CFR 
181.27, states, ``If additional information is displayed on the boat 
within two inches of the hull identification number, that information 
must be separated from the hull identification number by means of 
borders or must be on a separate label so that it will not be 
interpreted as part of the hull identification number.'' While the ISO 
HIN standard includes a paragraph with language that is nearly 
identical to Sec.  181.27, these ISO requirements do not apply to the 
country code and hyphen, which precede our 12-character HIN.
    The American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC) develops voluntary 
consensus safety standards for the design, construction, equipage, 
maintenance, and repair of small craft. An ABYC Technical Committee 
studying the ISO HIN standard and our HIN standard concluded that the 
differing requirements create a problem for U.S. builders exporting to 
Europe. One large U.S. manufacturer that exports to Europe pointed out 
that use of a separate tape to create the border required by our HIN 
standard often results in misalignment and other flaws that may be 
confused with attempts to alter an HIN. This proposal was discussed at 
the October 29, 2001 meeting of the National Boating Safety Advisory 
Council and there were no objections by State Boating Law 
Administrators in attendance at the meeting. (66 FR 49445, September 
27, 2001). The NBSAC unanimously passed a resolution requesting the 
Coast Guard to immediately pursue rulemaking for an exception to 
current regulations to allow the USA HIN system to conform to the ISO 
HIN standard while still allowing the states to not require the 
``Country Code'' in their registration process.

Discussion of Proposed Rule

    This rule would relieve manufacturers of recreational boats who 
sell both internationally and domestically of the burden of separating 
the country of origin code for the United States, ``US-'', from the 
other 12 characters in a HIN by means of borders or a separate label. 
Any other information would still have to be separated from characters 
in the HIN by means of borders or a separate label.

Regulatory Evaluation

    This proposed rule is not a ``significant regulatory action'' under 
section 3(f) of Executive Order 12866, Regulatory Planning and Review, 
and does not require an assessment of potential costs and benefits 
under section 6(a)(3) of that Order. The Office of Management and 
Budget has not reviewed it under that Order. It is not ``significant'' 
under the regulatory policies and procedures of the Department of 
Homeland Security (DHS).
    We expect the economic impact of this proposed rule to be so 
minimal that a full Regulatory Evaluation under the regulatory policies 
and procedures of DHS is unnecessary. Allowing manufacturers to 
separate the Country of Origin Code without the use of borders or a 
separate label would relieve a burden and thereby reduce the costs of 
complying with the HIN display requirement.

Small Entities

    Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601-612), we have 
considered whether this proposed rule would have a significant economic 
impact on a substantial number of small entities. The term ``small 
entities'' comprises small businesses, not-for-profit organizations 
that are independently owned and operated and are not dominant in their 
fields, and governmental jurisdictions with populations of less than 
50,000.
    The Small Business Administration (SBA) has set up size standards 
for each SIC code based on the number of employees or annual receipts. 
The only type of small entity that this rule would affect would be 
small businesses. There were 4,420 U.S. manufacturers of recreational 
boats in 2002, an estimated 80 percent of which qualify as small 
businesses by the size standards of the SBA. However, we have observed 
that the businesses we have identified as small do not manufacture as 
many boats as their larger competitors. In addition, most of the 
businesses we have identified as small do not export to the European 
market and therefore would not follow the ISO HIN format.
    Therefore, the Coast Guard certifies under 5 U.S.C. 605(b) that 
this proposed rule would not have a significant economic impact on a 
substantial number of small entities. If you think that your business, 
organization, or governmental jurisdiction qualifies as a small entity 
and that this rule would have a significant economic impact on it, 
please submit a comment to the Docket Management Facility at the 
address under ADDRESSES. In your comment, explain why you think it 
qualifies and how and to what degree this rule would economically 
affect it.

Assistance for Small Entities

    Under section 213(a) of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement 
Fairness Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 104-121), we want to assist small 
entities in understanding this proposed rule so that they can better 
evaluate its effect on

[[Page 36959]]

them and participate in the rulemaking. If the rule would affect your 
small business, organization, or governmental jurisdiction and you have 
questions concerning its provisions or options for compliance, please 
contact Mr. Alston Colihan, Project Manager, Office of Boating Safety, 
by telephone at (202) 267-0981 or by e-mail at [email protected].

Collection of Information

    This proposed rule would call for no new collection of information 
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520).

Federalism

    A rule has implications for federalism under Executive Order 13132, 
Federalism, if it has a substantial direct effect on State or local 
governments and would either preempt State law or impose a substantial 
direct cost of compliance on them. We have analyzed this proposed rule 
under that Order and have determined that it does not have implications 
for federalism.

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act

    The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1531-1538) 
requires Federal agencies to assess the effects of their discretionary 
regulatory actions. In particular, the Act addresses actions that may 
result in the expenditure by a State, local, or tribal government, in 
the aggregate, or by the private sector of $100,000,000 or more in any 
one year. Though this proposed rule would not result in such an 
expenditure, we do discuss the effects of this rule elsewhere in this 
preamble.

Taking of Private Property

    This proposed rule would not affect a taking of private property or 
otherwise have taking implications under Executive Order 12630, 
Governmental Actions and Interference with Constitutionally Protected 
Property Rights.

Civil Justice Reform

    This proposed rule meets applicable standards in sections 3(a) and 
3(b)(2) of Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice Reform, to minimize 
litigation, eliminate ambiguity, and reduce burden.

Protection of Children

    We have analyzed this proposed rule under Executive Order 13045, 
Protection of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety 
Risks. This rule is not an economically significant rule and would not 
create an environmental risk to health or risk to safety that might 
disproportionately affect children.

Indian Tribal Governments

    This proposed rule does not have tribal implications under 
Executive Order 13175, Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal 
Governments, because it would not have a substantial direct effect on 
one or more Indian tribes, on the relationship between the Federal 
Government and Indian tribes, or on the distribution of power and 
responsibilities between the Federal Government and Indian tribes.

Energy Effects

    We have analyzed this proposed rule under Executive Order 13211, 
Actions Concerning Regulations That Significantly Affect Energy Supply, 
Distribution, or Use. We have determined that it is not a ``significant 
energy action'' under that order because it is not a ``significant 
regulatory action'' under Executive Order 12866 and is not likely to 
have a significant adverse effect on the supply, distribution, or use 
of energy. The Administrator of the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs has not designated it as a significant energy 
action. Therefore, it does not require a Statement of Energy Effects 
under Executive Order 13211.

Environment

    We have analyzed this proposed rule under Commandant Instruction 
M16475.lD, which guides the Coast Guard in complying with the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA)(42 U.S.C. 4321-4370f), and have 
concluded that there are no factors in this case that would limit the 
use of a categorical exclusion under section 2.B.2 of the Instruction. 
Therefore, this rule is categorically excluded, under figure 2-1, 
paragraph (34)(a) of the Instruction, from further environmental 
documentation. The proposed rule to remove the requirement to separate 
the 2-character country of origin code from the 12-character HIN by 
means of borders or on a separate label relates to the documentation of 
vessels and is not expected to have any environmental impact.
    A draft ``Environmental Analysis Check List'' and a draft 
``Categorical Exclusion Determination'' are available in the docket 
where indicated under ADDRESSES. Comments on this section will be 
considered before we make the final decision on whether the rule should 
be categorically excluded from further environmental review.

List of Subjects in 33 CFR Part 181

    Labeling, Marine safety, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    For the reasons set out in the preamble, the Coast Guard proposes 
to amend 33 CFR part 181 as follows:

PART 181--MANUFACTURER REQUIREMENTS

    1. The authority citation for part 181 is revised to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 46 U.S.C. 4302 and 4310; Pub. L. 103-206, 107 Stat. 
2439; Department of Homeland Security Delegation No. 0170.

    2. Revise Sec.  181.27 to read as follows:


Sec.  181.27  Information displayed near hull identification number.

    With the exception of the characters ``US-'', which constitute the 
country of origin code for the United States, if information is 
displayed on the boat within 2 inches of the hull identification number 
(HIN), that information must be separated from the HIN by means of 
borders or must be on a separate label, so that it will not be 
interpreted as part of the hull identification number.

    Dated: June 12, 2003.
David S. Belz,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Director of Operations.
[FR Doc. 03-15640 Filed 6-19-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-15-P