The most important change expected in 2012 by the U.S. tugboat, towboat and barge industry is that that will be made by a historic regulation establishing the first-ever towing vessel inspection regime. A notice of proposed rule-making was issued by the U.S. Coast Guard in August, and the industry is working with the Coast Guard to perfect and successfully implement the program.
The new regulations will institute a modern, innovative approach to vessel inspection unique to the towing industry and based on a Towing Safety Management System, a recommendation of the National Transportation Safety Board.
Since 2004, AWO has worked closely with the Coast Guard through the congressionally established Towing Safety Advisory Committee to craft a 21st century approach to towing vessel inspection, one that focuses on the principal cause of vessel casualties: human error. This program is being designed to prevent accidents, to protect vessels, crews, cargoes, and to preserve our waterways and our environment.
The goal is to produce a program that can take safety, security and environmental stewardship in the towing industry to the next level.
A second needed change is Senate action on House-passed legislation to establish a uniform and practical approach to the regulation of ballast water and other discharges from commercial vessels. This legislation is urgently needed to establish a consistent, practical and science-based national program for the management of vessel discharges to replace the redundant, contradictory and confusing current statutory system, in which vessel discharges are regulated by two federal agencies and more than two dozen states.
A legislative fix will help correct this untenable situation for interstate maritime commerce and establish a clear and consistent framework for the regulation of vessel discharges that protects the economy and the environment.