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MARCH 2016 FOGHORN 21 LEGISLATIVEREPORT water survival craft law at the same time it delayed the effective date of the 2010 law which was originally set for January 1 2015. During the 2013-2014 term of Congress the House of Representatives first voted for the survival craft relief amendment but at the last minute the lame duck Senate was unable to approve it before adjournment. PVA renewed its efforts in the current 114th Congress and the House again approved the relief language as part of the first version of the Coast Guard bill H.R. 1987 on May 16 2015. On December 10 the House approved a new version of the Coast Guard bill H.R. 4188 again with the survival craft amendment. The Senate waited until its very last item of business before going home for the holidays but on December 18 it approved a modified version of the bill. This necessitated that the House approve the Senate version of H.R. 4188 accomplished by voice vote on February 1 2106. Scores of PVA members were enlisted as part of the advocacy campaign. Ferry operators in San Francisco Bay had a productive in-person meeting with Representative Garamendi in early 2014. The par- ticipants in PVAs Legislative Fly-In in the spring of 2015 stressed this issue in their meetings on Capitol Hill. This event led to the enlistment of Senator Wicker of Mississippi as our staunch- est proponent in that body. Dozens of members wrote personalized letters to their home-state Senators. Without this grass roots activism by PVA members it is hard to see how success would have been achieved. Thanks to all The effort to amend the survival craft law attracted several other organi- zations. The informal alliance included PVA the National Association of Charterboat Operators the Sportfishing Association of California the Golden Gate Fishermans Association the Maryland Charter Boat Association the Ilwaco WA Charter Association and the National Party Boat Owners Alliance. Each Feb 1 2012 Run a group played an important role in the lobbying effort. On February 17 2016 the U.S. Coast Guard issued Marine Safety Information Bulletin 02-16 entitled Cancellation of CVC Policy Letter 15-05 Requirements for Out-of-Water Survival Craft. The new MSIB notes that the previous policy letter outlining a three-step compliance scheme has been rendered obsolete as a result of Public Law 114-120. It explains that nearly all inspected passenger-carry- ing vessels may continue to use their existing in-water survival craft beyond February 26 2016. In addition it makes clear that the Coast Guard will continue to reauthorize or extend type approval certificates for life floats and other in-water survival craft. n