Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32JUNE 2016 • FOGHORN 21 LEGISLATIVEREPORT should operators of U.S.-flagged passenger-carrying vessels – most of whom are small businesses – comply with a regulatory mandate for which there is no need? If the 2010 law is interpret- ed narrowly, a passenger vessel’s “official logbook” will have to show three items: (1) the time when each seaman and each officer assumed or relieved the watch; (2) the number of hours in service to the vessel of each seaman and each officer; and (3) an account of each accident, illness, and injury that occurs during each watch. Many U.S. passenger-carrying vessels have voyages of only a few hours duration (i.e., dinner cruise vessels, whalewatching boats, charter fishing vessels, etc.), so there are no “changes of watch” as anticipated by the first item. Wait staff and bartenders on dinner cruise vessels are legally con- sidered to be “seamen” but it makes no sense to keep a logbook with their hours of service, because the employer keeps records of their hours of service elsewhere for purposes of wage and hour laws. Most accidents and injuries (to both crew members and passen- gers) must already be reported to the Coast Guard per section 6101 of title 46 United States Code so it is simply su- perfluous to record these in a logbook. If the 2010 law is interpreted broadly, the items to be recorded in the “official logbook” will also include the dozen items listed in section 11301 of title 46 United States Code. Some of these items are simply ridiculous in the context of a domestic U.S. passen- ger-carrying vessel, such as a dinner cruise vessel or a charter fishing boat: legal conviction of a seaman; offense committed by a seaman; a statement of the conduct and character of each seaman (this would cover each waiter and bartender on a dinner boat); the name of each seaman who leaves the vessel’s employment; the wages due a deceased seaman; and each birth that takes place. Other items are duplica- tive of records or reports provided in other contexts: each death on board and each marine casualty (see section Maintenance Management Program Cloud Based - Access from any Device with any browser Maintenance - Inventory - Documentation Intuitive User Interface Flagship Integration Turnkey Setup w w w . W h e e l H o u s e T e c h . c o m - 9 7 8 - 5 6 2 - 5 2 1 1 Foghorn_March_2015.indd 1 2/20/2015 3:43:42 PM 6101 of title 46 United States Code). As part of its late April visits with lawmakers during the PVA Capitol Hill Fly-In, PVA requested the enactment of legislation to exempt domestic passenger-carrying vessels from the unnecessary requirement of an “official logbook.” The proposed amendment is in keeping with current efforts to reduce regulatory burdens for small businesses. With respect to U.S.-flagged passenger carrying vessels, there is no demonstrated need for the statutory mandate for an “official logbook.” Here is an excellent example of an unnecessary mandate begging to be eliminated. n