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 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017 • FOGHORN 43 HOW PVA BENEFITS YOU out the maritime domain (Coast Guard Navigation and Vessel Inspection Circular 01-15)’ for both the Coast Guard and the maritime industry.” This effort has been part of PVA’s ongoing work with the Coast Guard and other maritime organizations ad- vocating for clarification and reform to the marine casualty reporting process. PVAsuggested in its petition that the dollar thresholds should be adjusted upward to an amount that accounts for inflation and implement a new method of ongoing review so that new dollar thresholds can be increased without a formal rulemaking. PVAalso pointed to recommendations to achieve this in the Coast Guard’s November 2016 report to Congress entitled Marine Casualty Reporting Requirements. This report suggested these thresholds “should be adjusted for inflation to the present day and in the future indexed to more accu- rately represent current dollar value,” and proposed new monetary thresh- olds should be developed using the Consumer Price Index. Flagship Submitted to Coast Guard PVA submitted to the Coast Guard the PVA Flagship Safety Management System for final review and acceptance. The PVAFlagship SMS is the completed work of a chartered working group under the PVA/Coast Guard Quality Partnership. PVA’s Flagship program is a voluntary, safety management system that is scalable and intended to enrich regulatory compliance and the safety culture of passenger vessel operations. Flagship is a framework that meets the functional regulatory requirements of a safety management system, but also retains the flexibility for operators to make it their own. The Flagship toolkit will continue to evolve over time and as members develop and use their own policies and procedures. Highlighting the benefits of using Flagship, in PVA’s letter to Admiral Paul Thomas, Assistant Commandant for Prevention Policy, U.S. Coast Guard President Margo Marks stated, “The original working group charter envi- sioned the PVA Flagship SMS as an alternative to traditional Coast Guard inspection. Initially we are seeking recognition through a reduction in the scope of an inspection under the Coast Guard’s prototype Risk Based Decision Making matrix for annual inspections.” PVA thanks the dedicated members who volunteered their experience and time to developing and revising this program. PVA’s submission is the cul- mination of this multi-year effort rein- forcing PVA members’ commitment to safety and continuous improvement. n