APRIL 2018 • FOGHORN 33 REGULATORYREPORT Highly Functional, Galley and Foodservice Environments New Builds, Remodels and Retrofits Galley Design and Sales 1813 130th Ave NE Suite 220 Bellevue,WA 98005 p: 425.881.1010 www.galleydesignandsales.com G•D•S 20180003D_GDS_B&W_Ad_MP3.indd 1 1/4/18 9:40 AM WheelHouse is proud to support Entertainment Cruises managing the maintenance, safety requirements, and documentation for their fleet. 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 interprets the role of maritime safety prevention and response as one that may even extend to risk for its own members. The experience of three MBI’s has shown the delegation of interpreta- tion and enforcement of federal regula- tion has led to failure of the delegator and delegated to fulfill basic safety re- quirements. In this case, the delegated duty is to a private sector organization existing in a competitive commercial environment whose business is prin- cipally focused on its own rules and processes. The responsibility to ensure the delegated duty is properly carried out is retained by the Coast Guard. Over time, the roles tend to become less well understood or less rigorously in practice, and accountability of both parties is susceptible to failure. Delegation of Coast Guard inspec- tion authority for compliance with federal rules is termed a “third party” agreement. In addressing the efficacy and effectiveness of delegation other regulatory acceptances under law and regulation are examined. In fact, there is no other identical instance. The regulatory process for in- spection of vessels under the various Subchapters rely, in part, on consensus standards, i.e. ASTM, ASME, NEC, NFPA, and others. “Incorporation by Reference” of consensus codes in reg- ulation by the Coast Guard was first advanced in earnest in the late 1980s as a means of using what is essen- tially a recognized material, property or testing standard to avoid the Coast Guard independently creating es- sentially the same through its own resources. The regulatory process can be time consuming and often trails practice and technology in substantial measure. Incorporation by reference is a federally recognized process that adopts the consensus standard as en- forceable Coast Guard regulation. In this process there is unity of purpose and a clear relationship between public and private sectors. In a slightly different tilt on consensus standards, the recent final rule for fixed fire extinguishing systems requires that a “qualified” service tech- nician, principally a private sector certified agent conduct the annual test of portable fire extinguishers under the Standard for Portable Fire Extinguishers NFPA 10. This NFPA 10 is an incorporated reference. Both the federal regulator and the public sector service provider are using the same standard so acceptance of private sector certification has not been shown to be problematic. In fact, recent alerts have indicated that the Coast Guard has been diligent in oversight where work