46 U.S.C. § 12505 Fees

• Library: United States Statutes
• Edition: 2023
• Currency: Current through P.L. 118-34 (published on www.congress.gov on 12/26/2023), except for [P. L. 118-31]
• Year: 2023
• Citation: 46 U.S.C. § 12505

(a) The Secretary of Transportation may charge a fee under section 9701 of title 31 for providing information to or requesting information from the vessel identification system, except to-

(1) an agency; or

(2) a State making information available to the Secretary under section 12503(a) of this title.

(b) The Secretary shall deposit amounts transferred or collected under this section in the general fund of the Treasury as proprietary receipts of the Secretary and ascribed to the vessel identification system.

Cite as 46 U.S.C. § 12505

Source: Added Pub. L. 100-710, title I, §101(a), Nov. 23, 1988, 102 Stat. 4737; amended Pub. L. 101-595, title VI, §603(11), Nov. 16, 1990, 104 Stat. 2993.

Notes from the Office of Law Revision Counsel

current through 7/7/2023

HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES

Revised section 12505

This section contains the authority for the Secretary to charge a fee under the user charge law, 31 U.S.C. 9701, for providing information to or requesting information from the vessel identification system. Fees may not be charged under this subsection to an agency or a State that is participating in the vessel identification system maintained by the Secretary.

Under subsection (b) of this section, the Secretary may collect an annual fee of not more than $1.00 from the owner of a vessel of the United States under 31 U.S.C. 9701 for the vessel identification system. Since vessel owners will benefit from the vessel identification system, such as from documentation of ownership data and stolen vessel tracking, this fee is designed as a maintenance charge to owners for this service. The collection of the annual fee may be delayed by the Secretary, and an agency, State, or person may be employed to collect the fee under subsection (c). The Committee expects that the Secretary will make agreements with States to collect this fee at the time of vessel registrations. The term of these registrations varies from one to three years as permitted by chapter 123 of title 46.

Under subsection (d) of this section, if a State is employed to collect the fee, the State may retain one-half of the amounts collected, and must transfer the remainder to the Secretary. The amounts retained by a State may be used to cover the costs of making vessel identification information available to the Secretary. This includes upgrading or establishing titling systems as well as making improvements and other changes to vessel numbering systems to make information available. Because States are allowed to make improvements to their vessel titling and numbering systems with the amounts retained under this section, the costs of those programs may decrease. This could result in a corresponding decrease in State numbering fees and offset vessel identification system fees paid by vessel owners.