46 U.S.C. § 70001 Vessel Traffic Services

• 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. § 70001

(a) IN GENERAL.-Subject to the requirements of section 70004, the Secretary-

(1) in any port or place under the jurisdiction of the United States, in the navigable waters of the United States, or in any area covered by an international agreement negotiated pursuant to section 70005, may construct, operate, maintain, improve, or expand vessel traffic services, that consist of measures for controlling or supervising vessel traffic or for protecting navigation and the marine environment and that may include one or more of reporting and operating requirements, surveillance and communications systems, routing systems, and fairways;

(2) shall require appropriate vessels that operate in an area of a vessel traffic service to utilize or comply with that service;

(3) may require vessels to install and use specified navigation equipment, communications equipment, electronic relative motion analyzer equipment, or any electronic or other device necessary to comply with a vessel traffic service or that is necessary in the interests of vessel safety, except that the Secretary shall not require fishing vessels under 300 gross tons as measured under section 14502, or an alternate tonnage measured under section 14302 as prescribed by the Secretary under section 14104, or recreational vessels 65 feet or less to possess or use the equipment or devices required by this subsection solely under the authority of this chapter;

(4) may control vessel traffic in areas subject to the jurisdiction of the United States that the Secretary determines to be hazardous, or under conditions of reduced visibility, adverse weather, vessel congestion, or other hazardous circumstances, by-

(A) specifying times of entry, movement, or departure;

(B) establishing vessel traffic routing schemes;

(C) establishing vessel size, speed, or draft limitations and vessel operating conditions; and

(D) restricting operation, in any hazardous area or under hazardous conditions, to vessels that have particular operating characteristics or capabilities that the Secretary considers necessary for safe operation under the circumstances;

(5) may require the receipt of prearrival messages from any vessel, destined for a port or place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, in sufficient time to permit advance vessel traffic planning before port entry, which shall include any information that is not already a matter of record and that the Secretary determines necessary for the control of the vessel and the safety of the port or the marine environment; and

(6) may prohibit the use on vessels of electronic or other devices that interfere with communication and navigation equipment, except that such authority shall not apply to electronic or other devices certified to transmit in the maritime services by the Federal Communications Commission and used within the frequency bands 157.1875-157.4375 MHz and 161.7875-162.0375 MHz.

(b) NATIONAL POLICY.-

(1) ESTABLISHMENT AND UPDATE OF NATIONAL POLICY.-

(A) ESTABLISHMENT OF POLICY.-Not later than one year after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall establish a national policy which is inclusive of local variances permitted under subsection (c), to be applied to all vessel traffic service centers and publish such policy in the Federal Register.

(B) UPDATE.-The Secretary shall periodically update the national policy established under subparagraph (A) and shall publish such update in the Federal Register or on a publicly available website.

(2) ELEMENTS.-The national policy established and updated under paragraph (1) shall include, at a minimum, the following:

(A) Standardization of titles, roles, and responsibilities for all personnel assigned, working, or employed in a vessel traffic service center.

(B) Standardization of organizational structure within vessel traffic service centers, to include supervisory and reporting chain and processes.

(C) Establishment of directives for the application of authority provided to each vessel traffic service center, specifically with respect to directing or controlling vessel movement when such action is justified in the interest of safety.

(D) Establishment of thresholds and measures for monitoring, informing, recommending, and directing vessel traffic.

(E) Establishment of national procedures and protocols for vessel traffic management.

(F) Standardization of training for all vessel traffic service directors, operators, and watchstanders.

(G) Establishment of certification and competency evaluation for all vessel traffic service directors, operators, and watchstanders.

(H) Establishment of standard operating language when communicating with vessel traffic users.

(I) Establishment of data collection, storage, management, archiving, and dissemination policies and procedures for vessel incidents and near-miss incidents.

(c) LOCAL VARIANCES.-

(1) DEVELOPMENT.-In this section, the Secretary may provide for such local variances as the Secretary considers appropriate to account for the unique vessel traffic, waterway characteristics, and any additional factors that are appropriate to enhance navigational safety in any area where vessel traffic services are provided.

(2) REVIEW AND APPROVAL BY SECRETARY.-The Captain of the Port covered by a vessel traffic service center may develop and submit to the Secretary regional policies in addition to the national policy established and updated under subsection (b) to account for variances from that national policy with respect to local vessel traffic conditions and volume, geography, water body characteristics, waterway usage, and any additional factors that the Captain considers appropriate.