46 U.S.C. § 3306 — Regulations

(a) To carry out this part and protect people and property on inspected vessels, including covered small passenger vessels (a term defined in (n)(5)), the Secretary must issue necessary regulations for: (1) vessel^* design, construction, alteration, repair, and operation, including the listed structures, machinery, systems, equipment, and passenger and crew accommodations; (2) lifesaving equipment and its use; (3) firefighting equipment, its use, and fire precautions; (4) related inspections and tests; and (5) vessel stores and other dangerous supplies, including rechargeable devices used for personal or commercial electronics.

(b)(1) Regulated equipment and material may not be used on a vessel without the Secretary's prior approval. (2) Except for a public vessel, the Secretary may accept a foreign government's approval if the Secretary finds that its design and testing meet the 1974 International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, the approval will protect people and property on inspected vessels, and, for lifesaving equipment, that government gives equivalent treatment to Secretary approvals and allows Secretary-approved lifesaving equipment on vessels documented and inspected under that country's laws.

(c) For sailing-school-vessel regulations, the Secretary must consult private-sector representatives experienced with likely certificated vessels. The regulations must reflect the specialized operations and the vessels' character, design, and construction, and require notice to instructors and students about that specialized nature and applicable safety rules.

(d) For nautical-school vessels operated by the Merchant Marine Academy or a State^* maritime academy, the Secretary must consider their function, purpose, operation, routes, and possible number of people aboard.

(e) When the Secretary finds it in the public interest, the Secretary may suspend or exempt a regulation's requirements about lifesaving or firefighting equipment, muster lists, ground tackle and hawsers, or bilge systems.

(f) Offshore-supply-vessel regulations must consider those vessels' characteristics, operating methods, and service.

(g) For fish-processing or fish-tender vessels, the Secretary must consult experienced private-sector representatives. Regulations must reflect the specialized nature and economics of those operations and the vessels' character, design, and construction.

(h) The Secretary must establish suitable structural-fire-protection, crewing, operating, and equipment rules for qualifying vessels of at least 100 but under 300 gross tons, or the prescribed alternate tonnage, carrying no more than 150 passengers on domestic voyages.

(i) The Secretary must establish those types of rules for qualifying former United States public vessels of at least 100 but under 500 gross tons, or the prescribed alternate tonnage, carrying no more than 150 passengers on domestic voyages.

(j) The Secretary may establish a safety-management system by regulation suited to towing vessels' characteristics, operations, and service.

(k)(1) A United States vessel built under a contract entered after enactment of the Maritime Safety Act of 2010, or delivered after January 1, 2011, with at least 600 cubic meters of oil fuel capacity must comply with Regulation 12A, Annex I, of the 1978 Protocol relating to the 1973 International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, titled Oil Fuel Tank Protection. (2) The Secretary may apply that requirement by regulation to such vessels not otherwise subject to the convention; the regulation is an interpretive rule under 5 U.S.C. 553. (3) Oil fuel means oil used as fuel for the vessel's propulsion or auxiliary machinery and carried on that vessel.

(l)(1) The Secretary must require an inspected freight vessel to have distress-signaling and location technology for the greater of (A) the minimum officers and crew listed on its inspection certificate or (B) the people aboard. (2) This does not apply within the baseline from which the United States territorial sea is measured.

(m)(1) The Secretary must require companies to record every incremental weight change to an inspected freight vessel and track changes over time so the aggregate total can be quickly determined. (2) The records must be kept on board in paper or electronic form for at least three years and ashore for the vessel's life.

(n) Covered small passenger vessels. (1) The Secretary must issue additional regulations protecting people and property aboard covered small passenger vessels. (2) To do so, the Secretary must comprehensively review all existing requirements, including calculations, on the enactment date of the Elijah E. Cummings Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2020 concerning fire detection, protection, suppression, and escape routes aboard those vessels. (3)(A) Subject to (B), the regulations must require: (i) marine-firefighting training that improves crew training and skill, including emergency escape training for every crew member at least monthly while employed and whenever a new crew member joins; (ii) in every passenger- and crew-accessible area, including dining, sleeping, and lounge areas, interconnected fire detection with audible and visual alarms and additional extinguishers and firefighting equipment; (iii) monitoring devices to ensure the required night watch stays awake; (iv) increased fire detection and suppression, including extra extinguishers, in unmanned machinery areas and other potential heat-source areas; (v) at least two independent escape routes from every passenger-accessible general area, arranged for free and clear exit, positioned so one remains available if the other is unavailable, and not directly above or dependent on a berth; (vi) rules for handling, storing, and operating flammable items such as rechargeable batteries, including commercial lithium-ion batteries; (vii) passenger emergency-escape drills for every passenger-accessible area before each excursion; and (viii) a copy of the vessel's emergency-escape plan for every passenger. (B) Requirements (iii), (v), (vii), and (viii) apply only to a covered small passenger vessel with overnight passenger accommodations.

(4)(A) Before final regulations under (1), the Secretary must implement interim requirements enforcing (3). (B) The Secretary must implement them without regard to title 5 chapters 5 and 6 or Executive Orders 12866 and 13563.

(5) Covered small passenger vessel means, except for (B), a small passenger vessel defined in section 2101 that has overnight passenger accommodations or operates on a coastwise or oceans route. It does not include a ferry or fishing vessel as defined in section 2101.