46 U.S.C. § 53707 — Findings related to obligors and operators

(a) Responsible Obligor. The Secretary or Administrator can't guarantee an obligation unless they find the obligor is responsible and has the ability, experience, money, and other qualifications needed to properly run and maintain every vessel securing the guarantee. (b) Operators of Liner Vessels. The Administrator can't guarantee a loan to build, rebuild, or recondition a liner vessel unless the Chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission certifies that the vessel's operator hasn't, in the past 5 years, been found by the Commission to have committed: (1) a violation involving unjust or unfair discrimination, or undue prejudice or disadvantage, against a U.S. shipper, ocean transportation intermediary, ocean common carrier, or port, under part A of subtitle IV of this title; or (2) a violation of part B of subtitle IV. (c) Operators of Fishing Vessels. The Secretary can't guarantee a loan to build, rebuild, or recondition a fishing vessel if its operator has: (1) been held liable (or had the vessel held liable) for a civil penalty under Magnuson-Stevens Act section 308 and hasn't paid it; (2) been found guilty under Magnuson-Stevens Act section 309 and hasn't paid the fine or served the sentence; (3) been held liable for a civil or criminal penalty under Marine Mammal Protection Act section 105 and hasn't paid the fine or served the sentence; or (4) been held liable for a Coast Guard civil penalty under this title or title 33 and hasn't paid it. (d) Waivers Concerning Financial Condition. The Secretary or Administrator must write regulations on when they can waive or make exceptions to the usual financial-condition requirements. Those regulations must require that: (1) the economic-soundness requirements in section 53708(a) are still met after the waiver; and (2) if needed, the waiver includes extra requirements on the obligor to offset the added risk from not meeting the usual financial-condition rules.