46 U.S.C. § 3719 — Reduction of oil spills from single hull non-self-propelled tank vessels

The Secretary, after consulting the National Towing Safety Advisory Committee and considering the characteristics, operating methods, size, and type of service of single-hull, non-self-propelled tank vessels and towing vessels, must issue regulations. The regulations must require a single-hull, non-self-propelled tank vessel^* operating in the open ocean or coastal waters, or the vessel towing it, to have at least one of these: (1) a crew member and an operable anchor on the tank vessel that together can stop the tank vessel without additional help under reasonably foreseeable sea conditions; (2) an emergency system on the tank vessel or towing vessel that can, without additional help under those conditions, let the towing vessel retrieve the tank vessel if the tow line breaks; or (3) another measure or combination of measures that the Secretary decides protects against grounding comparably to paragraph (1) or (2). This section does not define the quoted terms “single-hull,” “non-self-propelled,” “open ocean,” “coastal waters,” or “reasonably foreseeable sea conditions.”