[Federal Register: March 17, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 52)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 14193-14195]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr17mr08-14]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Coast Guard
33 CFR Part 181
[Docket No. USCG-2007-29236]
Hull Identification Numbers for Recreational Vessels
AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.
ACTION: Request for public comments.
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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard announces it is again requesting comments on
the costs and benefits of expanding the existing 12-character Hull
Identification Number (HIN) in order to provide additional information
identifying vessels. The Coast Guard requests public comments on this
issue and on the specific questions in this Notice.
DATES: Comments and related material must reach the Docket Management
Facility on or before June 16, 2008.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Coast Guard docket
number USCG-2007-29236 to the Docket Management Facility at the U.S.
Department of Transportation. To avoid duplication, please use only one
of the following methods:
(1) Online: http://www.regulations.gov.
(2) Mail: Docket Management Facility (M-30), U.S. Department of
Transportation, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New
Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001.
(3) Hand delivery: Room W12-140 on the Ground Floor of the West
Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590, between 9
a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The
telephone number is 202-366-9329.
(4) Fax: 202-493-2251.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice,
call Philip Cappel, Office of Boating Safety, Recreational Boating
Product Assurance Division, Coast Guard, telephone 202-372-1076. If you
have questions on viewing or submitting material to the docket, call
Renee V. Wright, Program Manager, Docket Operations, telephone 202-366-
9826.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Public Participation and Request for Comments
We encourage you to submit comments and related material on this
notice. All comments received will be posted, without change, to http:/
/www.regulations.gov and will include any personal information you have
provided. We have an agreement with the Department of Transportation
(DOT) to use the Docket Management Facility. Please see DOT's ``Privacy
Act'' paragraph below.
Submitting comments: If you submit a comment, please include the
docket
[[Page 14194]]
number for this notice (USCG-2007-29236), and give the reason for each
comment. You may submit your comments and material by electronic means,
mail, fax, or delivery to the Docket Management Facility at the address
under ADDRESSES; but please submit your comments and material by only
one means. We recommend that you include your name and a mailing
address, an e-mail address, or a phone number in the body of your
document so that we can contact you if we have questions regarding your
submission. For example, we may ask you to resubmit your comment if we
are not be able to read your original submission. If you submit them by
mail or delivery, submit them in an unbound format, no larger than 8\1/
2\ by 11 inches, suitable for copying and electronic filing. If you
submit them by mail and would like to know that they reached the
Facility, please enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard or
envelope. We will consider all comments and material received during
the comment period.
Viewing the comments: To view the comments, go to http://
www.regulations.gov at any time, click on ``Search for Dockets,'' and
enter the docket number for this notice (USCG-2007-29236) in the Docket
ID box, and click enter. You may also visit the Docket Management
Facility in Room W12-140 on the ground floor of the DOT West Building,
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Privacy Act: Anyone can search the electronic form of all comments
received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review the
Department of Transportation's Privacy Act Statement in the Federal
Register published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477), or you may visit
http://DocketsInfo.dot.gov.
Background and Purpose
The existing Hull Identification Number (HIN) is a unique 12-
character serial number required on each recreational vessel
manufactured in or imported into the United States for the purposes of
sale. The Coast Guard assigns the first three characters, a
Manufacturer Identification Code (MIC), which identifies the
manufacturer or importer; characters four through eight are a
manufacturer serial number; characters nine and ten indicate date of
certification for vessels subject to safety standards or the date of
manufacture for vessels not subject to standards; and characters eleven
and twelve indicate the model year.
The proposed expanded HIN would consist of five additional
characters. Four of the additional characters would indicate length,
hull material, principal means of propulsion, and vessel type. The
fifth additional character would be a check digit. The expanded HIN
with its check digit would reflect additional information useful to law
enforcement authorities, marine bankers, marine insurers, boating
accident data analysts, and marine investigators, and also provide a
useful means of identifying vessels in the Vessel Identification System
(VIS). The VIS is only applicable to recreational vessels that are
registered by a State (see 33 CFR 187.3).
The Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security is required to
establish the VIS (46 U.S.C. chapters 125, 131 & 313) for use by the
public and law enforcement officials. The Secretary has delegated to
the Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard, the authority to implement VIS. VIS
will provide a nationwide pool of vessel and vessel owner information
that will help in the identification and recovery of stolen vessels,
deter vessel theft, and will aid in homeland security.
Regulatory History
We published a Request for Comments in the Federal Register on
November 16, 1998 (63 FR 63638), soliciting comments on: (1) The
expected benefits of an expanded HIN with vessel-specific characters
and a check digit; (2) the manner in which the Coast Guard should
exempt small entities and the builders of high-volume, low-cost
vessels, such as canoes, kayaks, and inflatables; and (3) the estimated
burdens and costs to boat manufacturers if the HIN regulations were
revised to require vessel-specific characters and a check digit. The
comment period closed on February 16, 1999.
We received 31 comments, only one of which contained any economic
data that could be used to determine the benefits of a requirement for
an expanded HIN containing vessel-specific characters and a check
digit. Only four comments were in favor of allowing exceptions for
small entities and the builders of high-volume, low-cost vessels, such
as canoes, kayaks, and inflatable boats. None of the comments contained
information about the estimated burdens and costs to boat
manufacturers.
Discussion
States, bankers, insurers, and theft and accident investigators
favor an expanded format. With vessel-specific characters and a check
digit it would deter both vessel theft and the alteration of HIN's for
fraudulent purposes and could allow for more in-depth analysis of
accident data. In addition, there are other people who favor the
existing 12-character HIN format.
A rulemaking to increase the number of characters in the HIN to
include vessel-specific information could aid in the recovery of stolen
vessels, reduce fraud, improve the accuracy of accident data analysis,
and help in the remote identification of a ``suspect'' vessel. In
addition there may be other benefits associated with expanding the
existing 12-character HIN to include certain vessel-specific
information.
Investigations of lost and stolen vessels depend, in large part, on
the proper authorities' ability to identify a vessel. The proposed
regulations would aid in this pursuit by expanding the current 12-
character HIN to include detailed information about each vessel.
In addition, a check digit in the expanded HIN would make
alteration of an HIN more difficult thereby helping to prevent fraud in
the sale of vessels.
Boating accident statistics are compiled annually by the Coast
Guard from data received from the States and territories through the
Boating Accident Report Database (BARD). These statistics are analyzed
to, among other uses, determine the different causes of accidents and
what course(s) of action, if any, may be taken by the Boating Safety
Program to reduce the number of accidents. The accident analyses,
however, have been hindered by the lack of specific descriptive
information regarding the vessels involved in the accidents and/or the
inaccuracy of the vessel descriptive data provided in the BARD system.
Boating accident reports are submitted by the owner/operator of the
vessel or, in the case of serious accidents, by an investigating
officer. Since the accident information is being provided by thousands
of different individuals the reports may not always be accurate as to
the exact description of the vessel, which leads to inaccuracies in the
analyses of the accident database. A 17-character HIN with the
additional descriptors built into the HIN is expected to improve both
the scope and the accuracy of the data analyses.
Adding vessel description information to the HIN could also improve
the personal safety of State water patrol officers by enabling them,
prior to boarding a vessel, through the use of computer lookup of the
vessel registration number, to get an accurate description of the
vessel via the HIN
[[Page 14195]]
and alert them to approach with caution if the description does not
match the vessel they are planning to board.
However, the Coast Guard lacks detailed information about the
anticipated costs and benefits of the expanded HIN format. Also, we
still believe that, if an expanded HIN format, consisting of vessel-
specific characters and a check digit, is adopted, the Coast Guard
should be allowed to except manufacturers that are small business
entities, and manufacturers of high-volume, low-cost vessels to
minimize costs and information collection burdens.
Federal agencies with regulatory programs are subject to
regulations implementing the Paperwork Reduction Act which are enforced
by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The intent of the Act is
to ensure that the Federal Government imposes only the minimum burden
on the public in collecting information and requiring the maintenance
of records, and that the information collected or maintained is
necessary and useful. A regulation requiring manufacturers to display
labels, such as HIN's, is an example of a collection of information
requirement.
The Coast Guard encourages you to comment on: (1) The expected
benefits and costs of an expanded Hull Identification Number with
vessel-specific characters and a check digit; (2) the manner in which
the Coast Guard should except small entities and the builders of high-
volume, low-cost vessels, such as canoes, kayaks, and inflatables; (3)
the estimated collection of information burdens to boat manufacturers
if the current 12-character HIN regulation were revised to require
additional vessel-specific characters and a check digit; and (4)
possible alternatives to an expanded HIN.
Data is needed to support a decision-making process. Therefore we
particularly need your help in answering any of the following questions
(please provide arguments or data to support each answer):
1. What are the expected benefits if the HIN on a vessel included
vessel-specific characters (e.g. vessel length, hull material, means of
propulsion, boat type, and check digit)?
2. What are the estimated numbers of thefts that might be
prevented?
3. What are the estimated numbers of additional lost or stolen
vessels that might be recovered?
4. What is the estimated value of insurance company losses that
might be prevented?
5. What are the estimated numbers of fraud attempts that might be
prevented?
6. What are the estimated reductions in investigatory expenditures?
7. What are the expected benefits from improved accident data
analyses?
8. How long will it take and what will it cost to determine a 17-
character HIN?
9. How long will it take and what will it cost to affix a 17-
character HIN to the hull of a vessel?
10. What are the measurable resources such as labor and capital
that you would include in a cost-benefit analysis of a 17-character HIN
implementation?
11. Should the Coast Guard consider excepting all builders of non-
powered vessels?
12. Should the Coast Guard consider excepting manufacturers of
boats that sell for less than a certain dollar value?
13. What alternatives are available that would reduce adverse
impacts on small entities and builders of high-volume, low-cost
vessels?
14. Should the Coast Guard consider a phase-in period for
compliance with a 17-character HIN regulation? What time frame would be
appropriate?
15. What are effective alternatives to a 17-character HIN? Examples
could include the following:
a. Leave the current 12-character HIN as is.
b. Implement the Vessel Identification System in lieu of
implementing a 17-character HIN.
c. Develop a regulation requiring uniform State titling/
registration policies.
d. Develop a regulation requiring a uniform method to affix the HIN
that would reduce the likelihood of tampering.
e. Increase security around shore and harbor facilities (more
officers, tracking/monitoring devices).
f. Require other security measures during vessel construction, such
as barcode HINs, radio frequency identification tags, etc.
Dated: March 7, 2008.
James A. Watson,
Rear Admiral (Lower Half), U.S. Coast Guard, Director of Prevention
Policy.
[FR Doc. E8-5326 Filed 3-14-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-15-P