Digital Certificate of Number for State Numbered Vessels

<RULE> DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY <SUBAGY>Coast Guard</SUBAGY> <CFR>33 CFR Parts 173 and 174</CFR> <DEPDOC>[Docket No. USCG-2023-0600]</DEPDOC> <RIN>RIN 1625-AC92</RIN> <SUBJECT>Digital Certificate of Number for State Numbered Vessels</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Coast Guard, DHS. <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Final rule. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> This final rule is intended to amend the Coast Guard's requirements for a Certificate of Number (CON) for vessels to allow any CON to be carried in hard copy or digital form. This aligns our current CON requirements with statutory changes made by the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> This final rule is effective July 5, 2024. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> To view documents mentioned in this preamble as being available in the docket, go to <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov,</E> type USCG-2023-0600 in the search box and click “Search.” Next, in the Document Type column, select “Supporting & Related Material.” This final rule with its plain-language, 100-word-or-less summary will be available in this same docket. <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> For information about this document call or email Thomas Guess, Coast Guard CG-BSX-2; telephone 206-815-0221, email <E T="03">Thomas.E.Guess@uscg.mil.</E> </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Table of Contents for Preamble </HD> <EXTRACT> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">I. Abbreviations</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">II. Basis, Purpose, and Regulatory History</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">III. Background</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">IV. Discussion of the Rule</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">V. Regulatory Analyses</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Regulatory Planning and Review</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Small Entities</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. Assistance for Small Entities</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. Collection of Information</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">E. Federalism</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">F. Unfunded Mandates</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">G. Taking of Private Property</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">H. Civil Justice Reform</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">I. Protection of Children</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">J. Indian Tribal Governments</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">K. Energy Effects</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">L. Technical Standards</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">M. Environment</FP> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. Abbreviations</HD> <EXTRACT> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">NDAA 2023 James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">CFR Code of Federal Regulations</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">CG-BSX Office of Auxiliary and Boating Safety</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">CON Certificate of Number</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">DHS Department of Homeland Security</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">FR Federal Register</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">OMB Office of Management and Budget</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">RA Regulatory analysis</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">§ Section </FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">SMEs Subject matter experts</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">U.S.C. United States Code</FP> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">II. Basis, Purpose, and Regulatory History</HD> The statutory authority for this final rule can be found in 46 U.S.C. 12301 and 12304. Section 12301 states that undocumented vessels equipped with propulsion machinery on waters subject to U.S. jurisdiction must have a number issued by the proper issuing authority in the State in which the vessel is principally operated. Section 12304 describes a Certificate of Number (CON) and requires the CON to be available for inspection on the vessel when it is in operation, unless the vessel is under 26 feet and is leased or rented to another individual for noncommercial use for less than 7 days. Under 46 U.S.C. 12302, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is charged with issuing regulations to create a standard numbering system for vessels to which 46 U.S.C. chapter 123 applies, including the regulations in 33 CFR part 174. The Secretary delegated the authority to issue rules for identification of vessels to the Coast Guard in DHS Delegation No. 00170.1(II)(92)(h), Revision No. 01.4. Section 11506 of the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (Pub. L. 117-263, December 23, 2022) (NDAA 2023) amended 46 U.S.C. 12304 to permit any CON “in hard copy or digital form,” while retaining the prior requirement that any certificates issued in hard copy under this section be “pocketsized.” This amendment is effective immediately and immediately allowed boaters to choose to carry digital CONs. We expect that this provision of the NDAA 2023 will represent potential cost savings to State and territorial governments that choose to issue digital CONs. This final rule harmonizes the current regulations with the amended statute and updates the regulations to reflect the use of digital versions of CONs. <HD SOURCE="HD2">Administrative Procedure Act</HD> The Administrative Procedure Act (APA) requires generally that agencies provide advance public notice, seek public comment, and provide a 30-day delayed effective date. <SU>1</SU> <FTREF/> An agency may issue a rule without first providing the opportunity for notice and comment if the agency finds that notice and comment procedures are impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest. 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B). Notice and comment procedures are unnecessary, for example, if Congress requires non-discretionary action of an agency, leaving it without discretion to vary its action in response to the views or suggestions of commenters. <E T="03">See, e.g., Metzenbaum</E> v. <E T="03">Fed. Energy Regul. Comm'n.,</E> 675 F.2d 1282, 1284 (DCCir. 1982) (“[W]e find that the FERC order was appropriately issued without notice and comment as a nondiscretionary ministerial action.”). <FTNT> <SU>1</SU>  5 U.S.C. 553. </FTNT> The Coast Guard finds that good cause exists under 5 U.S.C. 553 to issue this final rule without notice and comment procedures. Section 11506 of the NDAA 2023 leaves the Coast Guard without discretion as it states that a CON “may be in hard copy or digital form.” Therefore, soliciting public comment on the decision to update the regulations to comport with the statutory mandate is unnecessary as acceptance of digital CONs has been taking place since 2022. <HD SOURCE="HD1">III. Background</HD> Under section 888(a) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-296), the Coast Guard has 11 statutory missions, including marine safety. Accordingly, the Coast Guard is required to ensure safety on the nation's waters through complementary programs of mishap prevention, search and rescue, and accident investigation. One of the many ways the Coast Guard accomplishes this marine safety mission is through its role as the coordinator of the National Recreational Boating Safety Program. The mission of the National Recreational Boating Safety Program is to ensure that the public has a safe, secure, and enjoyable recreational boating experience by carrying out programs designed to minimize the loss of life, personal injury, and property damage, while cooperating with environmental and national security efforts. To achieve this mission, the Coast Guard's Office of Auxiliary and Boating Safety (CG-BSX) works with Federal agencies; State and local governments; boat, engine, and associated equipment manufacturers; and non-governmental boating safety organizations to ensure that recreational boats are safely built and operated in a responsible manner. The Coast Guard assigns boats CONs primarily for ownership verification. A CON contains the State registration information for the vessel, which allows a law enforcement officer to electronically access State-registered vessel databases and retrieve ownership and vessel information using the State-assigned number affixed to the vessel. Until 2017, all CONs issued by States to owners of recreational and State-numbered commercial vessels were issued as a paper or plastic card, measuring approximately 2 <FR>1/2</FR> inches by 3 <FR>1/2</FR> inches, per Coast Guard regulations in 33 CFR 174.25. In 2017, however, CG-BSX began allowing alternative sizing of CONs, so long as it could be folded to meet regulation size. Additionally, several States have moved to digital vehicle registration, and, in 2022, requested that the Coast Guard allow a digital, or electronically available, CON to meet the requirements of 33 CFR 173.25. <HD SOURCE="HD1">IV. Discussion of the Rule</HD> The NDAA 2023 amended 46 U.S.C. 12304(a) to allow any CON for undocumented vessels to be in digital form, while retaining the requirement that any certificates issued in hard copy under this section be pocketsized. This final rule harmonizes the current regulations in 33 CFR parts 173 and 174 with the amendments made by the NDAA 2023. The Coast Guard is amending 33 CFR 173.21(a) to specify that any CON can be in hard copy or digital form. The Coast Guard is also amending 33 CFR 174.25 to allow vessels to carry any CON in a digital format, while also requiring that a hard copy be pocketsized in place of the precise dimensions for a hard copy CON currently specified in the CFR. <HD SOURCE="HD1">V. Regulatory Analyses</HD> We developed this final rule after considering numerous statutes and Executive orders related to rulemaking. Below we summarize our analyses based on these statutes or Executive orders. <HD SOURCE="HD2">A. Regulatory Planning and Review</HD> Executive Orders 12866 (Regulatory Planning and Review), as amended by Executive Order 14094 (Modernizing Regulatory Review), and 13563 (Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review) direct agencies to assess the costs and benefits of available regulatory alternatives and, if regulation is necessary, to sele ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 35k characters. 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