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Statement of Need: We do not have a current mechanism in place to capture vessel, crew, passenger, or specific cargo information on vessels less than or equal to 300 gross tons (GT) intending to arrive at or depart from U.S. ports unless they are arriving with certain dangerous cargo (CDC) or are arriving at a port in the 7th Coast Guard District. The lack of NOA information on this large and diverse population of vessels represents a substantial gap in our maritime domain awareness (MDA). We can minimize this gap and enhance MDA by expanding the applicability of the NOAD regulation beyond vessels greater than 300 GT, cover all foreign commercial vessels and all U.S. commercial vessels coming from a foreign port; and enhance maritime domain awareness by tracking them (and others) with AIS. There is no current Coast Guard requirement for vessels to submit notification of departure information. This information is necessary in order to expand our MDA.

Summary of the Legal Basis: This rulemaking is based on Congressional authority provided in the Ports and Waterways Safety Act and the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002.

Alternatives: Our goal is to increase MDA and to identify anomalies by correlating vessel AIS data with NOAD data. NOAD and AIS information from a greater number of vessels would provide even greater MDA than the proposed rule. We considered expanding NOAD and AIS to even more vessels, but we determined we needed additional legislative authority to expand AIS beyond what we propose in this rulemaking; and that it was best to combine additional NOAD expansion with future AIS expansion. Although not in conjunction with a proposed rule, the Coast Guard sought comment regarding expansion of AIS carriage to other waters and other vessels not subject to the current requirements (68 FR 39355-56, and 39370, July 1, 2003; USCG 2003-14878). Those comments were reviewed and considered in drafting this rule and will become part of this docket. To fulfill our agency obligations, the Coast Guard needs to receive AIS reports and NOADs from vessels identified in this rulemaking that currently are not required to provide this information. Policy or other non-binding statements by the Coast Guard addressed to the owners of these vessels would not produce the information required to sufficiently enhance our MDA to produce the information required to fulfill our Agency obligations.

Anticipated Costs and Benefits: We expect vessel owners to incur costs from the additional NOA requirements in order to comply with the mandatory requirement of submitting notices by utilizing the Coast Guard's electronic Notice of Arrival and Departure (eNOAD) system. Currently, vessels greater than 300 gross tons, foreign commercial and recreational vessels less than 300 gross tons entering the 7th Coast Guard District, and all vessels carrying certain dangerous cargoes (CDCs) are required to submit NOAs. This rulemaking will expand the applicability of NOADs to include all foreign commercial vessels, regardless of tonnage, and all U.S. commercial vessels arriving from a foreign port. From the Coast Guard’s database, we believe that we have an accurate estimate of the number of vessels greater than 300 gross tons submitting NOAs and the approximate number of voyages they make. These vessels are currently required to submit NOAs and will be required to submit NOAs/NODs through a mandatory submission method. Approximately 20,000 vessels greater than 300 gross tons, with foreign vessels comprising nearly 17,000 of this amount, and U.S. vessels comprising the balance, are currently affected. We, however cannot at this time provide an estimate of the number of vessels less than 300 gross tons that will be affected by this rulemaking or the number of U.S. vessels coming from a foreign port since these vessels are not required to report nor do we have an effective means to capture this information. We will determine the affected population and include that information in the detailed regulatory analysis. We anticipate unquantified benefits will be associated with both portions of this rulemaking. We anticipate that quantified benefits derived from marine casualty cases will be associated with the AIS portion of this rulemaking. A detailed benefit analysis will be included in the regulatory analysis.

Risks: Considering the economic utility of U.S. ports, waterways, and coastal approaches, it is clear that a terrorist incident against our U.S. Maritime Transportation System (MTS) would have a disastrous impact on global shipping, international trade, and the world economy. By improving the ability of the Coast Guard both to identify potential terrorists coming to the United States while their vessel is far at sea and to coordinate appropriate responses and intercepts before the vessel reaches a U.S. port, this rulemaking would contribute significantly to the expansion of MDA, and consequently is instrumental in addressing the threat posed by terrorist actions against the MTS.