Title 33

SECTION 138.90

138.90 Individual and Fleet Certificates.

§ 138.90 Individual and Fleet Certificates.

(a) The Director, NPFC, issues an individual Certificate for each vessel listed on a completed Application or request for renewal when the Director, NPFC, determines that acceptable evidence of financial responsibility has been provided and appropriate fees have been paid, except where a Fleet Certificate is issued under this section or where a Master Certificate is issued under § 138.110. Each Certificate of any type issued under this subpart is issued only in the name of a vessel operator and is effective for not more than 3 years from the date of issuance, as indicated on each Certificate. An authorized official of the applicant may submit to the Director, NPFC, a letter requesting that additional vessels be added to a previously submitted Application for an individual Certificate. The letter must set forth all information required in item 5 of the Application form. The authorized official must also file, or cause to be filed with the Director, NPFC, acceptable evidence of financial responsibility, if required, and must pay all applicable certification fees for the additional vessels.

(b) An operator of a fleet of two or more barges that are not tank vessels and that from time to time may be subject to this subpart (e.g., a hopper barge over 300 gross tons when carrying oily metal shavings or similar cargo) may apply to the Director, NPFC, for issuance of a Fleet Certificate, so long as the operator of such a fleet is a self-insurer or arranges with an acceptable guarantor to cover, automatically, all such barges for which the operator may from time to time be responsible.

(d) If, at any time after a Certificate has been issued, a certificant becomes aware of a change in any of the facts contained in the Application or supporting documentation, the certificant must notify the Director, NPFC, in writing within 10 days of becoming aware of the change. A vessel or operator name change or change of a guarantor must be reported by the operator as soon as possible by telefax or other electronic means to the Director, NPFC, and followed by a written notice sent within 3 business days. (See, § 138.45, Where to apply for and renew Certificates, for contact information).

(e) Except as provided in § 138.90(f), at the moment a certificant ceases to be the operator of a vessel for any reason, including a vessel that is scrapped or transferred to a new operator, the individual Certificate naming the vessel is void and its further use is prohibited. In that case, the certificant must, within 10 business days of the Certificate becoming void, submit the following information in writing to the Director, NPFC:

(1) The number of the individual Certificate and the name of the vessel.

(2) The date and reason why the certificant ceased to be the operator of the vessel.

(3) The location of the vessel on the date the certificant ceased to be the operator.

(4) The name and mailing address of the person to whom the vessel was sold or transferred.

(f) In the event of the temporary transfer of custody of an unmanned barge with a Certificate under this subpart, where the certificant transferring the barge continues to be liable under the Acts and continues to maintain on file with the Director, NPFC, acceptable evidence of financial responsibility with respect to the barge, the existing Certificate remains in effect in respect to that vessel, and a temporary new Certificate is not required for the vessel. The temporary transferee is encouraged to require the transferring certificant to acknowledge in writing that the transferring certificant agrees to remain responsible for pollution liabilities.