33 C.F.R. § 138.90 Individual and Fleet Certificates.
Title 33 - Navigation and Navigable Waters
(a) The Director, NPFC, issues an individual Certificate for each vessel listed on a completed application 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 part is issued only in the name of a vessel operator and is effective for not more than three years from the date of issue, 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 shall also submit or cause to be submitted acceptable evidence of financial responsibility, if required, and certification fees for these additional vessels. The certificant shall carry the original individual Certificate on the vessel named on the Certificate, except that a legible copy (certified as accurate by a notary public or other person authorized to take oaths in the United States) may be carried instead of the original if the vessel is an unmanned barge and does not have a document carrying device which the vessel operator believes would offer suitable protection for the original Certificate. If a notarized copy of an individual Certificate is carried aboard a barge, the Certificate shall retain the original in the United States and shall make it readily available for inspection by United States Government officials. (b) An operator of two or more barges that are not tank vessels and that from time to time may be subject to this part (e.g., a hopper barge over 300 gross tons when carrying oily metal shavings or similar cargo), 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, may apply to the Director, NPFC, for issuance of a Fleet Certificate. A legible copy of the Fleet Certificate, certified as accurate by a notary public or other person authorized to take oaths in the United States, must be carried on each barge when subject to this part. In addition, the certificant shall retain in the United States the original Fleet Certificate and shall make it readily available for inspection by United States Government officials. The original Fleet Certificate, when invalid, must be completed on the reverse side and returned immediately to the Director, NPFC, and all copies must be destroyed. When the certificant ceases to be responsible for a barge covered by a Fleet Certificate, the certificant shall immediately destroy the copy of the Fleet Certificate carried aboard that barge. (c) A person shall not make any alteration on any Certificate issued under this part or copy of that Certificate, except the notarized certifications permitted in §138.110(f) and paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section. A Certificate or copy containing any alteration is void. (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 shall 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 shall be reported as soon as possible by telefax or other electronic means to the Director, NPFC, and followed by a written notice sent within three business days. (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, and any copies of the Certificate, are void and their further use is prohibited. In that case, the certificant shall, within 10 days of the Certificate becoming void, complete the reverse side of the original individual Certificate naming the involved vessel and return the Certificate to the Director, NPFC. If the Certificate cannot be returned because it has been lost or destroyed, the certificant shall, within three business days, 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 certificated under this part, 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 individual Certificate remains in effect. A temporary new individual Certificate is not required. A transferee is encouraged to require the transferring certificant to acknowledge in writing that the transferring certificant agrees to remain responsible for pollution liabilities.
Title 33: Navigation and Navigable Waters
PART 138—FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR WATER POLLUTION (VESSELS)
§ 138.90 Individual and Fleet Certificates.
