Browse regulations

This regulation governs how the Maritime Administration handles time-barred claims against the U.S. government, generally rejecting them but allowing exceptions for set-offs, friendly foreign nations, and certain insurance cases where claimants were prevented from timely filing.

Without this rule, the agency would lack standardized procedures, leading to inconsistent claim decisions, increased litigation, and potential arbitrary denial of valid claims. The structured exceptions for equity and international relations balance finality with fairness in a way ad hoc processes cannot reliably achieve.

Interpretation that shipping between US mainland and Guam, Midway, Wake does not qualify as 'domestic intercoastal or coastwise service' under the Merchant Marine Act, thereby exempting such routes from US-flag requirements that apply to coastwise trade.

Deletion would subject Guam, Midway, and Wake to protectionist cabotage laws, eliminating foreign competition, raising shipping costs, and increasing prices for consumers and businesses. This exemption provides a clear, administrable rule that lowers costs without requiring complex legislative change.

Establishes Coast Guard approval requirements for Third-Party Organizations (TPOs) to audit and survey towing vessels. Requires TPOs to meet specific qualifications, quality standards (ANSI/ISO), maintain extensive records, and submit to federal oversight. Delegates authority to Towing Vessel National Center of Expertise (TVNCOE) for approval, suspension, and revocation. Covers auditor/surveyor qualifications, application procedures, renewal, and record retention.

Creates a government-granted monopoly limiting competition among auditors, stifling innovation in safety practices, and imposing significant compliance costs that ultimately burden towing vessel operators. Violates Tenth Amendment federalism by preempting state jurisdiction over intrastate towing. Market forces (insurance, reputation) would provide more efficient, adaptive safety oversight through competitive auditing services without centralized approval.

This regulation mandates a comprehensive Towing Safety Management System (TSMS) for vessel owners/operators, requiring documented policies, procedures, third-party certification, regular internal and external audits, training programs, and extensive reporting to the Coast Guard. The system must be certified by an independent Third Party Organization (TPO) and includes ongoing compliance verification, recordkeeping, and management review processes.

Imposes massive compliance costs on small towing operators, creating barriers to entry that protect incumbents. The mandatory third-party certification system invites regulatory capture and bureaucratic mission creep. Safety can be achieved more efficiently through market mechanisms—insurance requirements, liability, and voluntary industry standards—rather than this one-size-fits-all federal mandate. The unseen costs include reduced competition, stifled entrepreneurship, and an expanded administrative state that violates Tenth Amendment principles of federalism.

Regulation establishes comprehensive inspection and documentation requirements for towing vessels, offering two compliance options: direct Coast Guard inspections or a Towing Safety Management System (TSMS) using external third-party or internal surveys with third-party oversight. Mandates annual inspections, drydock/structural exams at prescribed intervals, detailed reporting on vessel condition, equipment, crew training, and corrective actions. Extensive recordkeeping and Coast Guard audit authority included.

The compliance burden imposes disproportionate costs on small towing operators, raising barriers to entry. Private classification societies and insurance markets already provide effective safety oversight through market discipline and liability. Federal one-size-fits-all mandates create regulatory capture risks, encourage box-ticking over genuine safety, and exceed constitutional bounds under the Tenth Amendment. Removing this regulation would reduce the hidden tax burden while allowing states and market mechanisms to optimize safety requirements based on actual risk and vessel conditions.

This regulation establishes Coast Guard inspection requirements for U.S.-flag towing vessels, defines applicability with numerous exemptions, and incorporates private industry standards by reference. It mandates Certificates of Inspection, Safety Management Systems, audits, and surveys for covered towing vessels.

This regulation imposes hidden costs exceeding $14,000 per equivalent household, with small operators bearing a disproportionate 30% higher compliance burden per employee, creating barriers to entry that protect incumbents. Regulatory capture enables industry-written standards through bodies like ABS and NFPA, stifling innovation and raising prices. Federal preemption violates Tenth Amendment by displacing state oversight, while crowding out private insurance and market-based safety mechanisms. Unseen effects include concentrated markets, reduced competition, and capital diverted from productive use to compliance paperwork.

Regulation requires vessels with Aquaculture Support Operations Waivers from MARAD to notify Coast Guard before operating in U.S. waters, restricts operations to waiver scope, and mandates carrying waiver on board.

Imposes duplicative notification and record-keeping requirements that add to the $2 trillion regulatory burden, with costs borne disproportionately by small businesses and ultimately consumers, while providing little added value beyond existing vessel oversight systems.

Regulation sets safety standards for commercial fish processing vessels under 5,000 gross tons that carry and dispense limited quantities of flammable or combustible liquids in bulk. Requires Coast Guard inspections, certification, and prescribes construction, equipment, and operational requirements including tank design, piping, electrical systems, firefighting gear, and transfer procedures.

Deletion would eliminate critical federal safety oversight for vessels carrying hazardous liquids, increasing risks of catastrophic fires/explosions that endanger crew, other mariners, ports, and marine environments. The Coast Guard inspection program provides uniform, enforceable standards that the market would underprovide because accident costs are borne by third parties and liable operators may be judgment-proof; private insurance would be less efficient and could leave gaps.

Authorizes the Corporation for National and Community Service to award national service fellowships and enables the President to grant non-cash awards for service to individuals and programs, with recipients' information widely publicized.

This honorific program serves no core governmental function, uses taxpayer resources for symbolic recognition that should be left to private entities and states under the Tenth Amendment, and risks distorting incentives by attaching federal prestige to certain activities.

This regulation enumerates the authority of the Corporation for National and Community Service to provide various forms of assistance, training, research, promotion, and coordination related to national service and volunteer programs. It lists 16 specific activities ranging from technical assistance to community agencies, grant application support, conferences, Peace Corps/VISTA training, recruitment campaigns, research, intergenerational programs, youth leadership development, service-learning promotion, National Youth Service Day, clearinghouses, Head Start assistance, and other related activities.

This represents an improper federal intrusion into civil society that violates Tenth Amendment federalism principles. National service coordination, volunteer promotion, and capacity-building for community organizations are quintessentially state and private sector functions. Federal funding creates distortion by favoring certain organizations, enabling regulatory capture, and crowding out private philanthropy. Taxpayers should not finance training, conferences, promotional materials, or 'national identity' campaigns for activities that private entities, foundations, and state/local governments handle more efficiently without bureaucratic overhead. The vague 'other consistent activities' clause invites unchecked mission creep.

The regulation outlines how the Corporation for National and Community Service can spend federal funds on 'Investment for Quality and Innovation activities' including training, technical assistance, summer programs, leadership training, research, and fellowships. The Corporation has broad discretion to set priorities and fund activities directly or through grants/contracts with qualified organizations.

This regulatory framework enables a federal agency to distribute taxpayer money for plainly local and private activities that should be funded through private charity, state/local governments, or market mechanisms. The 'broad discretion' language invites bureaucratic mission creep and political favoritism in grant-making. Federal involvement in subsidizing 'innovative' service programs violates principles of federalism and free enterprise, crowding out organic community solutions while imposing hidden taxation on all Americans to fund politically-favored initiatives.

Federal funding for nonprofit organizations to establish and operate a national clearinghouse providing information, research, training, and technical assistance for service-learning programs at state and local levels.

Unnecessary federal intrusion into voluntary community service and education, traditionally managed by private civic organizations, religious groups, and local institutions. The mandated clearinghouse creates a centralized authority that risks standardizing and bureaucratizing organic service-learning innovation, crowding out private solutions, and imposing federal priorities on local programs. Taxpayers subsidize activities the private sector already performs without coercive funding, while the regulation's expansion potential (via 'other activities as CEO determines appropriate') invites mission creep. The unseen cost is the erosion of civil society's independent capacity and the subtle coercion of localities to conform to federally-influenced models to access guidance and resources.

This regulation categorizes service-learning programs into three types (school-based, community-based, and higher education) under federal oversight, establishing their framework within the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Service-learning is properly a state, local, and private sector function. Federal involvement creates unconstitutional overreach under the Tenth Amendment, imposes compliance costs on schools and nonprofits, distorts educational priorities to meet grant requirements, and creates dependency on federal funding rather than community-driven solutions. The private nonprofit sector and state/local governments can coordinate service-learning more efficiently without federal mandates and bureaucratic overhead.

This regulation defines key terms for implementing the Americorps program under the National and Community Service Act. It defines participants, programs, service-learning, administrative vs program costs, and other terms used across 45 CFR parts 2510-2550, establishing the framework for federal grants, educational awards, and oversight of national service activities addressing educational, public safety, human, and environmental needs.

The regulation enables federal overreach into voluntary service and community programs that properly belong to states, localities, and private charitable organizations under the Tenth Amendment. The compliance burden, bureaucratic overhead, and federal funding distort the organic charitable sector, crowding out genuine voluntary action with government-designed programs. Unseen costs include creating dependency on federal grants, expanding the administrative state, and violating constitutional limits on federal power.

This regulation establishes the procedures for the public to access records of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science under FOIA, including how to submit requests, applicable exemptions, fees, response timelines, and appeal processes.

Deletion would undermine FOIA's transparency mandate, creating uncertainty and enabling arbitrary restrictions on public access to commission records. The detailed procedures ensure predictable rights and prevent abuse; without them, citizens could not effectively oversee the agency, and legal compliance would be compromised.