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Hi Everyone,

Here is an article that I believe is a must read.  I would also check out H. R. 2830 it is a MONSTER read (over 300 pages) but, some EXTREMELY important industry issues are in there.

Touch keys with you later.

N.

Coast Guard protests House authorization bill maneuverBy Katherine McIntire Peters kpeters@govexec.com April 24, 2008

In a highly unusual move, Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen late Wednesday issued a statement criticizing newly inserted provisions contained in the service’s 2008 authorization bill under consideration in the House. Also Wednesday, the White House Office of Management and Budget issued a policy statement opposing H.R. 2830 and said advisers would recommend that President Bush veto the bill should it reach his desk.

While the Coast Guard had been working closely with lawmakers on an earlier version of H.R. 2830, last Friday the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee filed an amendment with the Rules Committee, essentially substituting new language for the bill, which the Rules Committee adopted late Tuesday. The revised bill contains a number of provisions not previously discussed with the Coast Guard as well as some the service has said are unfeasible.

The bill “would have a detrimental effect on the Coast Guard’s ability to carry out our many vital maritime safety, security and environmental protection missions,” Allen said. “I have an obligation to the public and our Coast Guard men and women to ensure the Coast Guard retains the necessary discretion and flexibility to meet our mission demands in an often-changing, dangerous operating environment. This bill, in its current form, does not do that.”

Among other things, the bill would require the Coast Guard to provide security for liquefied natural gas terminals and tankers. In a letter Wednesday to Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar, D-Minn., Allen said the requirement was at odds with accepted risk management and “would divert finite Coast Guard assets away from other high-priority missions.” OMB said the provision “provides an unwarranted and unnecessary subsidy to the owners of private infrastructure.”

Allen and White House officials also are concerned about the bill’s provisions regarding the assignment of flag officers and civilian executives. For more than a year the Coast Guard has sought congressional approval to create two deputy commandant positions for operations and mission support; merge its Pacific and Atlantic Area commands into a single operational command; and create a force readiness command to standardize doctrine development. The service also wants to elevate the vice commandant to the rank of admiral.

The changes Allen has requested would structure the Coast Guard commensurate with the other military services and give the commandant greater flexibility in assigning senior leaders. But provisions in H.R. 2830 would limit the commandant’s ability to assign senior personnel, both uniform and civilian, and essentially substitutes the existing organizational structure with another equally inflexible one, said Cmdr. Brendan McPherson, Allen’s spokesman.

There are other points of contention in the revised bill, including a provision to impose ballast water treatment standards that current technology cannot meet, rendering the requirement unenforceable, McPherson said.

The bill also fails to provide protections for seafarers willing to support Coast Guard investigations into environmental violations at sea — safeguards the service believes are necessary to successfully prosecute cases. The administration also wants to make migrant smuggling a felony crime, something the revised bill fails to address.

No Coast Guard authorization bill in recent memory has met with such fierce opposition from the White House and the commandant, McPherson said.

Are you currently holding or are you planning to get one of these?

1. Master  25-100 gross ton license?
2. Operator of Uninspected passenger vessels (OUPV or 6-Pac) license?
3. Mate 25-200 license?
4. Master or mate of Uninspected Fishing industry vessels?
5. Master or mate of 500-1600 gross register tons license?
6. Master or mate Towing vessels?
7. Master or mate of any gross tons?
8. Designated Duty Engineer 1000 HP/4000 HP/Any HP
9. Chief or Assistant Engineer (Limited)?
10. Chief or Assistant Engineer?
11. Merchant Mariners Document (MMD/Z-card) for Ordinary Seaman?
12. Merchant Mariners Document (MMD/Z-card) for Able Seaman?
13. Merchant Mariners Document (MMD/Z-card) for Qualified Member of the Engine Department (QMED)?
14. Certificate of Registry for a Doctor/Nurse/Hospital Corpsman?

Any one of these require that you apply for and receive a TWIC Card.  TWIC stands for Transportation Workers Identification Card.

If you are under the impression that the TWIC does not apply to you, guess what, YOU ARE DEAD WRONG.    Make sure that you apply for your TWIC card on the TSA.gov website before SEPTEMBER 2008.

 Capt. Jack sent me this http://www.5goulds.com/twicilious.html from a blog posted on Capt. Richard’s site.  Go check it out, it is a very interesting and important read.

Touch keys with you later,

N.

Have any of you ever read a book called “1984″ by George Orwell?  Have any of you ever heard the term “Big Brother is Watching”?  Well, hang on to your hats, cause it looks more and more like 1984 with every step our government takes (case in point, the article below). 

Please don’t get me wrong, I am all for Security, but come on, this is getting ridiculous.  Before you know it, you will not be allowed to drive from here to Oregon without going through a “check point” and some little twit with a Gestapo mentality and with an attitude will want to ‘SEE YOUR PAPERS’.  History seems to be repeating itself only on this side of the world this time.

Our rights are slowly and methodically being taken away one by one and we are coming under the control of a police state.  Oh, nothing over bearing mind you, but slow and easy so we don’t notice.  This is terrorism at its best.  WE THE PEOPLE are letting this happen!  STAND UP AND BE COUNTED AND JUST SAY HELL NO. 

Touch keys with you later,

N.

TSA may begin air passenger background checks in 2009By Chris Strohm CongressDaily April 16, 2008

The Homeland Security Department plans to begin a controversial airline passenger screening program as early as January — as long as it can win over skeptical lawmakers.

The department’s Transportation Security Administration plans to take over the responsibility for screening passengers against government terrorist watch lists beginning in 2009, TSA Administrator Kip Hawley told the House Homeland Security Transportation Subcommittee Tuesday.

Under the Secure Flight program, TSA will review key information on each airline passenger — such as name, gender, date of birth, citizenship and country of residence — to determine if the person is on the government’s so called no-fly list or a “selectee” list, which requires the traveler to go through additional screening measures before boarding.

Individual airlines now check passenger names against the lists, a process that has seen innocent U.S. citizens, including lawmakers, detained because their names appeared on one of the lists. But the 9/11 Commission recommended the government take over the screening and Congress mandated the department do so under a 2004 law.

The department has been prevented from beginning Secure Flight until it satisfies several GAO recommendations deemed critical to the program’s successful operation.

Critics, including privacy advocates and lawmakers, want to be sure TSA has adequate safeguards in place to protect people’s personally identifiable information and does not use the information for racial profiling purposes.

“It is back on track,” Hawley said of Secure Flight.

He said TSA plans to issue a final rule for the program this summer.

“We have taken the time to build the Secure Flight program right,” he told the subcommittee. “We have built a program with the operational requirements necessary to enhance aviation security while protecting the privacy and civil liberties of the traveling public.”

Cathleen Berrick, GAO’s director of homeland security and justice issues, testified that TSA has made significant progress on Secure Flight. But she cautioned the agency still lags in several areas.

Berrick said TSA had not developed proper cost and schedule estimates for the program; fully implemented a plan to manage risk; adequately conducted testing; or ensured that information technology requirements are fully met.

“We are continuing to assess TSA’s efforts in developing and implementing Secure Flight, which, according to TSA’s planned schedule, will allow the agency to fully assume the watch list matching function from air carriers in fiscal year 2010,” she said.

On another front, Hawley disputed recent reports that less than 1 percent of about 28,000 daily commercial flights in the United States have a federal air marshal aboard for protection.

He said the number is “absolutely wrong by an order of magnitude” but remains classified.

Homeland Security Transportation Subcommittee Chairwoman Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, told Hawley she wants to meet with rank-and-file air marshals. She said she wants Hawley to allow them to speak openly about their concerns.

Clark Kent Ervin, the Homeland Security Department’s former inspector general, said he hoped that Hawley was correct that the percentage of air marshals on flights is greater than 1 percent. He said the subcommittee should verify Hawley’s claim or have the department’s current inspector general conduct a classified report.

OK, bend over, cause here it comes.

This is a comment from one TREC and this will lead into the title of this missive. 

This is how the National Maritime Center (NMC) and full service Regional Examination Center’s (REC’s) are dealing with incomplete applications:

As of  7 April 2008. The difference in processing between the NMC/REC and a transitioned REC is; The TREC returns an incomplete application after 60 days vice 90 days, The TREC checks for apparent completeness, the NMC/REC checks for accuracy/sufficiency, The TREC will credit the original evaluation fee to a later corrected application, the NMC/REC will charge a new evaluation fee for a resubmitted application.  Clearly it is better to submit a complete and correct application when possible.

Now for the notice that was sent out.

IMPORTANT NEWS

90-DAY TIME FRAME FOR AWAITING INFORMATION

Beginning April 7, 2008, when a mariner receives a letter from the Regional Examination Center (REC) or the National Maritime Center (MNC) requesting additional information, the individual will have  90 DAYS from the date of the letter to provide the requested information.  IF THE MARINER DOES NOT RESPOND DURING THE 90 DAY TIME FRAME, THE ENTIRE APPLICATION AND ALL ASSOCIATED DOCUMENTS “WILL BE WITHDRAWN” FROM PROCESSING AND MAILED BACK TO THE ADDRESS LISTED ON THE MARINER’S APPLICATION.

If the mariner obtains the information after the 90 day time frame has expired, the mariner will be required to REAPPLY, which include a NEW EVALUATION FEE.

As a “BEST PRACTICE” mariners are highly encouraged to submit complete applications from the start in order to avoid the application be WITHDRAWN from processing.

Please email your comments and suggestions for improvements to iasknmc@uscg.mil

Well, doesn’t that just sound wonderful?  I don’t know for sure which TREC sent this out or if NMC themselves sent this out but wow, I should thank them, it makes my job so much easier and guarantees customers at my door step.  As much as I want my business to grow, this is just plain CRAP and somebody should slap the (*)&^% out of who ever wrote this. 

It is obvious to me, that some one has a TERMINAL CASE OF CRAINIAL RECTAL INVERSION.

 Having been in the maritime business for as long as I have, I happen to know for a fact that some of the mariners out there are on board vessels, underway, for a whole lot longer than 90 freaking days.  Just how in the (YOU FILL IN THE BLANK HERE) are those individuals supposed to get stuff for NMC/REC when that stuff that is needed is on land and they can’t get to it because they are at sea?  Or better yet, what happens if the mariner doesn’t get the “Letter” until they get back from a 3-6 month trip? 

Maybe money is not an issue to you, but to me being a good Scotsman and Norwegian, I can tell you that I see this as a crime and I don’t care what kind of pretty face they try to put on it.  Wow, the customer service here is just UNDERWHELMING, obviously they think sending one letter to a customer is GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE.  Not in my book it ain’t.

Got to get down off my soap box now, my blood pressure is making me cranky.

Touch keys with you later,

N.

Well, here is the newest update on 2 more REC’s, according to a letter sent out by the NMC and signed by Captain David C. Stalfort, REC’s Portland, Oregon and New York, NY are the latest to bite the bullet.  Commencing April 28, 2008 these REC’s will become the latest to become ‘TRANSITIONED” REC’s and shortly after that (about a month) they will no longer be able to issue licenses, documents (MMD/Z-Cards) or STCW certificates. 

The blarney as follows, does not give you the entire picture of course, but a very prettily painted picture of sweetness and light.  All I can say at this point is DON’T LET THE CAT CATCH YOU NAPPING.  IF YOU NEED SOMETHING SUCH AS RENEWAL, ENDORSEMENT, RAISE IN GRADE, YOU HAD BETTER GET IT DONE AT LEAST 4-6 MONTHS IN ADVANCE OF WHEN YOU THINK YOU MIGHT NEED IT.

Touch keys with you later,

N.

REC PORTLAND and REC NEW YORK to TRANSITION TO NMC

Commencing April 28, 2008, the Regional Examination Centers (REC’s) located in Portland, OR and New York, NY will begin their transition to become field units of the National Maritime Center (NMC), located in Martinsburg, West Virginia.  REC Portland and REC New York will start operating as a storefront operation where the staffs will help the mariner ensure their application is ready for evaluation.  Mariners will still need to verify their identity, get fingerprinted and take their tests at the REC.  Once ready, the REC’s will send the application to the NMC for evaluation.  The NMC will conduct and entire evaluation, including security, professional qualification, and medical.  Once the applicant is found to be fully qualified, the credential will be printed and issued by the NMC.

REC Portland and REC New York will be joining ten other REC’s, who have already transitioned:  REC Anchorage, Alaska; REC Baltimore, Maryland; REC Juneau, Alaska; REC New Orleans, Louisiana; REC Toledo, OH; REC St. Louis, MO; REC Memphis, TN; REC Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA; REC Seattle, WA; and REC San Francisco, CA.  By the end of this calendar year, all 17 REC’s nationwide will have transitioned to NMC field units.

The future role of the transitioned REC’s will be primarily that of a mariner advocate. As the “face” of the Coast Guard to the mariner, it is essential that they help the mariner complete the application and ensure it is ready to be evaluated before forwarding the application to the NMC for evaluation.

The goal of the restructuring and centralization effort is to improve customer service, decrease credential processing time, and improve the consistency of our products.  In the future, it is envisioned that credentials will be issued faster and the level of customer service will exceed the mariner’s expectations.

If you have specific questions regarding the transition process, please contact your local REC or see the ‘REC Transition Guide” on our web site at http://www.uscg.mil/stcw/wnnmc.htm.

For more information on other improvements we’re making to Mariner Licensing and Documentation go to our web site at http://www.uscg.mil/stch/wnnmc.htm or to http://homeport.uscg.mil and select Merchant mariners under the list of Missions.

We thank you for your patience as we continue to centralize operations.

Sincerely,

David C. Stalfort

Captain, U.S. Coast Guard

     Most of you know by now that the Seattle REC has become what is now called a Transitioned Regional Exam Center (TREC) as of March 31st 2008.

     Now for the newest DEAD LINE and one that is just as important to you. 

AS OF APRIL 24, 2008 TREC SEATTLE WILL NO LONGER BE ABLE TO PRINT YOUR LICENSE, MMD OR STCW CERTIFICATES.  

     As the the 25th of April, Seattle will be required by the NMC to ship all of their printing equipment along with all of their licenses, MMD’s and STCW certificates to West Virginia.

     You will no longer be able to walk into TREC Seattle and have anything issued to you.  You will no longer be able to have an endorsement for radar, waters, pilotage routes, tonnage increases or horsepower increases issued to you on the spot. 

START PLANNING AHEAD. 

     Starting on the 25th, if you need an endorsement on your license for your job, you will need to plan on getting it done at least a month in advance of when you need it because EVERYTHING WILL NOW BE ISSUED OUT OF WEST VIRGINIA.

     I have been reading the published words, spewing forth from the NMC, about how wonderful things are and how wonderful NMC is, and how the mariners are giving rave reviews of the new and improved system.   Boy Howdy, I can believe that of those mariners who have worked in the past with an REC that took 6-8 months to do an evaluation, hot dang, anything would be an improvement.  

     But, what I am hoping for, for your sake, is that all of those words hold at least a half truth.  Otherwise, I’m sorry to say, you are, what is the polite term I want to use here, oh yes, screwed?

AGAIN, PLAN AHEAD FOR ANY TRANSACTION!

Touch keys with you later,

N.

Good day to you all,

     Check out these two articles listed at http://www.uscg.mil/stcw/wnnmc.htm some interesting stuff.  I’m not sure I can swallow the pill they are trying to give, but what they hey, they are trying to put a very pretty face on the move to West Virginia.

      Also, note the on the TWIC DEADLINE

Touch keys with you later.

N.