Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 124.djvu/2998

124 STAT. 2972 PUBLIC LAW 111–281—OCT. 15, 2010 chapter 73 if the Secretary determines that the extension is required to enable the Coast Guard to eliminate a backlog in processing applications for those licenses or certificates of registry or in response to a national emergency or natural disaster, as deemed necessary by the Secretary; or ‘‘(2) issue for not more than five years an expiring merchant mariner’s document issued for an individual under chapter 73 for the exclusive purpose of aligning the expiration date of such merchant mariner’s document with the expiration date of a merchant mariner’s document. ‘‘(c) MANNER OF EXTENSION.—Any extensions granted under this section may be granted to individual seamen or a specifically identified group of seamen.’’. (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for such chapter is amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘7507. Authority to extend the duration of licenses, certificates of registry, and mer- chant mariner documents.’’. SEC. 616. MERCHANT MARINER ASSISTANCE REPORT. Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commandant of the Coast Guard shall submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report regarding the feasibility of— (1) expanding the streamlined evaluation process program that was affiliated with the Houston Regional Examination Center of the Coast Guard to all processing centers of the Coast Guard nationwide; (2) including proposals to simplify the application process for a license as an officer, staff officer, or operator and for a merchant mariner’s document to help eliminate errors by merchant mariners when completing the application form (CG– 719B), including instructions attached to the application form and a modified application form for renewals with questions pertaining only to the period of time since the previous applica- tion; (3) providing notice to an applicant of the status of the pending application, including a process to allow the applicant to check on the status of the application by electronic means; and (4) ensuring that all information collected with respect to applications for new or renewed licenses, merchant mariner documents, and certificates of registry is retained in a secure electronic format. SEC. 617. OFFSHORE SUPPLY VESSELS. (a) REMOVAL OF TONNAGE LIMITS.— (1) DEFINITION.— (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 2101(19) of title 46, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘of more than 15 gross tons but less than 500 gross tons as measured under section 14502 of this title, or an alternate tonnage meas- ured under section 14302 of this title as prescribed by the Secretary under section 14104 of this title’’. (B) EXEMPTION.—Section 5209(b)(1) of the Oceans Act of 1992 (Public Law 102–587; 46 U.S.C. 2101 note) is 46 USC 7501.