(a) Owners or operators of nontank vessels with an oil capacity of less than 250 barrels, in lieu of the training and exercise requirements of §§ 155.5055 and 155.5060, may meet an Alternative Training and Exercise Program that has been approved by the (CG-MER), Office of Marine Environmental Response Policy for meeting the requirements of this section.
(b) Vessel owners or operators must make available to the Coast Guard, upon request, any information related to implementation of an approved Alternative Training and Exercise Program.
(c) For approval of an Alternative Training and Exercise Program the vessel owners or operators must submit to the Commandant (CG-MER) for review and approval: The Alternative Training and Exercise Program and the following information to assess the adequacy of the proposed Alternative Training and Exercise Program -
(1) A list of the vessels to which the Alternative Training and Exercise Program is intended to apply;
(2) An explanation of how the Alternative Training and Exercise Program addresses the requirements of 33 CFR 155.1055(b) through (f) and 33 CFR 155.1060; and
(3) An explanation of how vessel owners or operators must implement the Alternative Training and Exercise Program in its entirety, including performing verification of implementation.
(d) Amendments to the Alternative Training and Exercise Program approved under this section may be initiated by the submitter of an Alternative Training and Exercise Program.
(e) Approval of the Alternative Training and Exercise Program is required before a vessel may receive a nontank vessel response plan approval letter.
(f) The Commandant (CG-MER) will examine each submission for compliance with this section and -
(1) If the submission meets all the requirements, the Coast Guard will consider the training and exercise program requirements under this section to be satisfactory; or
(2) If the Coast Guard determines that the submission does not meet all of the requirements, the submitter will be notified of the deficiencies. The submitter may then resubmit a revised request within the time period specified.
[USCG-1998-3417, 73 FR 80649, Dec. 31, 2008, as amended by USCG-2016-0498, 82 FR 35082, July 28, 2017]