In the first phase of the study, the committee will review the set of United States Coast Guard (USCG) regulations and policy documents that establish stability requirements for U.S. flag vessels in order to identify, and recommend as appropriate, options to make and keep the requirements current, align them better with international standards, improve their consistency and clarity, and organize them in a manner that facilitates their use and compliance. In addition, the committee will identify candidate sources of data that USCG can explore further to inform its assessments of the advantages and disadvantages of requiring all inspected passenger vessels to undergo periodic stability verifications, including lightweight surveys. The committee will report on its findings and recommendations.

In the second phase of the study, the committee will conduct an in-depth and critical assessment of the options, as identified in the first phase of its study, for improving the consistency, harmony, and accuracy of the United States Coast Guard’s (USCG) main (Subchapter S subparts) vessel stability requirements. Informed by this assessment, and considering any new statutory requirements that may affect USCG’s priorities with regard to its vessel stability standards, the committee will identify the most promising options for USCG to pursue to improve the requirements. In addition, the committee will review ship stability regulations that exist outside Subchapter S (to include Subchapters C and T) and any policy documents that supplement the Subchapters S, C, and T regulations. The committee will recommend options for improving the consistency, harmony, and accuracy of these other regulations and for conveying information from the policy documents in the regulations themselves to improve consistency and ease of use.