THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES, ENGINEERING, AND MEDICINE
Transportation Research Board
Consensus and Advisory Studies
Committee on Improving the Efficiency and Effectiveness of the Coast Guard Certificate of Compliance Examination Program for Gas Carriers
*****
Congressional Briefings
Monday, May 20, 2024 – 2:00 p.m.
507 Ford House Office Bldg.
and
Friday, May 31, 2024 – 11:30 a.m.
and
Friday, June 7, 2024 – 3:30 p.m.
via Zoom
on
Reforming the Coast Guard's Certificate of Compliance Program
for Liquefied Gas Carriers:
Promoting Efficient Implementation and Safety Effectiveness
As liquefied gas exports from U.S. ports have grown rapidly in recent years, reforms are needed to a U.S. Coast Guard program that examines liquefied gas carriers (LGCs). Going forward, this growth in LGC exports and arrivals is likely to increase the demand for gas carrier exams by Coast Guard marine inspectors, of which there is a chronic shortage.
Requested by Congress in
P.L. 116-283, the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, this new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine looks at the Coast Guard's ability to examine the increasing number of foreign tank ships that load liquefied gas for transport overseas. The report concluded that the time is right for Congress to revisit the Certificate of Compliance program's requirements mandating the frequency of exams and to allow the Coast Guard greater flexibility to decide when and how to examine individual LGCs using indicators of risk.