46 U.S.C. § 12503 — Information available to the system

Page 226 TITLE 46—SHIPPING § 12503 HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES Revised section 12502 Subsection (a) of this section requires the Secretary to maintain a unique numbering system for vessels of the United States. The Secretary may use existing ves- sel numbering systems such as the hull identification number for this purpose, but must ensure that no two existing vessels of the United States have the same number. The Secretary should consider and propose the use of a 17-digit number to implement this require- ment. This subsection also requires the Secretary to maintain a system of signal letters and to record vessel names for documented vessels. The Secretary is author- ized to establish other vessel identification markings for vessels of the United States, such as hailing ports. Subsections (b), (c), (d), and (e) contain other require- ments and restrictions concerning vessel identification markings. This section consolidates the requirements of sec- tions 12114, 12115, 12116, and 12118 of title 46. For this reason, section 106 of this bill repeals those sections. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Section effective Jan. 1, 1989, with certain exceptions and qualifications, see section 107 of Pub. L. 100–710, set out as a note under section 31301 of this title. VESSELS NOT HAVING UNIQUE NUMBER; APPLICABILITY OF PROVISIONS FOR NUMBER ASSIGNMENT Pub. L. 100–710, title I, § 104(f), Nov. 23, 1988, 102 Stat. 4751, provided that: ‘‘Section 12502(a)(1) of title 46, United States Code (as enacted by section 101 of this Act), applies to a vessel of the United States that does not have a unique number as prescribed by the Sec- retary of Transportation under that section until the earlier of the following: ‘‘(1) the next time the vessel is documented, num- bered, or titled. ‘‘(2) January 1, 1995.’’ § 12503. Information available to the system (a) Except as provided in subsections (b) and (c) of this section, a State or a State’s delegate approved by the Secretary of Transportation may make information available to the Sec- retary if, in a manner and form prescribed by the Secretary, the State— (1) identifies the vessel; (2) identifies the owner of the vessel, includ- ing by— (A) the owner’s social security number or, if that number is not available, other means of identification acceptable to the Sec- retary; or (B) for an owner other than an individual— (i) the owner’s taxpayer identification number; or (ii) if the owner does not have a taxpayer identification number, the social security number of an individual who is a corporate officer, general partner, or individual trustee of the owner and who signed the application for documentation or num- bering for the vessel; (3) identifies the State in which it is titled or numbered; (4) indicates whether the vessel is numbered or titled, or both; (5) if titled in a State, indicates where evi- dence of a lien or other security interest may be found against the vessel in that State; (6) includes information to assist law en- forcement; and (7) includes other information agreed to by the Secretary and the State. (b) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, the Secretary also may accept informa- tion under conditions and in a manner and form prescribed by the Secretary. (c) The Secretary shall— (1) retain information on a vessel with a pre- ferred mortgage under section 31322(d) of this title that is no longer titled in a State making information available to the Secretary under this chapter until the mortgage is discharged or the vessel is sold; and (2) accept information under section 31321(h) of this title only if that information cannot be provided to a State. (Added Pub. L. 100–710, title I, § 101(a), Nov. 23, 1988, 102 Stat. 4736; amended Pub. L. 101–225, title III, § 302(2), Dec. 12, 1989, 103 Stat. 1922; Pub. L. 101–595, title VI, § 603(10), Nov. 16, 1990, 104 Stat. 2993; Pub. L. 109–304, § 15(24), Oct. 6, 2006, 120 Stat. 1704.) HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES Revised section 12503 Subsection (a) of section 12503 allows a State or ap- proved State delegee to make vessel identification in- formation available to the Secretary. Participation in the system is voluntary on the part of a State. A ben- efit to boat purchasers and financiers in States with approved titling systems participating in this system is that vessel mortgages or financing instruments made in those States are deemed to be preferred mortgages under chapter 313 of title 46, United States Code (as codified and enacted by this Act). Under subsection (a), the Secretary may prescribe the manner and form in which the information is made available by the States. In this regard, the Committee intends that the Secretary employ the most efficient, up-to-date computer technology in maintaining infor- mation made available from the States to avoid dupli- cation of effort in maintaining information and to re- duce the costs of the system. In addition to the vessel identification information made available by States under paragraphs (1)–(6), the Secretary and a State may agree that the State make available other information. For example, the purpose for which a vessel is rou- tinely used would be valuable information for the sys- tem. The Committee intends that most of the information in the system will become available directly and exclu- sively from the States to the greatest extent possible. However, under subsection (b), the Secretary may ac- cept information from others under conditions and in a manner and form prescribed by the Secretary. Thus, if the Secretary discovers a valuable and reliable source of data that can be conveniently made available to the system, the Secretary can approve it. Under paragraph (c)(1), the Secretary must maintain information on a State-titled vessel with a preferred mortgage that moves to a nonparticipating, nontitle State, until the mortgage is discharged or the vessel is sold. Under paragraph (c)(2), the Secretary must accept information submitted under section 31321 of title 46 (as enacted by this Act) concerning a discharge of a pre- ferred mortgage on a vessel title under State law. This would be necessary if the vessel moves to a nonpartici- pating State, and information on that vessel would not be provided to the system by that State. This sub- section will allow the Secretary to keep the vessel in- formation system current on these matters and purge files no longer required to be maintained. Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2006—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 109–304 substituted ‘‘dele- gate’’ for ‘‘delegee’’ in introductory provisions. Page 227 TITLE 46—SHIPPING § 12505 1990—Subsec. (a)(2)(A). Pub. L. 101–595 amended sub- par. (A) generally. Prior to amendment, subpar. (A) read as follows: ‘‘the owner’s social security number; or’’. 1989—Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 101–225 amended par. (2) generally, adding subpars. (A) and (B). Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Section effective Jan. 1, 1989, with certain exceptions and qualifications, see section 107 of Pub. L. 100–710, set out as a note under section 31301 of this title. § 12504. Information available from the system For law enforcement or other purposes and under conditions prescribed by the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary— (1) shall make available information in the vessel identification system to a State making information available under section 12503(a) of this title; and (2) may make available information in the vessel identification system to others. (Added Pub. L. 100–710, title I, § 101(a), Nov. 23, 1988, 102 Stat. 4736; amended Pub. L. 101–225, title III, § 302(3), Dec. 12, 1989, 103 Stat. 1923.) HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES Revised section 12504 This section requires that the Secretary make avail- able information maintained in the vessel identifica- tion system to a State participating in the system for law enforcement or other purposes. The Secretary may make available information in the system to others, under conditions the Secretary may prescribe. At first, the Secretary may elect to deal only with the States. However, the Committee firmly expects that informa- tion will be made available through computer termi- nals in satellite offices or direct computer access by modem. In this manner, boating organizations or finan- cial or documentation services could retrieve data without paper transactions for a fee. Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 1989—Pub. L. 101–225 substituted ‘‘Secretary of Trans- portation, the Secretary’’ for ‘‘Secretary, the Secretary of Transportation’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Section effective Jan. 1, 1989, with certain exceptions and qualifications, see section 107 of Pub. L. 100–710, set out as a note under section 31301 of this title. § 12505. Fees (a) The Secretary of Transportation may charge a fee under section 9701 of title 31 for pro- viding information to or requesting information from the vessel identification system, except to— (1) an agency; or (2) a State making information available to the Secretary under section 12503(a) of this title. (b) The Secretary shall deposit amounts trans- ferred or collected under this section in the gen- eral fund of the Treasury as proprietary receipts of the Secretary and ascribed to the vessel iden- tification system. (Added Pub. L. 100–710, title I, § 101(a), Nov. 23, 1988, 102 Stat. 4737; amended Pub. L. 101–595, title VI, § 603(11), Nov. 16, 1990, 104 Stat. 2993.) HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES Revised section 12505 This section contains the authority for the Secretary to charge a fee under the user charge law, 31 U.S.C. 9701, for providing information to or requesting infor- mation from the vessel identification system. Fees may not be charged under this subsection to an agency or a State that is participating in the vessel identification system maintained by the Secretary. Under subsection (b) of this section, the Secretary may collect an annual fee of not more than $1.00 from the owner of a vessel of the United States under 31 U.S.C. 9701 for the vessel identification system. Since vessel owners will benefit from the vessel identification system, such as from documentation of ownership data and stolen vessel tracking, this fee is designed as a maintenance charge to owners for this service. The col- lection of the annual fee may be delayed by the Sec- retary, and an agency, State, or person may be em- ployed to collect the fee under subsection (c). The Com- mittee expects that the Secretary will make agree- ments with States to collect this fee at the time of ves- sel registrations. The term of these registrations varies from one to three years as permitted by chapter 123 of title 46. Under subsection (d) of this section, if a State is em- ployed to collect the fee, the State may retain one-half of the amounts collected, and must transfer the re- mainder to the Secretary. The amounts retained by a State may be used to cover the costs of making vessel identification information available to the Secretary. This includes upgrading or establishing titling systems as well as making improvements and other changes to vessel numbering systems to make information avail- able. Because States are allowed to make improve- ments to their vessel titling and numbering systems with the amounts retained under this section, the costs of those programs may decrease. This could result in a corresponding decrease in State numbering fees and offset vessel identification system fees paid by vessel owners. Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 1990—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 101–595 redesignated subsec. (e) as (b) and struck out former subsec. (b) which read as follows: ‘‘In addition to any fee under subsection (a) of this section, the Secretary may collect an annual fee of not more than $1.00 from the owner of each vessel of the United States under section 9701 of title 31 for maintaining the vessel identification system. However, the collection of that fee may be delayed under condi- tions prescribed by the Secretary.’’ Subsecs. (c), (d). Pub. L. 101–595 struck out subsecs. (c) and (d) which read as follows: ‘‘(c) The Secretary may employ any agency, State, or person to collect the fee established under subsection (b) of this section. ‘‘(d) If a State is employed to collect a fee under sub- section (c) of this section, the State may retain one- half of the amounts collected. A State shall transfer one-half of the amounts collected under subsection (b) of this section to the Secretary.’’ Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 101–595 redesignated subsec. (e) as (b). Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 101–595 struck out subsec. (f) which read as follows: ‘‘The amounts retained by a State under this section may be used to make informa- tion available to the Secretary and to pay incremental administrative costs.’’