USCG to Implement Fee to Renew Documented Vessels

[belizesailor]

Multi year would be handy. All counties I know do annual...any that dont?

[CapRon]

I don't have a problem with it. What with the government cutting back (sequester) I don't want the Coast Guard to be a pawn in the present political power play. If it helps defray costs, I'm all for it. You saw what they are doing with the FAA. I need to stop now before I get in trouble.

[Kettlewell]

New York State's boat registration certificate looks worse than something you could print up at home on your inkjet printer, and it is wallet-sized. I have one for my dinghy, and it isn't even cleanly printed--all smeared. It does not look official or impressive. I imagine some petty official in some God-forsaken entry port having a bad day could use it as an excuse to "fine" you for something, even if your paperwork is perfectly legitimate. I have only heard of this happening in some of the French islands in the Caribbean, for some reason. I had some good friends who sailed numerous times across the Atlantic to Europe and back, and they never had anything except for New Jersey state registration numbers on their boats. I don't recall them ever reporting an issue with the state registration.

[Geoduck]

Does anyone out there know when this is supposed to happen?
I just got mine in the mail last week - didnt cost me a dime - should I frame it??

[mbianka]

Originally Posted by Geoduck

Does anyone out there know when this is supposed to happen?
I just got mine in the mail last week - didnt cost me a dime - should I frame it??

They are just considering it and asking for public comment. It has not been implemented.

[DeborahLee]

The airlines don't even pay enough to pay for the Controllers, but Congress is voting to give them more money how about an amendment to that bill to fund the Coast Guard documentation

[sailcruiser]

In looking at some of the comments Jon Jones (name given) stated this:

"Re: USCG-2010-0990
The proposed regulation change to allow the USCG to impose a fee of $26 for renwal of vessel documentation is ill advised, primarily because it is in clear violation of of the House Appropriation Committee's intent for the USCG and the Department of Homeland Defense.
From the Committee Report in the DHS appropriations bill, p. 78:
"The Committee recommends a reduction of $35,000,000 for the Headquarters Directorate due to the DHS budget request’s reliance upon unauthorized fee collections, a flawed CBP request based on inaccessible fee collections, and poor record of compliance with statutory requirements, notably the Coast Guard’s failure to submit an adequate Capital Investment Plan."
The Appropriations Committee has recommended decrementing USCG based on DHS's flawed assessment of collectable fees underpinning DHS's budget submission. In addition, the committee intends to decrement USCG funding by 1% in order to continue the path of efficiencies across DHS, but also to force the Department, including the USCG, to better comply with statutory requirements.
This proposed fee, transfers the committee's decrement to the holders of USCG documentation, and therefore is an attempt to bypass the will of the Appropriations Committee. "

I think he nailed it.
SC