AWO 2021 Annual Report | Page 7

■ Secured inclusion of the towing vessel inspection fee moratorium for TSMS vessels in the House Homeland Security appropriations bill .
■ Secured clarification of Coast Guard policy on back-up arrangements for electronic charting systems to save members money while ensuring safe navigation .
■ Secured flexibility in Coast Guard policy to ensure crewmembers with demonstrated proficiency can serve as persons in charge of survival craft without obtaining additional lifeboatman endorsements .
■ Secured clarification of Coast Guard radio station inspection requirements to ensure that operators of exempt vessels are not required to obtain Radiotelephony Certificates .
■ Secured a Coast Guard proposal to reform inland firefighting training regulations and urged the agency to make the requirements more practicable by accepting company-provided training .
■ Secured Coast Guard agreement to seek legislative authority to modernize manning policy for automated towing vessel engine rooms .
■ Generated support from Congressional champions and the intergovernmental Committee on the Marine Transportation System for prioritization of frontline maritime transportation workers for COVID-19 vaccination .
■ Secured an exemption from the CDC mask order for mariners on live-aboard vessels not carrying passengers .
■ Pressed the Coast Guard to assert , and OSHA to accept , Coast Guard jurisdiction over mariners on inspected vessels in implementing COVID-19 vaccination and testing requirements .
■ Continued the legal fight against the Puget Sound No Discharge Zone after achieving a court-ordered remand to EPA to consider implementation costs in its determination .
■ Met with the Commandant to emphasize the importance of federal regulation of vessels in interstate commerce and ensure that the Coast Guard does not abdicate its responsibility to oppose state efforts to undermine its authority .
2021 ANNUAL REPORT 3